About the Collection

As early as 1826, the "Academic Art Museum" was founded on the model of Bonn, and it was renamed the "Art, Coin, and Antiquities Cabinet" in 1835. The holdings of the early collection are largely unknown, as all archival documents were destroyed during World War II. In addition to a coin collection dating back to the 18th century, the cabinet included a collection of plaster casts and, still preserved today, the "Lippert'sche Daktyliothek." Since its establishment, the collection has been steadily expanded through the purchase of originals and casts from Paris, as well as through various donations. For example, in 1835, the Archaeological Institute received casts from the Erbach Collection.

From the end of the 19th century, the collection can be documented more precisely. Bruno Sauer, who habilitated at Giessen in 1892 and is considered the actual founder of the local Classical Archaeology, took intensive care of the collection in 1897. Since 1898, the collection has been known as the "Archaeological Institute." In addition to planning an expansion of the cast collection, which had been housed in nearly 300 m² of space since the move to the so-called "Neue Kollegiengebäude" in 1879, Sauer also systematically expanded the collection of originals.

For a long time after World War I, the collection was only sporadically expanded with individual sherds brought back from travels by the chairholders. Under Margarete Bieber, the plaster cast collection was particularly expanded and used extensively for teaching and research purposes. It was not until 1939 that Willy Zschietzschmann was able to add several Attic red-figure vases and an important Faliscan amphora to the collection.

Thanks largely to Zschietzschmann, the collection of originals survived the severe destruction of Giessen during the war with minimal damage. The coin collection was also preserved in its entirety, but the cast collection was almost completely destroyed on December 6, 1944.

In the aftermath of the war—the Institute itself was not reopened until 1964 as the "Professorship for Classical Archaeology"—the collection was gradually dispersed. It was not until the 1970s that antiquities were reassembled by Hans-Günther Buchholz and his assistant at the time, W. Hornbostel, and recorded in an inventory by F. W. von Hase. Buchholz subsequently published many of the antiquities for the first time and expanded the collection in line with his research interests. The collection now includes numerous Cypriot antiquities, Late Classical vessels, and prehistoric objects. The sherd collection has also grown considerably.

Since digital technologies have become central to knowledge transfer in museums, Classical Archaeology, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Katharina Lorenz, has increasingly incorporated digital techniques into its exhibitions since 2018.

This innovative and forward-looking approach to the public presentation of the university's collection benefits both museum visitors and students in the Department of Classical Archaeology. Visitors now have remote access to a growing number of digitized objects from the Collection of Classical Antiquities. Meanwhile, students gain valuable experience through guided instruction from curator Dr. Michaela Stark. In seminars and exercises, students acquire not only solid knowledge about presenting exhibits in a museum context but also in-depth skills in using digital tools to design interactive visitor experiences. Practical learning and the application of digital methods thus provide students with core competencies essential for their future careers.