Frobenius Institute
The Frobenius Institute is named after its founder, the ethnologist Leo Frobenius . It is based in Frankfurt am Main and is associated with the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University . The oldest ethnological institute in Germany works closely with the Institute for Historical Ethnology and the city's Museum of World Cultures .
history
The institute was founded in Berlin in 1898 as the Africa Archive Foundation , and in 1920 it moved to Munich as a research institute for cultural morphology . From 1925 it was affiliated to the Goethe University in Frankfurt and renamed in 1946 to today's name. During the war, successors to Leo Frobenius as head of the institute were temporarily Karin Hahn-Hissink , from October 1945 Adolf Ellegard Jensen , from 1965 to 1966 Carl A. Schmitz , from 1968 to 1992 Eike Haberland , from 1996 to 2016 Karl-Heinz Kohl and since 2017 Roland Hardenberg .
From 1934 Leo Frobenius undertook an extensive research expedition to Africa, for which he recruited the artist Alf Bayrle , who was then living in Paris. The aim of the expedition was "to document old Africa as extensively and systematically as possible". The resulting images are not only of scientific importance, but also of artistic importance and significantly influenced the later work of the artist and the perception of African culture.
Well-known employees of the institute are or were Christian Feest , Hans Rhotert , Ewald Volhard , Heinz Wieschhoff and Karin Hahn-Hissink .
Tasks and activities
The institute's main focus is on ethnological and historical research in Africa ; the regions of South and Southeast Asia , Australia , South and North America, and Oceania are also included. The projects currently focus on the cultural changes caused by globalization . The institute also awards an annual research award for above-average dissertations on ethnological or cultural-scientific topics. The Frobenius Institute also organizes the Jensen Memorial Lecture every year with financial support from the Hahn-Hissinkschen Frobenius Foundation. Renowned scholars from abroad are invited for one semester.
Duration
The holdings include scientific collections and legacies that are the result of collecting and documenting activities that began with the establishment of the Africa Archive and continued after the death of Leo Frobenius in 1938. In addition to the image archive, which includes photos of the research excursions as well as drawings and copies of rock art, the institute has an archive that houses the estate of the institute's founder, former directors and academic staff. There is also its own ethnographic collection of around 6000 objects. The Ethnological Library is also attached to the Frobenius Institute . With around 127,000 volumes today, it is the oldest and most extensive ethnological library in German-speaking countries.
The institute is home to the German Society for Ethnology .
Frobenius Institute Collection (Frankfurt)
Bookplate Leo Frobenius
Frobenius collection
Daughter of the Emir of Bida, Nigeria . Watercolor by Carl Arriens , 1911
Carl Arriens in the Benue region , Nigeria, 1911. Photo by Leo Frobenius
See also
literature
- The Frobenius Institute at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. 1898-1998 . Foreword: Karl-Heinz Kohl. Frankfurt am Main, Frobenius Institute, 1998
- Karl-Heinz Kohl, Richard Kuba, Hélène Ivanoff and Benedikt Burkard (eds.): Art of the past. Texts on the rock paintings in the Frobenius collection . Frankfurt, Frobenius Institute, 2016. ISBN 978-3-9806506-8-7
- Exhibition catalog for the exhibition in the Martin-Gropius-Bau , Berlin. Prestel, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-7913-5503-0 .
Web links
- Official website
- Research Expeditions (1904–1999) / Research trips (until 1974)
Footnotes
- ↑ Information on the website of the institute ( Memento from January 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Presentation of the project ( Memento from October 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), search mask of the database
- ^ Library catalog