Gustav Eichhorn

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Gustav Friedrich Otto Eichhorn (born May 21, 1862 in Eisfeld , † October 15, 1929 in Jena ) was a German physician and prehistoric professor at the University of Jena , for many years director of the Germanic Museum at the University of Jena and one of the founders of the state conservation of monuments in Thuringia .

Life

Gustav Eichhorn was born on May 21, 1862 as the son of a pastor in Eisfeld. After attending the Prussian state school in Pforta (today Schulpforta ) near Kösen (from 1876) he attended the grammar school in Jena from 1879 . He then studied medicine in Jena from 1882 to 1887 , passed the state medical examination in 1887 and was awarded a Dr. med. PhD . After several positions as an assistant doctor, he worked as a general practitioner in Jena from 1889 .

Following his interest in local archeology, Eichhorn also attended courses on prehistory with Friedrich Klopfleisch during his studies . After his death in 1898, Eichhorn looked after the prehistoric and early historical collection of the University of Jena from 1900, initially without remuneration and from 1902 as a curator . After he had set it up again in 1901, the museum was able to move from the too narrow rooms in the castle tower to the old Collegium Jenense in 1904. Eichhorn gave the collection a purely prehistoric character by swapping the historical inventory items for the prehistoric finds from the city museum.

Soon after he started working for the museum, he set up the “Archive for Prehistoric Findings”. These are the beginnings of a central preservation of monuments in the politically highly fragmented Thuringia. The excavations of the cemetery of Großromstedt , which were carried out together with Philipp Kropp between 1907 and 1913 and 1926 and 1928, and whose material was submitted by Eichhorn as a monograph in 1927, deserve special mention. He also carried out several rescue excavations in the area around Jena and devoted himself to the processing and presentation of Klopfleisch's excavations.

In 1918 Eichhorn took over the independent administration of the Germanisches Museum as a member of the board. At the same time he received permission to hold lectures on prehistory and early history. In 1922, his teaching license was converted into a teaching position for the subject of prehistory, and for the first time he received remuneration for his teaching activities. From 1925 on, Eichhorn and other archaeologists, including Alfred Auerbach , Alfred Götze and Georg Florschütz , played a key role in the drafting of a Thuringian Heritage Protection Act, section excavations and finds. On March 31, 1927, he was awarded the title of full honorary professor for his commitment. As early as 1926, the Philosophical Faculty created the right to award doctorates in the major and minor prehistory and early history.

During the short period of his teaching activity, Eichhorn had numerous pupils, Herbert Jankuhn and Gotthard Neumann as his successors as professor and museum director should be mentioned here . However, Eichhorn was only able to do one of them, Hildegard Knack, in 1928 with a thesis on "The Latène Culture in Thuringia". Knack, who majored in prehistory from Easter 1924, was one of the first women to obtain a doctorate in prehistory.

Eichhorn carried out all these activities in research, teaching and in the management and expansion of the museum part-time in addition to his work as a general practitioner and, from 1913, medical adviser. In addition, he used considerable funds of his own to develop the museum and the institute for prehistory and early history. Gustav Eichhorn, who had been seriously ill since 1928, died on October 15, 1929 in Jena.

Fonts

  • The Germanic Museum in Jena. In: Journal of the Association for Thuringian History and Archeology. NF Vol. 13 = 21, 1903, ISSN  0943-9846 , pp. 403-404 .
  • From the Jena Society for Prehistory. In: Journal of the Association for Thuringian History and Archeology. NF Vol. 13 = 21, 1903, pp. 404-408 .
  • The prehistoric and early historical finds of the County of Camburg. In: Journal of the Association for Thuringian History and Archeology. NF Vol. 14 = 22, 1904, pp. 97-144 , pp. 269-330 .
  • The excavation of the Nienstedter burial mound by Professor Klopfleisch from Jena. In: Annual publication for the prehistory of the Saxon-Thuringian countries. 7, 1908, ISSN  0138-4902 , pp. 85-94, panels 11-14.
  • Deposit found in Münchenrodaer Grund near Jena. In: Journal of Ethnology . Vol. 40, 1908, pp. 194-200 .
  • The grave find in Dienstedt near Remda (Grossh. Sachsen-Weimar.). In: Journal of Ethnology. Vol. 40, 1908, pp. 902-914 .
  • The paleolithic finds from Taubach in the museums of Jena and Weimar. Festschrift for the 350th anniversary of the University of Jena. Fischer, Jena 1909.
  • Boards on the prehistory and early history of Thuringia. With 224 photographs of prehistoric antiquities, sorted and explained by epoch. HW Schmidts Verlagbuchhandlung Gustav Tauscher, Jena 1910.
  • The finds from the local mountain in the Germanic and municipal museum in Jena. In: The Hausberg and the Fuchsturm Society. Festschrift to celebrate the company's fiftieth anniversary in the summer of 1911. Verlag der Fuchsturmgesellschaft, Jena 1911, pp. 69–80, panels 5–6.
  • The urn cemetery on the hill near Großromstedt (= Mannus library. 41, ISSN  0720-7158 ). Kabitzsch, Leipzig 1927.
  • A Merovingian grave from the Burgau gravel pit near Jena. In: Festgabe for the 70 year old Gustav Kossinna from friends and students (= Mannus. Supplementary volume 6, ISSN  0025-2360 ). Kabitzsch, Leipzig 1928, pp. 151–159.
  • Guide through the collections of the Germanic Museum of the University of Jena. Germanic Museum of the University of Jena, Jena 1929.
  • The discovery of the Wallburg on the Jenzig near Jena by Klopfleisch, his excavations on the mountain plateau and at the foot of the Jenzig. In: Contributions to Thuringian and Saxon history. Festschrift for Otto Dorbencker on his 70th birthday on April 2, 1929. G. Fischer, Jena 1929, pp. 1–16.

literature

Obituaries and appreciations:

  • Gustaf Kossinna : Gustav Eichhorn †. In: Mannus . 21, 1929, p. 339 f.
  • Hans Hahne : Professor Dr. Gustav Eichhorn in Jena †. In: Thuringia. A monthly for old and new culture. 5, 1929/1930, ZDB -ID 349680-6 , p. 38 f.
  • Friedrich Thieme : A Jena doctor and researcher. In: Old and new from home. Supplement to the Jenaer Volksblatt. 5, 1931/1933 (1934), p. 82 .
  • Hans Gummel : Research History in Germany (= Prehistory research and its historical development in the civilized states of the world. Volume 1). De Gruyter, Berlin 1938, p. 413.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eichhorn, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eichhorn, Gustav Friedrich Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physician and prehistorian
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Ice field
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1929
Place of death Jena