Rolf Hagen

Rolf Hagen (born April 14, 1922 in Sondershausen ; † June 17, 2009 in Braunschweig ) was a German historian and director of the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum .

Life

Hagen completed his school education and his Abitur at the secondary school in Sondershausen and then did the Reich labor service and military service from 1940 to 1945, which ended with a prisoner of war. He studied folklore , history , philosophy and German at the universities of Jena and Göttingen . He obtained his doctorate in Göttingen and worked as a research assistant from 1951 to 1953. He then worked at the Göttingen City Museum from 1953 to 1956 before moving to a position as curator at the Braunschweig City Museum under the director Bert Bilzer on June 1, 1956 . On August 1, 1962, he was appointed head of the cultural office of the city of Braunschweig and finally, in December 1965, he took over the position of director of the Braunschweig State Museum for History and Folkism. During this time he was also in charge of the City and District Museum - Historic Castle Rooms in Wolfenbüttel .

After the archaeological holdings of the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum were moved to the New Wolfenbüttel Chancellery and the Bortfeld Farmhouse Museum was founded, the museum had three locations. In 1987 the restoration of the relocated Hornburg synagogue could be tackled, which finally led to the reopening of the Jewish Museum in the museum rooms Behind Aegidien. After long negotiations, Hagen managed to take over the Vieweghaus on Burgplatz, which was rebuilt from 1983 to 1985 and opened in 1986, now under the name Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum. After the move, Hagen retired from active museum service and handed over management to Gerd Biegel .

In addition to his museum work and afterwards, Rolf Hagen was active in numerous institutions, including the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen, the Braunschweigisches Landesverein, the Lower Saxony Heimatbund and the Harzverein . In 1994 he was awarded the Citizen Medal of the City of Braunschweig . His publications include works on folklore and regional history as well as on the most important writer in the region, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing .

literature

• Gerd Biegel: Dr. Rolf Hagen - An obituary. In: Braunschweigische Heimat. 95, No. 2, 2009, pp. 9-10.