Gabriel Welter

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Franz Gabriel Welter (born May 16, 1890 in Metz , † August 2, 1954 in Athens ) was a German classical archaeologist .

Gabriel Welter was born in Lorraine into a family that belonged to the French culture. As a 14-year-old high school student, he wrote a thesis on lightning protection on Roman houses, and a year later he created a map of Roman settlement around Metz. At the age of 18 he uncovered a Roman villa near Metz. Despite the connection to French culture, Welter studied at the German universities in Strasbourg with Franz Winter , in Leipzig with Franz Studniczka and briefly in Rome . In 1914 he received his doctorate from Studniczka in Leipzig with a thesis on North African grave structures. In 1920 he founded the series of publications on building blocks for archeology , in which he published a picture booklet on the Karlsruhe vase collection in the same year. In terms of program, he put the publication series in front of the series: The purpose of the publication is to provide science with material for processing in the existing specialist journals . More than Welter's first volume has not appeared.

In the autumn of that year, Welter went to Athens with Studniczka , where the Athens Department of the German Archaeological Institute was reopened after the First World War , which Studniczka was in charge of. Greece was to become Welter's new home. For years he worked as a "voluntary assistant" for the Athens department without pay. The Central Directorate of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin entrusted him from 1927 to 1937 with the post of excavation officer based in Athens.

Lysicrates Monument

The years in Greece were accompanied by tight financial resources. Although Welter usually dug widely, he often limited himself to individual cuts and deep excavations. From the findings he tried to make statements and to find favorable points for further explorations. The problem was that he neglected to publish his results. There are preliminary reports and short essays at least on his early activities. In 1921 he assisted Studniczka with investigations at the Lysikratesmonument , in the following year he carried out this research independently and was able to clarify the dimensions and the time of origin of the older Olympieion through a smaller excavation . In 1923 he dug at the Niketempel on the Acropolis , where he was able to find a previous building. In the following years he dug at the Hekatompedos on Naxos and from 1927 in Shechem ( Palestine ). Since Welter published almost none of his results, the scope of his years of work alongside Ernst Buschor on Samos can no longer be determined. Welter's most important achievement, the prehistoric excavation in Old Aegina , has also remained unpublished. The research in Troizen and Kalaureia alone was published in a brief, lexical manner in 1941. After the Second World War , Welter suggested a series of publications The History of Greece based on its Landscapes , which should appear in Modern Greek and comprise 31 volumes. The richly illustrated large-scale project was intended primarily to serve as a tool and work tool for young Greek archaeologists. Due to Welter's early death in 1954, however, the project did not get beyond its beginnings. No line was printed yet. From the estate, a volume on Chalkis was published in 1955 and another on Aegina in 1962, although this was only an expanded version of a smaller book Welters from 1938.

Welter is an archaeologist about whom little is known, but who has many legends. There are no detailed obituaries, nor are there any personal reports. Employees remember the archaeologist's ability to drink as well as his red hair, which earned him the name “red beard”. He was said to have Celtic roots, and in the year of his doctorate he published a study on Celtic mythology in Paris . Welter was also known for his talent for combinations, his imagination and his linguistic wit. Hardly any of these things found their way into his publications, which seem rather dry and often include uncommented compilations of sources, dates and references. Welter strongly influenced a generation of young archaeologists through his suggestions, but the value of his work is diminished by the lack of publications. For his services he was declared an honorary citizen on Naxos; he is on the list of honorary citizens next to Richard Strauss . A street is named after him in the old town of Naxos.

Publications (selection)

  • Notes de mythology gallo-romaine . In: Revue archéologique , t.1, E. Leroux, Paris 1911.
  • Building blocks for archeology , from the Karlsruhe vase collection, A. Reiff & cie, Offenburg 1920.
  • From the Karlsruhe vase collection , building blocks for archeology1, Reiff, Offenburg and Baden 1920.
  • Old Ionic temples. 1. The Hekatompedos of Naxos : AM XLIX, 1924.
  • Status of the excavations in Shechem , reprint from the yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute, printed by W. de Gruyter, Berlin 1932.
  • Aigina , Mann, Berlin 1938.
  • Troizen and Kalaureia , Mann, Berlin 1941.
  • Historia tes Hellados kata periochas :
    • Vol. 1: Chalkis , Athens 1955.
    • Vol. 2: Aegina , Athens 1962.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Welter, Gabriel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Welter, Franz Gabriel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 1954
Place of death Athens