Prehistoric and early historical collection at the University of Jena
The prehistory and early history collection of the University of Jena was created in 1863 as the Germanic Museum of the University of Jena and existed in this form until 1945. After the Second World War it was called the Prehistory Museum of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute for Prehistoric Archeology until 1968 . The collection belongs to the area for prehistory and early history of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena . Since 1859, courses in prehistoric archeology have been offered in Jena - with short interruptions . A separate chair has existed since 1934. The institute mainly deals with the preservation of monuments in Thuringia .
Holdings of the collection
The holdings of the collection today comprise around 45,000 inventory units from around 1,500 predominantly European sites, around 1,000 of which are in central Germany . The finds range in time from the Paleolithic to the early modern period . These are mainly ceramic vessels and their fragments as well as tools and weapons made of stone and metal. There are also artefacts made of silver and gold, as well as bone, ivory (mammoth teeth), amber, glass and wood.
The finds come from large parts of Europe, such as B. from the Vézère valley in France , from Jordansmühl in Silesia , Hallstatt in Austria , La Tène in Switzerland , Montegiorgio in Italy , etc. The collection is currently and probably in the near future only rarely accessible to the public (on request) . However, parts of the holdings are shown in smaller exhibitions or as permanent loans in regional museums, but also appear at national and international exhibitions at home and abroad. They often served as the basis for the first description of archaeological cultures or time periods, e.g. B. for the band ceramics , the cord ceramics , the Dreitzscher group or the Großromstedter horizon .
In addition, the collection houses a rich selection of find complexes of supraregional importance for research such as B. Paleolithic artefacts from Oelknitz , the Celtic beaked jug from Borsch , the La Tène period mask fibula from Ostheim vor der Rhön or the imperial pair of magnificent fibulae from Dienstedt .
History of the institute and the collection
1859–1929 - beginnings
One of the founders of prehistory in Jena was initially the private lecturer in art history , Friedrich Klopfleisch (1831–1898), who had been teaching at the university since 1859 . From 1866 onwards, he made more efforts to record the architectural and art monuments of Thuringia, but initially could not establish himself with this idea. In 1875, Klopfleisch was appointed associate professor and from 1894 onwards he dealt exclusively with prehistoric archeology, but had to resign as professor and museum director in 1896 due to a serious illness.
His best-known student is Alfred Götze (1865–1948), who received his doctorate from Klopfleisch in 1890 with one of the first prehistoric dissertations on the subject of "The vessel shapes and ornaments of Neolithic string-adorned ceramics in the Saale river basin". Other Thuringian archeology students at Klopfleisch were Ludwig Pfeiffer (1842–1921), one of the excavators of the paleolithic site in Weimar- Ehringsdorf , the long-time curator of the Weimar Museum of Prehistory , Armin Möller (1865–1938), and medical officer Gustav Eichhorn .
In 1863 Klopfleisch donated his collection of prehistoric , folkloric and art historical objects to the university and became director of the “Germanisches Museum zu Jena”. Initially, the museum was housed in the round tower of the castle building, which also formed the northeast corner of the city fortifications. Klopfleisch increased the holdings of the museum by acquiring large collections such as the “Praehistorica” kept in the Grand Ducal Library in Weimar, including items from the possession of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . Most of the finds, however, come from Klopfleisch's own excavations . In the roughly thirty years of his activity in Jena, he has carried out over 150 excavations at around 80 sites and significantly more sites. With a focus on Jena and Weimar, they extended to all of today's Thuringia and the neighboring countries. Among the best known are the investigations on the Jenzig near Jena (from 1856), the paleolithic site Taubach near Weimar (from 1870) and on the grave mound of Leubingen of the Aunjetitz culture (1877).
After Klopfleisch's death, teaching in prehistory was initially discontinued. From 1900 the collection was looked after on a voluntary basis by his pupil Gustav Eichhorn (1862–1929), who was employed as a curator from 1902. Soon after he started working for the museum, Gustav Eichhorn set up the archive for prehistoric and prehistoric find news and thus established a central conservation of monuments in the politically highly fragmented Thuringia. Since 1904 there were plans to use “a kind of archive” to make “the University of Jena the center of prehistoric research in Thuringia”.
In 1904 the collection was able to move into several rooms in the former Collegium Jenense , because the old castle was demolished for the new building of the main university building. Here Eichhorn reorganized the collection, inventoried it and exchanged the historical objects for the prehistoric finds from the city museum. The holdings of the Germanisches Museum now also include private collections such as B. from Otto Schott ( Hallstatt period finds from the Picenum ), Otto Hauser ( Paleolithic artifacts from France ) and Arno Schröder (finds mainly from the area around Jena, but also from all of Central Europe).
In 1918 Einhorn took over the management of the "Prehistoric (formerly so-called German.) Museum" as a board member and at the same time was allowed to give lectures on prehistory and early history at the request of the philosophical faculty. In 1927 he was appointed full honorary professor for his commitment . Seriously ill since 1928, Eichhorn died on October 15, 1929 in Jena.
In 1926, the Faculty of Philosophy established the right to award doctorates in the major and minor prehistory and early history . Herbert Jankuhn (1905–1990) and Gotthard Neumann (1902–1972) were among the students of prehistory in the brief period of Eichhorn's teaching activity . Eichhorn was only able to do a doctorate with Hildegard Knack in 1928 with a dissertation on "The Latène Culture in Thuringia". Knack, who majored in prehistory from Easter 1924, was the second woman after Rowena Morse to receive her doctorate at the University of Jena.
Of particular importance are the excavations in the Elbe Germanic burial ground of Großromstedt , which were carried out together with Philipp Kropp between 1907 and 1913 and 1926 and 1928, and whose material was presented in a monograph by Eichhorn as early as 1927. Eichhorn also carried out several rescue excavations around Jena and devoted himself in particular to the processing and presentation of Klopfleisch's excavations.
1930–1945 - Upswing in National Socialism
A few weeks after Gustav Eichhorn's death, the National Socialist Minister of Education, Wilhelm Frick , tried to replace the brief deputy administrator Wilfried von Seidlitz (1880–1945) and to provide the racial scientist Hans FK Günther with a full professorship for prehistory at the University of Jena. This failed because of the resistance of the prehistorians, the rector and the senate .
In 1930 the management of the Germanic Museum was transferred to the former student Eichhorns Gotthard Neumann (1902–1972). From the winter semester 1930/31 Neumann offered courses again as a volunteer assistant at the history seminar. In the sign of the rise in importance of prehistory and early history during the Nazi era , seven chairs for this subject, four of them full, were founded in the German Reich in 1934 . Neumann was appointed extraordinary professor of prehistory by Reich Governor Fritz Sauckel without prior habilitation . In 1936 the Germanisches Museum moved into the house of the dissolved student association of singers from St. Pauli Jena in Forstweg 24, whereupon the permanent collection became publicly accessible in ten rooms. Through the acquisition of several private collections, the holdings had already grown quickly.
The institute was expanded to become a state institute for prehistory and Neumann supervised the preservation of monuments in large parts of what is now Thuringia. Examples of major archaeological research and rescue excavations, where in addition to students of Prehistory and Early History also members of the Reich Labor Service took part are: 1932 Upper Palaeolithic open land settlement in Oelknitz , now part of the municipality Rothstein , 1933 and 1936 late Bronze Age cremations and early medieval row cemetery in Zöllnitz , 1933 medieval moated castle Kapellendorf , 1934 medieval tower hill in Jenalöbnitz ; 1934-1938 medieval Kyffhausen Castle , 1935 medieval castle Camburg , 1935-1936 and 1941-1942 six Corded Ware grave hill at Lucka -Breitenhain and a jungneolithischer grave hill at Stobra , 1936 urn field of the early Iron Age and early medieval row cemetery at Dreitzsch , 1940 Bronze Age grave mound at Völkershausen - Willmanns and others more.
With the beginning of the Second World War , all male employees and their representatives were drafted into the Wehrmacht one after the other until January 1941 , which largely brought the institute's activities to a standstill. The administration of the museum was taken over by the Jena professor for anthropology and ethnology Bernhard Struck (1888–1971) and the field and office work as assistant Gudrun Loewe (1914–1994). The prehistoric and early historical lectures and exercises at the university were represented by Leonhard Franz from 1941 to 1944 ( University of Leipzig / University of Innsbruck , 1895–1974). From 1943 onwards, 60 female forced laborers from the Carl Zeiss Jena company were housed in the institute building, and the public library for Thuringia moved here the following year. The collection, which was only partially outsourced, suffered great damage during this time. Shortly before the end of the war, Neumann was appointed full professor with effect from February 1, 1945, although he was unable to hold this position.
1945–1991 - continuity in the GDR
After returning from American captivity, Neumann began reorganizing the institute and rebuilding the museum in June 1945, which was renamed the Prehistoric Museum of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute for Prehistoric Archeology . After his dismissal by the Soviet military administration in December 1945, Gerhard Mildenberger ran the business in Leipzig on his behalf. Teaching activities were suspended until October 1947, when Günter Behm (from 1953 Behm-Blancke ; 1912–1994) was appointed acting director of the museum and at the same time he was given a teaching position for prehistory. In 1949 he was appointed lecturer for prehistory, in 1951 and 1953 professor with teaching assignment and in 1961 professor with full teaching assignment for prehistory and early history (equivalent to associate professor). From 1947 Neumann was again employed at the museum and in 1953 was again appointed professor with a full teaching assignment for prehistory and early history and at the same time director of the institute. In 1956 he was promoted to professor with chair (equivalent to full professor) and retired in 1967 . Waldtraut Schrickel were assistants and lecturers from 1947 to 1958, and Karl Peschel from 1959 after moving to the Federal Republic of Germany .
The permanent collection of the Jena Institute, reopened in August 1949, became a study collection for students and professionals, while the museum in Weimar was expanded from 1953 to become the state museum for prehistory and early history of Thuringia and a center for the preservation of monuments . In 1958 Neumann was able to rearrange the collection and had several private collections bought for this purpose. Thuringian topics continued to be the focus, with new studies on the pre-Roman Iron Age and the stone castle near Römhild , which Neumann took over in 1949 after the death of Alfred Götze . In rescue and research excavations in the wider area of Jena, Schrickel devoted himself particularly to the Neolithic and Neumann of the pre-Roman Iron Age and the Middle Ages , including the Gumprechtsdorf desert in the former state forest of Klosterlausnitz (1952-1953), the emergence of the medieval cities of Jena and Lobeda (1953 –1956), the Bronze Age and early medieval castle wall on the Johannisberg near Jena-Lobeda (1957, 1959) and the castle or the Peterskloster in Saalfeld (1964).
In 1968 Günter Behm-Blancke was again appointed director of the institute. In the course of the Third University Reform in the GDR in 1968, the institute was to be merged with the State Museum for Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia in Weimar . As a result, the collection was moved to rooms in the Kapellendorf moated castle and a Weimar school. However, the university institute retained its independence and continued to exist as a research area of prehistory and early history within the newly founded section (philosophy and) history at the social science faculty of the Friedrich Schiller University . In 1973 the facility found a new domicile on Ernst-Thälmann-Ring 24a (today again Löbdergraben 24a) and the holdings could be returned.
Behm-Blancke until his retirement in 1977 Professor with the Department (full professor) and head of the scientific field Prehistory and Early History of the Section history. In 1977, Karl Peschel appointed head of the area for Prehistory and 1979 for university lecturers appointed. In accordance with the requirements of the Third University Reform , training as a specialist scientist was discontinued in 1968 in Jena as well as in Leipzig and Greifswald . The teaching could be continued, but was now geared towards the training of history teachers.
The focus of the research was the pre-Roman Iron Age in the low mountain range with special consideration of the problems of the Celts and Teutons . On the one hand, the reworking of the Elbe-Germanic burial ground in Großromstedt and, on the other hand, investigations into the Celtic settlement of south-west Thuringia in the Hallstatt and La Tène periods, especially on the Gleichbergen near Römhild, by Karl Peschel. The limited human, technical and financial possibilities allowed only smaller excavations and emergency salvages until 1989. The area was still responsible for the preservation of monuments in the city and in the Jena district.
After the political change and the reunification of Germany, all employees of the institution were wound up in October 1990 because they belonged to the history section , i. H. dismissed and hired again after examination.
Since 1991 - after the political change
As early as 1991, Peschel was able to take over prehistory as a major again. He was appointed to a professorship in 1993 and retired in 1999 . The Bilzingsleben research center, founded in 1974 by Dietrich Mania (* 1938), was removed from the responsibility of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle in 1993 as a result of the transition of the Artern district to the Free State of Thuringia and affiliated with the Friedrich Schiller University . Initially active as a research assistant with a teaching position in Jena, Dietrich Mania became an adjunct professor for prehistory , quaternary geology and paleontology in 1995 and retired in 2000.
In 2000, Peter Ettel was appointed to a professorship and head of the Prehistory and Protohistory Department. The excavation activity could be intensified within the framework of research, teaching and rescue excavations, for example on the cemetery of Mühlen Eichsen . With the investigation of the central settlement in Karlburg near Karlstadt in 2002/03, the Jena tradition of medieval archeology was resumed. Since 2004 the department has been involved in a DFG project to research the Nebra sky disk and its surroundings. In 2003, Clemens Pasda was appointed professor of prehistory and took over the continuation of the Bilzingsleben research project .
literature
- Gustav Eichhorn: Guide through the collections of the Germanic Museum of the University of Jena. Jena 1929.
- Roman Grabolle, Uwe Hoßfeld , Klaus Schmidt: Prehistory and early history in Jena 1930-1945. Teaching, researching and digging for Germania? In: Uwe Hoßfeld, Jürgen John, Oliver Lemuth, Rüdiger Stutz (eds.): "Combative Science". Studies at the University of Jena under National Socialism. Cologne - Weimar - Vienna 2003, pp. 868–912, ISBN 3-412-04102-5 .
- Gotthard Neumann: Dr. Friedrich Klopfleisch, professor of art history at the University of Jena, founder of Thuringian prehistory research . In: Mannus. Bonn 24.1932, 134-146. ISSN 0025-2360
- Gotthard Neumann: Hundred Years of Prehistoric Museum of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute for Prehistoric Archeology. in: excavations and finds. Akad.-Verl., Berlin 8.1963, 223-231. ISSN 0004-8127
- Karl Peschel: The prehistoric and early historical collection . In: Riches and Rarities. Cultural-historical collections, museums, archives and gardens of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. in: Jena speeches and writings. Univ.-Verl., Jena 1974, 137-143. ISSN 0232-5969
Web links
- Department for prehistory and early history at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
- Sabine Goldhahn: In a country before our time. The Jena collection for prehistory and early history . Uni_Journal Jena. April 2000.
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 38.9 " N , 11 ° 35 ′ 26.6" E