Friedrich Drexel

Friedrich Drexel (born August 29, 1885 in Bodenbach ad Elbe ; † February 8, 1930 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German provincial Roman archaeologist .

Life

Drexel studied classical archeology and was in 1909 when George Loeschcke at the University of Bonn with a thesis on Alexandrian silver vessels of the empire doctorate . 1912–1913 he received a travel grant from the German Archaeological Institute . He worked as assistant to Ernst Fabricius for the Reichs-Limeskommission in Freiburg and from 1914 at the Roman-Germanic Commission (RGK) in Frankfurt am Main. In 1920 he published his habilitation thesis on the pictures of the Igel column . In 1924 he was appointed director of the Roman-Germanic Commission. He held this post until his sudden death in February 1930. In 1925 he became honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt.

On the evening of February 8, 1930 Drexel did not return home from a walk and was considered missing. His body was not recovered from the Main near Frankfurt-Höchst until March 16, 1930 . The circumstances of his death are still unclear.

Act

As a student of Georg Loeschke, Drexel was a trained classical archaeologist, but mainly devoted himself to researching the Roman remains in what was then the German Reich. At the Limeswerk , he wrote articles on Miltenberg, Stockstadt and Faimingen at an early age. As director of the RGK, Drexel made an important contribution to the restoration of contacts between German and foreign archaeologists, which had broken off in the years after the First World War. During his directorate he succeeded in strengthening relations between German and Southeast European archeology. This happened with the help of his assistant and later second director Gerhard Bersu . In October 1926 Drexel was invited to negotiate at the Hungarian Ministry of Culture in Budapest, where he was able to conclude important agreements that formed the basis for cooperation between German and Hungarian archaeologists. During the negotiations it was certainly an advantage that Drexel himself spoke Hungarian. As a result of these agreements, the joint study trips of German and Danube soil researchers took place from 1927. The close contacts of the RGK to scientists in Southeast Europe could be maintained until the time of the "Third Reich". Joint excavation projects were also carried out.

Fonts (selection)

• To the Mainz Juppiter Column. In: Römisch-Germanisches Korrespondenzblatt. Volume 8, 1915, pp. 65-69.
• The pictures of the Igel column. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Volume 25, 1920, pp. 84-142.
• The worship of gods in Roman Germania. In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission. Volume 14, 1922, pp. 1-68.
• Twenty-five years of the Roman-Germanic Commission. To commemorate the celebration of 9-11 December 1927, ed. from the Roman-German. Commission d. Archaeolog. Institute d. German Empire, foreword by Friedrich Drexel.

literature

• Ernst Fabricius : Obituary for Friedrich Drexel . In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission . Volume 19, 1929 (1930), pp. V-VIII.
• Mechthilde Unverzagt: Wilhelm Unverzagt and the plans to found an institute for the prehistory of Germany . Mainz 1985, p. 90.
• Siegmar von Schnurbein : Outline of the development of the Roman-Germanic commission under the individual directors from 1911 to 2002. In: Report of the Roman-Germanic commission. Volume 82, 2001, pp. 162-163.
• Marie Vigener: “An important cultural and political factor”. The German Archaeological Institute between science, politics and the public, 1918–1954. Rahden / Westf. 2012, pp. 39-40.

Web links

• Literature by and about Friedrich Drexel in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Siegmar von Schnurbein: Outline of the development of the Roman-Germanic commission under the individual directors from 1911 to 2002. In: Report of the Roman-Germanic commission. Volume 82, 2001, p. 176.