Armin von Gerkan

Armin von Gerkan (born November 30, 1884 in Subbath , ( Kurland ), Russian Empire ; † December 22, 1969 in Garstedt ) was a German-Baltic building researcher and classical archaeologist .

Life and meaning

Armin von Gerkan came from a German-Baltic noble family, whose well-known representatives today include the German architect Meinhard von Gerkan . After studying architecture in Riga and Dresden, he took part from 1908 to 1914 in the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute under Theodor Wiegand (1864-1936) in Asia Minor ( Miletus , Didyma , Priene and Samos ). During the First World War, he was still a Russian citizen and served as an officer in the Caucasus. In 1919 he took part in the Baltic State Army in the campaign to liberate the Baltic from the Red Army. After naturalization in Germany, he studied classical archeology in Greifswald and became Dr.-Ing. and in 1922 Dr. phil. His habilitation took place in 1923. His father-in-law was the Christian archaeologist and church historian Victor Schultze (1851-1937).

In 1924 von Gerkan became second director of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome , and in 1938 first director there. His appointment as First Director of the Institute in Athens, which was planned for 1936, failed because the then Second Director there, Walther Wrede , a high-ranking NSDAP / AO functionary who was striving for the position himself, with the participation of the film director Leni Riefenstahl , thwarted the appointment via Goebbels and Hitler . In 1937 von Gerkan, who, according to his sponsor Wiegand, was also a party member, became honorary professor in Berlin. The main focus of his work was on Roman architecture and topography. But his work also led him to research stays in Baalbek and Palmyra (Syria), Dura Europos (Mesopotamia), Egypt, Olympia and Epidaurus . After the end of the war he held a visiting professorship in Bonn. In 1953 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

After Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1853–1940) and Robert Koldewey (1855–1925) had pioneered archaeological building research, Armin von Gerkan worked all his life to ensure that this research area was recognized as a special and fully authorized subject within ancient studies. Like no other, he has carefully thought through the theoretical foundations of the subject, its tasks and possible effects as well as the resulting necessities. He was the first to understand the concept of building research as the study of ancient architecture by the historically trained architect, who had the tools not only for an exact construction survey, but also for the technical and structural understanding of ancient buildings - including town and port construction - decreed. It was also von Gerkan who initiated the founding of the Koldewey Society in 1926 as the organization of architects and construction researchers. In his work, however, he faced some resistance, because the archeology of the time was still largely determined by the museum's interests in finds of the most spectacular exhibits possible. Von Gerkan, on the other hand, called for scientific research into ancient sites and monuments as the excavation goal, always in the context of the facts of ancient history and culture associated with the monuments. Today his view has become widely accepted in archaeological research.

Unsurprisingly, Gerkans' critical and methodical approach to work brought him into opposition to the popular belief that the tomb of the Apostle Peter had been found in the foundations of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Rather, in his investigations he came to the conclusion that such evidence had not been provided and that science could not support the pious desire to locate the grave.

Von Gerkan was also critical of the idea that ancient Rome was already a city of millions; this assumption is not justified considering the urban development at that time.

From the marriage of Gerkans to the daughter Victor Schultzes, two sons emerged, one of whom became a presiding judge at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court and the other a metallurgical engineer.

The grave of Gerkans is in the Garstedt cemetery of the Christ parish (Emmaus) in Norderstedt near Hamburg.

Honors

• 1950, he was from the University of Karlsruhe the title of Dr.-Ing. E. h. awarded.
• In 1962 he was given the title of D. theol. hc awarded.
• In 1959 he received the Great Federal Cross of Merit.

Fonts (selection)

• The Priene Theater. Publishing house for practical art studies, Munich 1921.
• Greek urban systems. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1924.
• Armin von Gerkan: The current situation of archaeological building research in Germany. Koldewey Society , Association for Research on Building History V., 1924, accessed February 1, 2016 . 
• with Fritz Krischen : Milet. Volume 1,9: Thermal baths and palaces. Hans Schoetz & Co., Berlin 1928.
• with Hans Peter L'Orange: The late antique picture decorations on the Arch of Constantine. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1939.
• From ancient architecture and topography. Collected Essays. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1959 [here pp. 459-463 Bibliography].
• with Wolfgang Müller-Wiener : The Theater of Epidauros . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1961.

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann : Armin von Gerkan, 1884–1969. Biography and Bibliography. In: Roman communications . Volume 77, 1970, pp. VII-XVIII.
• Thomas Fröhlich: Armin von Gerkan (1884–1969). In: Gunnar Brands , Martin Maischberger (Hrsg.): Lebensbilder. Classical archaeologists and National Socialism (= people - cultures - traditions. Studies from the research clusters of the German Archaeological Institute. Volume 2, Part 1). Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden 2012, ISBN 978-3-86757-382-5 , pp. 91-106.
• Thomas Fröhlich: Gerkan, Armin von. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 455-457.
• Rudolf Naumann : Armin von Gerkan †. In: Gnomon . Volume 43, 1971, pp. 841-842.

Web links

• Literature by and about Armin von Gerkan in the catalog of the German National Library
• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Armin von Gerkan. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
• Dictionary of Art Historians

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department. Vol. 77, 1970, pp. VII, X.
2. ^ Letter Wiegand to Minister Bernhard Rust , July 14, 1936, quoted in: Klaus Junker : The Archaeological Institute of the German Empire between Research and Politics. The years 1929 to 1945 . von Zabern, Mainz 1997 ISBN 3-8053-2339-5 p. 38
3. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 91.