Franz Oelmann

Franz Oelmann (born May 30, 1883 in Wolfenbüttel ; † September 15, 1963 in Bonn ) was a German provincial Roman archaeologist .

Life

Oelmann was in 1908 on Homer's Iliad with his dissertation Prolegomena in Heracliti QF allegoriarum Homericarum at the University of Bonn doctorate . As early as 1914, he was significantly involved in the archaeological investigation of the Villa rustica in Blankenheim . In the same year, the pioneering publication of ceramics from Niederbieber fort appeared , following the work of Hans Dragendorff and Robert Knorr, one of the most important systematic reconditions of Roman ceramics of this time. Oelmann's publication is of importance in research to this day, as it represents a closed complex of finds from the 3rd century and the Limesfall during the time of the Imperial Crisis . Numerous forms of both the fine ceramic terra sigillata and the utility ceramics are named after the Niederbieber site, based on Oelmann's publication.

In the course of his work for the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, he published studies on the history of ancient housing under the title House and Courtyard in Antiquity in 1927 . He made a career at the Landesmuseum as a director's assistant and was appointed director in 1930 to succeed Hans Lehner . From then on, Oelmann was responsible for leading the archaeological excavations in Vetera . On March 24, 1935, the State Museum in Bonn was reopened under his leadership.

At the same time he was honorary professor for classical archeology at the University of Bonn, state shop steward for the antiquities in the administrative districts of Aachen, Düsseldorf, Koblenz (except for the Birkenfeld district) and Cologne (with the exception of the urban area). Oelmann was the long-time secretary of the Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland .

He ended his membership in the professional association of German prehistory researchers in 1933 when he left at his personal request. He was considered an opponent of Hans Reinerth because of his contentious leadership of the Reich Association for German Prehistory .

In 1949 Oelmann resigned from the museum service at the Bonn State Museum; He was succeeded by his assistant Eduard Neuffer .

Fonts (selection)

• with Walter Müller : The necropolis of the "geometric" period. In: Tiryns. Volume 1. Eleutheroudakis and Bart, Athens 1912 ( digitized version ).
• The ceramics of the Niederbieber fort. 2. Reprint of the Frankfurt am Main 1914 edition. Habelt, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-7749-0678-5 .
• On the interpretation of the Roman core in Trier Cathedral. In Bonn yearbooks. 127, 1922, pp. 130-188.
• House and yard in ancient times. Volume 1: The basic forms of house construction. De Gruyter, Berlin and Leipzig 1927.
• The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn. Its development and its tasks. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn 1936.

literature

• Kurt Böhner : Franz Oelmann. Address on his 75th birthday on May 30, 1958. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 158, 1958, pp. 1–14.
• Harald von Petrikovits : Franz Oelmann, died on September 15, 1963 . In: Bonner Jahrbücher 163, 1963, pp. 1–8.
• Kurt Böhner: Franz Oelmann. In: Gnomon 37, 1965, pp. 221-223.
• Bettina Bouresh: The reorganization of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, 1930-1939. On the National Socialist cultural policy of the Rhine Province . Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-7927-1604-6 ( Art and Antiquity on the Rhine 141).
• Hans-Eckart Joachim : The museum director Franz Oelmann. A director in difficult times. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 216, 2016 (2017), pp. 3–12.

Web links

• Literature by and about Franz Oelmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Portrait photo by Franz Oelmann