Constantin Koenen

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Koenen 1891 (seated in the center front)
Floor plan of the legionary camp Novaesium

Constantin Koenen (born January 28, 1854 in Bielefeld , † October 3, 1929 in Neuss ) was a German archaeologist and Roman provincial archaeologist .

Koenen came from a Neuss family. Together with his eight siblings and the later painter Max Clarenbach , he grew up in the household of his father, who was harbor master in Neuss. Even as a child, Constantin Koenen was interested in antiquities and collected fossils, old coins and Roman ceramics. At the age of 15 he began training as a granite knocker and sculptor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. However, his interest increasingly focused on archeology.

In 1875 Koenen began to carry out excavations for the Bonn Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland , including in the Bonn legion camp . These experiences confirmed his assumption that the long-sought legionary camp in his hometown Neuss was near Grimlinghausen . An experimental excavation by Koenen in 1886 provided evidence of this assumption. Between 1887 and 1900, the Neuss legionary camp was uncovered as planned under Koenen's local leadership. In 1904, four years after the excavations ended, the results were published. In 1899 the German Archaeological Institute appointed him a corresponding member.

For Constantin Koenen, the discovery of the ancient Novaesium fort was only one - albeit important - stage in his life. Excavation activities in Germany and Spain as well as research trips to Portugal , Denmark , Sweden , Norway , England , France and Belgium should be mentioned. After leaving the service of the Bonn Provincial Museum in 1908, Koenen moved to Neuss and tried, with moderate success, to earn his living as a private scholar. On his 70th birthday he was awarded an honorary doctorate .

Publications (selection)

  • Vascular studies of the pre-Roman, Roman and Frankish times in the Rhineland . Bonn, Hanstein, 1895. ( digitized version )
  • with Heinrich Nissen : Caesar's Rhine fortress . In: Bonner Jahrbücher 104, 1899.
  • Description of Novaesium . In: Bonner Jahrbücher 111/112, 1904, pp. 97–242.
  • Guide through the municipal antiquities collection in Andernach. Andernach 1910/11.
  • Novaesium . In: G. Enter: Neuss am Rhein . Düsseldorf 1926, p. 1 ff.

literature

  • Jens Metzdorf (Ed.): 150 citizens. The civil society of Neuss 1861–2011. Bürgergesellschaft zu Neuss, Neuss 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-039656-4 , p. 259.
  • Hans Seeling: Constantin Koenen (1854-1929). Life and work of an archaeologist . Neuss 1984 (therein list of publications).
  • Hans Seeling: On the 150th birthday of Constantin Koenen. Notes on the life and legacy of the archaeologist . In: Yearbook for the Rhein-Kreis Neuss 2005 (2004), pp. 8-17.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Koenen, Constantin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German provincial Roman archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Bielefeld , Germany
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1929
Place of death Neuss , Germany