The History of Classical Archaeology at JLU

Classical Archaeology has a long tradition in Giessen. As early as 1809, Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker (1784-1868) founded a chair for "Greek Literature and Archaeology" - the first time the term "Archaeology" appeared in Germany to designate a chair. However, the subject has had a strong philological orientation, and as early as 1812 an independent philological seminar was founded at Welcker's instigation. In 1816 Welcker went to Göttingen, and in 1819 to Bonn. The cast collection he established there led to the founding of an "Academic Art Museum" in Giessen in 1826, which was then renamed the "Art, Coin and Antiquities Cabinet" in 1835. Little is known about the holdings of this cabinet due to the loss of all archival documents during the Second World War. In addition to the coin collection, which dates back to the 18th century, it also included the "Lippert'sche Daktyliothek", which has been preserved to this day, and a whole series of casts of antique sculptures. Although the collection had been actively used for drawing exercises, there was no real continuity for archaeological teaching until the end of the 19th century. In 1887, Ferdinand Dümmler (1859-1896) came to Giessen, where he habilitated after living several years in Greece and Italy. However, he was hardly able to do any archaeological work in Giessen, but mainly offered lectures and seminars in Classical Philology. In 1889 Dümmler was appointed associate professor, but already in 1890 he accepted a chair at the University of Basel.

In 1892, with the habilitation of Bruno Sauer (1861-1919), the actual establishment of Classical Archaeology as a subject at Giessen took place. As a private lecturer, Sauer supervised the Collection of Classical Antiquities, which was renamed the "Archaeological Institute" in 1898. In the same year Sauer was appointed full professor, representing the subject of Art History in addition to Classical Archaeology. It was not until his appointment to Kiel in 1909 that Archaeology and Art History were divided between two chairs. Sauer rendered outstanding services to the Collection of Classical Antiquities; the majority of the current collection was acquired through purchases and donations under his chairmanship. He also expanded the cast collection according to plan, but this branch of the collection was almost completely destroyed by the devastation of the Second World War.

After Sauer's appointment in 1909 to the University of Kiel, Carl Watzinger (1877-1948) followed, teaching here until 1916. The still young institute continued to grow. Watzinger further expanded the Collection of Classical Antiquities and had the cast collection restored and reorganised.

He was succeeded by Gerhart Rodenwaldt (1886-1945), who had previously worked as Georg Loeschcke's assistant in Berlin, where he was temporarily replaced by Margarete Bieber due to his call-up for service in the First World War. Rodenwaldt and Bieber both held the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute in 1909/10, and when Rodenwaldt received an offer of appointment at the University of Giessen in 1916 (he did not take up his post until 1917 due to the turmoil of war) he stood up for Margarete Bieber, who was able to habilitate here in 1919 - the first woman to do so in Giessen. In 1922, Rodenwaldt was appointed General Secretary (President) of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. His successor was Richard Delbrueck (1875-1957), who had been head of the DAI in Rome until 1915. Under Delbrueck, Margarete Bieber (1879-1978) was appointed associate professor. When Delbrueck accepted a chair in Bonn in 1928, however, the chair of Classical Archaeology was cancelled for financial reasons and Bieber was appointed as a substitute. Bieber was unable to take up the professorship she had been promised in autumn 1933, as she was dismissed in spring 1933 on account of her Jewish ancestry. She emigrated via England to the USA. In 1957, Margarete Bieber was appointed honorary senator of the University of Giessen as a late compensation.

After Bieber's dismissal in 1933, Classical Archaeology was initially represented by Hans Möbius for one semester, until in 1934 Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt, who had habilitated in Frankfurt and represented Hans Schrader there, came to Giessen with a teaching assignment. As early as 1936, however, Schuchhardt accepted a chair at the University of Freiburg. His successor in 1937 was Willy Zschietzschmann (1900-1976), who had habilitated with Rodenwaldt in Berlin in 1932. He taught first with a lectureship, then as an associate professor. In 1939, Zschietzschmann was able to considerably expand the Collection of Classical Antiquities through purchases. Thanks to his prudence the original collection survived the Second World War with almost no losses and later remained in the possession of the university. After the war, Zschietzschmann was entrusted with the provisional administration of the institute and was given a teaching assignment until 1969. The institute, now known as the "Professorship for Classical Archaeology", was not regularly occupied again until 1964. Walter Hatto Gross (1913-1984) laid the foundations for a viable institute in just a few years, not least with the help of his assistant Siemer Oppermann, who worked in Giessen until 1999, latterly as Academic Director. Gross himself accepted a chair at the University of Hamburg in 1968. He was followed in 1969 by Hans-Günter Buchholz, who taught here until 1985. Together with his assistant Wilhelm Hornbostel, he reunited the scattered Collection of Classical Antiquities. The main focus of his research during his tenure was the Aegean Bronze Age, and with his many years of excavations in Tamassos he continued Ohnefalsch-Richter's German research in Cyprus.

Wolfram Martini (1941-2017) taught in Giessen from 1985 to 2006. In addition to his research foci in the field of Greek sculpture and Attic vase painting, the excavations on the Acropolis of Perge (Turkey) in particular shaped his work. Martini, who opened part of the Collection of Classical Antiquities to the public in 1987, was able to expand the collection considerably, mainly through private donations.

Anja Klöckner (*1968) taught in Giessen from 2007 to 2016.

Katharina Lorenz has been teaching in Giessen since April 2018.

Publications

M. Recke, Die Klassische Archäologie in Gießen. 100 Jahre Antikensammlung, Studia Giessensia 9 (2000).