Franz Anton Mayer

Franz Anton Mayer (born July 31, 1773 in Beilngries ; † May 4, 1854 in Munich ) was a German pastor, local researcher and archaeologist .

Life

Franz Anton Mayer was supported by the Jesuit Ignaz Pickel during his training at the Eichstätt seminary and was introduced to the science of archeology, which was still little widespread at the time. While studying in Rome, he took part in excavations in the Vatican. In 1796 he returned to Eichstätt, where he was promoted to professor of theology. After secularization and the associated destruction of church institutions, Mayer took a job as a village pastor in the small community of Gelbelsee and began to publish scientifically. From 1808 he was a corresponding member of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Munich. In 1829 he went back to Eichstätt (St. Walburg) as pastor, and in 1840 he was temporarily also the district school director. But in 1841 he moved to Munich, where he lived in seclusion until his death.

Mayer was a pioneer in the exploration of the Limes and provided important impulses for archaeological research on Celtic, Germanic and Roman culture in Bavaria.

tomb

Grave of Franz Mayer on the old southern cemetery in Munich location

The tomb of Franz Mayer is on the old southern cemetery in Munich (burial ground 15 - Series 2 - 16th) Location .

Fonts

• Exact description of the Roman landmark known under the name of the Devil's Wall. Munich 1824.
• Treatise about some of the localities of ancient Roman coins in the kingdom of Bavaria. Eichstädt 1824.
• Treatise on some old German grave mounds in the principality of Eichstätt. Eichstatt 1825.
• A few words about a few druid trees in the kingdom of Bavaria. Eichstatt 1826.
• Treatise on the superstitious and pagan customs of the ancient Germans enumerated by the Liptinian Council. Ingolstadt 1829.
• Treatise on the burial mound of an old German druid in the principality of Eichstätt. Eichstatt 1831.
• Treatise on an old German family grave mound discovered in the principality of Eichstädt. Bamberg 1835.
• Treatise on a burial mound of an old German druid discovered in the principality of Eichstädt . Munich 1836.
• Treatise on various Roman antiquities found in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Munich 1840.
• Introduction to ancient Roman numismatics. Zurich 1842.

literature

• Anton Gäck, Otto Grabe: Franz Anton Mayer. Researcher at the Roman Limes in Bavaria (1773–1854). Self-published, Böhming 1973.