Jürgen J. Rasch

Jürgen Johannes Rasch (born October 23, 1937 in Herford ; † January 26, 2015 in Karlsruhe ) was a German building researcher and university professor .

Life

After graduating from high school at the humanistic Friedrichs-Gymnasium in Herford, Jürgen Rasch first studied civil engineering and then architecture at the Technical University of Karlsruhe . Since 1977 he has been doing research in the research project Spätantike Zentralbauten in Rome and Latium, initiated by Arnold Tschira in Karlsruhe and Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann in Rome, at the Department of Building History at the University of Karlsruhe. From 1994 to 1996 he was involved in the excavations there with the historical analysis of the early Christian basilica in Emmaus ( Israel ). 1982 doctorate Rasch at Wulf Schirmer in Karlsruhe with a thesis on late antique central buildings in Rome and Lazio in the focus of Maxentius Mausoleum, 1993, he was with a record of late antique dome structures habilitation , since 1994 he worked as a lecturer involved in professional construction history of the University of Karlsruhe, In 1995 he was appointed a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute . In 2000 he was appointed as an adjunct professor and worked in this position until his death at the university, which has since been renamed the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) . Until recently he was involved in the supervision of master's theses and dissertations.

Jürgen Rasch's main research areas were structural engineering, vault construction and metrology in relation to buildings from the Roman Empire and late antiquity. In 2007, together with Achim Arbeiter , he published an extensive study of the mausoleum of Constantina in Rome. Rasch's structural engineering studies on Roman vaults and domes serve as an essential basis for understanding ancient Roman construction methods. With his dissertation he was able to prove for the first time that there is a mausoleum in the complex built by Maxentius on the Via Appia.

Jürgen Rasch was one of the organizers of one on 16./17. November 2012 organized an international colloquium on the economic buildings in the ancient city , the final publication of which he no longer lived to see.

engagement

In addition to his scientific work, Jürgen Rasch was also involved in public life on the basis of a basic Christian attitude. He was one of the initiators of the Karlsruhe city prayer and a pioneer for the gathering and exchange of spiritual leaders. In 2008 he was one of the three founders of the municipal political initiative Together for Karlsruhe , today FOR Karlsruhe . With her he represented the interest in careful urban development, which should have the historically significant farming heritage of Karlsruhe in view, especially when it came to the future of the court pharmacy and the Konkordienkirche on the market square. Due to his commitment to the Hardtwald friends, he also took a critical position vis-à-vis the planned north bypass, which would have adversely affected the Hardtwald recreation area in Karlsruhe .

Publications (selection)

Monographs

• with Achim Arbeiter : The mausoleum of Constantina in Rome (= central buildings of late antiquity in Rome and Latium. Volume 4). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007.
• The mausoleum of Empress Helena in Rome and the "Tempio della tosse" in Tivoli (= central buildings of late antiquity in Rome and Latium. Volume 3). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998.
• The mausoleum at Tor de 'Schiavi in ​​Rome (= central buildings of late antiquity in Rome and Latium. Volume 2). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1993 (also: habilitation thesis, University of Karlsruhe.
• The Maxentius mausoleum on the Via Appia in Rome (= late antique central buildings in Rome and Latium. Volume 1). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1984.

Essays

• La formazione della basilica con gallery nel quarto secolo. In: Hugo Brandenburg, Federico Guidobaldi (ed.): Scavi e scoperte recenti nelle chiese di Roma: atti della giornata tematica dei Seminari di Archeologia Cristiana (Roma, 13 March 2008). Città del Vaticano 2012, pp. 93-105.
• Light supply, room design and wall structure in late antique rooms. In: Peter I. Schneider, Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt (Hrsg.): Discussions on archaeological building research. Volume 10, Regensburg 2011, pp. 246-254.
• Dome I (domed structure, domed basilica). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Volume 22 (2008), Col. 461-488.
• Roma. Via Prenestina. Mausoleo di Tor de 'Schiavi. In: Bollettino di archeologia. Special volume 2008, fascicle 2, pp. 81–84.
• Roma. Via Labicana. Mausoleo dell'imperatrice Elena. In: Bollettino di archeologia. Special volume 2008, fascicle 2, pp. 85–88.
• Tivoli (Roma). Via Tiburtina. Il cd. Tempio della Tosse. In: Bollettino di archeologia. Special volume 2008, fascicle 2, pp. 117–118.
• The emergence of the 'emperor type' in Roman thermal baths. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Volume 103, 1996, pp. 201-230.
• Pantheon. In: Contributions to the history of civil engineering. Volume 7, 1996, no p.
• Late antique dome constructions, part 1. For the construction of late antique domes from the 3rd to the 6th century. In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute. Volume 106, 1991, pp. 312-383.
• Late antique cementicium domes: construction process, choice of materials, construction details. In: Adolf Hoffmann, Wolfram Hoepfner, Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner (eds.): Discussions on archaeological building research. Volume 5, Mainz 1991, pp. 184-186.
• Photogrammetric recordings of Roman domes and their results. In: Small contributions to the history of building construction and building technology (= materials for building research and building history. Volume 1). Karlsruhe 1990, pp. 5-13.

Contributions

• Collaboration with: Karlfriedrich Ohr: The basilica in Pompeii. Berlin 1991.

Reviews

• Review of: Ute Verstegen , excavations and building research in St. Gereon in Cologne. In: Gnomon . Volume 85, 2013, pp. 550-556.
• Review of: Christoph Höcker, Metzler-Lexikon antique architecture. In: Journal for Art History. Volume 11, 2007, pp. 104-110.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Department of Building History at KIT

literature

• Ulrich Fellmeth u. a. (Ed.): Commercial buildings in the ancient city (= materials on building research and building history. Volume 20). KIT-Verlag, Karlsruhe 2016, ISBN 978-3-7315-0540-2 , pp. 13-21 (detailed obituary with complete list of publications).