Archaeological Society of Berlin
The Archaeological Society of Berlin is an organization founded in 1842 that has set itself the task of bringing archaeological and scientific research closer to an interested public and thus promoting actual archaeological research. Today it has more than 250 members.
history
The Archaeological Society in Berlin was founded in December 1842 on the initiative of Eduard Gerhard , who was also the driving force behind the founding of what would later become the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). Together with Theodor Panofka , he was chairman of the association in the following years. The aim of the association should be to hold public lectures on archaeological and ancient science topics every month. The first statute dates from February of the following year. The founding date was chosen with care, as it coincided with the Winckelmann celebration in 1842, at which the birthday of Johann Joachim Winckelmann was commemorated annually , who is generally revered as the founder of the later classical archeology . This tradition, which the Berliners from the Altmark had been celebrating since 1828 and the members of the DAI predecessor Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica in Rome since 1831, became an annual event under Gerhard's leadership and under the mantle of the Berlin Society. The society initially supported the Roman Institute, which Gerhard headed for the most part from Berlin, and published the Archäologische Zeitung he founded in 1843, which later became the yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute . However, the focus was on local activities. The scientific discussion between archaeologists, ancient scholars, scholars from other disciplines and other friends of the ancient world was sustainably promoted by the lectures. Berlin was the right place for this, because nowhere else in Germany was the breeding ground for it better. Here there were the largest number of archaeologists and scientists from related disciplines, the large university , the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Berlin museums with their important collections of antiquities . From outside the professional world, architects and visual artists in particular belonged to the group of people particularly addressed. The founding of such organizations was not uncommon at that time. Scientists, but also interested parties from the bourgeoisie came together in many places to found such associations.
In the second half of the 19th century in particular, the artists' interest changed. The classicism lost more and more important. In addition, archeology became more and more specialized. The proportion of scientists ultimately outweighed the other members by far. The danger of stagnation could be averted because a large number of very different scientists had been working in Berlin since the 1870s. In addition, the gain in knowledge was omnipresent, for example through the excavations of the Berlin museums. So there was a lot of material that could and had to be conveyed. In the course of the Third Humanism , which originated in Berlin, society opened up to broader circles after the First World War . In addition, other organizations emerged in Berlin. In 1924 the founder of the Third Humanism, Werner Jaeger , founded the Society for Ancient Culture . In it he also published the magazine Die Antike , which he founded . In the 1920s, the Association of Friends of the Archaeological Institute was established , and in 1913 the Association of Friends of Ancient Art . With this, the company organized the Winckelmannsfeste since 1923 . In 1913, Margarete Bieber was accepted as the first woman, and since 1922 the society has been open to women as well. The membership increased steadily until the 1940s. They peaked at 323 in 1942, the year of the 100th anniversary of the association. The then President of the Society, Gerhart Rodenwaldt , took the 100th anniversary of the Berlin Winckelmann Festival in 1940 as an opportunity to draw attention to the long tradition of the Society at a large ceremony in the Berlin Singakademie . The last meeting of the society before the end of the war took place on January 9, 1945.
After the war, the Berlin Archaeological Society, like all other associations and organizations in Germany, no longer existed. For the first time since 1841, no Winckelmanns festivals were organized between 1945 and 1947. The initiative for the re-establishment came from Carl Weickert in 1947 , who at that time combined a large part of the important archaeological positions in Berlin. He was director of the Antikensammlung, provisional holder of the chair for Classical Archeology at the university after Rodenwaldt committed suicide towards the end of the war, and finally became president of the DAI in 1947, since its president Martin Schede was believed to have been lost during the war. On July 10, 1947, at the invitation of Weickert, classical archaeologists and representatives from neighboring disciplines met in the premises of the DAI to discuss a re-establishment. A statute was resolved, which was presented to representatives of the occupying power and adopted, including a mandatory point about certain restrictions for former NS representatives. The actual foundation was delayed, due to the weather and because not all board members wanted to fill out the US administration's questionnaire on their Nazi past, until May 25, 1948. Weickert was elected chairman, his successor at the museum, Carl Blümel , became his deputy and Gerda Bruns secretary. The banker Otto Nufer, who had been a member of the company since 1936, became treasurer. He remained in office until 1975 and was a member of the board until his death in 1990. The new statutes were dedicated to the members who had died since 1945, particularly Gerhart Rodenwaldt and Karl Anton Neugebauer .
The Association of Friends of Ancient Art merged with the company when it was founded. This also involved a stronger focus on non-scientists, which led to the organization being split in two between 1948 and 1956 and again between 1968 and 1970. For all members and guests there were the plenary sessions , for a smaller group of skilled scientists the working group , which in 1948 consisted of 35 members. The dichotomy, however, could not last because it contradicted the actual aim of bringing science and the interested public together. The number of members rose again quite quickly - in 1967 the post-war high of 300 members was reached. By 1979, however, the number fell continuously to 215 members. Since then it has been on the up again and has meanwhile found a constancy of around 250 members. These include many foreign, including well-known, members.
The 135th Winckelmannsfest 1979 was also held as an honor for Ernst Heinrich on his 80th birthday, and the following year for Adolf Greifenhagen on his 75th birthday. In 1982 the company held a reception in the Wiegand House for Winckelmann's birthday, and this tradition has been adopted by the DAI since 1983.
Financing and structure
The Archaeological Society of Berlin is not a registered association. Although it is so defined in its statutes from 1947, it was never registered in a German court. At the general meeting on September 26, 1950, this procedure was decided. There were several reasons for this, on the one hand in tradition and the fear of bureaucratic regulations, on the other hand in the fact that in divided Berlin the impression of a state or political connection should be avoided. Since then, the question of entry in the register of associations has arisen again and again. The Berlin Senate funded the society until 1962 with small grants for external lectures and printing costs, since then such applications have been rejected with no entry in the register. The charitable status was nevertheless recognized, for example when in 1976 a financial legacy from a deceased member could be accepted without the usual inheritance tax, which saved the association from financial failure at the time. If the association were dissolved, the DAI would receive all remaining values.
The society tries to keep the membership fee as low as possible. In many cases, financial expenses are not incurred, as the DAI or the Berlin museums, for example, provide rooms for events free of charge. Lecture fees are not paid, but travel and accommodation costs are. Publications are financed from sales proceeds and other available funds. Until 1977, the Winckelmann programs of the Archaeological Society in Berlin could be printed with the help of a printing subsidy from the German Research Foundation , since then regular publications are no longer guaranteed. In Archaeological indicator of were until 1974 in continuation of the Archaeological Newspaper Proceedings and papers of the company quite extensively published since 1976, this is done only in abbreviated form.
At the top of the company is a board of directors, which currently consists of seven people. Status after the 2017 board election:
- Chairman: Andreas Scholl
- Deputy chairman: Philipp von Rummel
- Secretary: Regina Attula
- Treasurer: Peter Baumeister
- Assessor: Johanna Fabricius , Stephan G. Schmid , Manuela Taake
Historic board members
membership
Individuals cannot join the Archaeological Society of Berlin without further ado . New admissions must be confirmed at the annual meeting, where they must be proposed by two members.