Eduard Peters

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Handwritten note and signature by Eduard Peters (1942)
Sheepfold I excavation site in Veringenstadt by Eduard Peters (1946)
Convalescent stay in 1946 in the Black Forest of Eduard Peters (left) with Mayor Stefan Fink (right) of Veringenstadt.
Grave cross of Eduard Peters in the cemetery in Veringenstadt. However, his last wish was not fulfilled: he wanted to be burned, but this was not possible at the time.

Eduard Ferdinand Albert Peters (born April 9, 1869 in Halberstadt , † May 21, 1948 in Veringenstadt ) was a German post office clerk, prehistorian and discoverer of numerous Stone Age sites. Among other things, he made significant excavations on the Petersfels in the Brudertal, a dry valley in Hegau near Engen not far from Bittelbrunn .

Life

Peters initially had a successful career with the Deutsche Reichspost : 1893 postal secretary, 1908 telegraph director (1910 in Wuppertal ), 1914 postal councilor in Konstanz , 1921 senior postal councilor. He was an avid mountaineer, spoke six languages ​​and remained a bachelor until his death.

His passion was prehistoric research. After his retirement in 1925, Peters studied geology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg , with the minor subjects botany, zoology and prehistory. As early as 1926 he began excavating in Hegau, which continued until 1932 and was not without success. The so-called "Petersfels" still reminds of this today. From 1930 to 1933, prehistoric research was carried out on the Eastern Alb and in the Upper Danube Valley . In 1930 he was appointed representative of the Hohenzollern state curator Wilhelm Friedrich Laur . After an initial exploration, he made the first test digs. Larger excavations were carried out in 1931 at the Buttental cave near Buchheim in 1933 in the Falkenstein cave (named after the nearby Falkenstein castle ruins ) near Thiergarten . In the meantime, excavations followed in the Irpfelhöhle near Giengen an der Brenz (1931), near Sölden in the Freiburg Bay (1933) and on the Mount of Olives near Munzingen (1933).

On April 1, 1934, he began work in the State Collection of Antiquities in the Old Palace in Stuttgart . However, Peters soon got problems with the new rulers and with colleagues who were loyal to the line. He hated any kind of control and did not want to join the NSDAP . Nevertheless, in 1934, due to fortunate circumstances, he was appointed honorary shop steward for the soil antiquities in Hohenzollern. From 1938 Peters was practically outlawed.

After air raids on Stuttgart in April 1944, he moved to Veringenstadt, where the mayor at the time, Stefan Fink , had offered him an apartment in the town hall.

Petersfels

On August 17, 1927, Peters discovered two caves during excursions in the Brudertal near Engen, today's Gnir Cave and the then unnamed Petersfels Cave . Peters began excavations in October 1927 on behalf of the Committee for Prehistory and Protohistory of Baden, whose chairman and patron was Peters' Wilhelm Deecke . From October 5 to November 12 and from March 15 to 28, 1928 he and four workers cleared the cave and parts of the forecourt. In 1930 he published a monograph, supported by the prehistorian from Tübingen, Robert Rudolf Schmidt , who acted as editor. From May 9 to July 16, 1932, he examined the forecourt up to the bottom of the valley together with the geologist Volker Toepfer in order to recover finds for a planned local museum for the city of Engen.

Time in Veringenstadt

From 1934 Eduard Peters was the driving force behind the systematic exploration of the Veringenstadt caves. Between July 11 and August 14, 1934, he carried out test excavations in nine caves around Veringenstadt. Several excavation campaigns followed in Veringenstadt until 1937. He mainly focused on the Anna-Kapellen- , Göpfelstein- and Nikolaushöhle as well as the overhang of the sheepfold. Peters first exhibited the various finds in 1935 in the town hall of Veringenstadt. In the same year he set up two sludge plants, the larger one below the Nikolaushöhle on the Lauchert . In 1937 his work concentrated on the sheepfold cave , but this was discontinued after renewed difficulties with Nazi figures. From April 1944 he arranged the archive in the town hall of Veringenstadt. From 1946 he resumed his examinations in the sheepfold, later also in the Göpfelstein cave. His finds are u. a. in the local history museum Veringenstadt .

Merits and appreciations

Eduard Peters' merits are the exact recordings and description as well as drawings of the finds, he noted everything, this was still unusual at the time and the beginning of scientific research. The elimination of small finds was a method he promoted. He made study trips to the Grimaldi Caves near Grimaldi di Ventimiglia , where the Venus figurines by Balzi Rossi were once found. He found high recognition in Italy, where he took part in several excavations from 1939 to 1943 and was honored in 1941 with membership in the Paleontological Institute of Rome.

On September 21, 1947 in Sigmaringen, Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt presented him with an honorary doctorate from the University of Freiburg.

Works

Monographs (selection)

  • My work in the service of the prehistory of Southwest Germany . Veringenstadt 1946.
  • In collaboration with Oscar Paret : The prehistoric and early historical art and cultural monuments of Hohenzollern . Reprint from: Die Kunstdenkmäler Hohenzollern. Volume 2: Sigmaringen district . Stuttgart 1949.

Essays
Among other things

  • The Paleolithic cultures of Veringenstadt (Hohenzollern) . In: Prehistoric Journal . Volume 27 . Berlin 1936. pp. 173-195.
  • In collaboration with Adolf Rieth : The Veringenstadt Caves and their significance for the prehistory and early history of Hohenzollern . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 3. 1936. pp. 240-264.
  • Prehistoric and early historical activity report from Hohenzollern 1935 . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 3. 1936. pp. 332-335.
  • Pre- and early historical activity report from Hohenzollern 1936 . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 4. 1937. pp. 275f.
  • Pre- and early historical activity report from Hohenzollern 1937 . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 5. 1938. pp. 358f.
  • Pre- and early-historical activity report from Hohenzollern 1938 . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 6. 1939. p. 186.
  • Pre-historical and early historical activity report from Hohenzollern 1939 . In: Association for history, culture and regional studies of Hohenzollern (Hrsg.): Hohenzollerische Jahreshefte. Volume 7. 1940. pp. 118f.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Peters, Eduard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peters, Eduard Ferdinand Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German post office worker, prehistorian and discoverer of the Petersfels, named after him
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Halberstadt
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1948
Place of death Veringenstadt