Josef Gens

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Josef Gens (born December 14, 1943 in Cologne ) is a German hobby archaeologist and one of the discoverers of the Poblicius tomb in Cologne.

Live and act

Josef Gens, son of the textile merchant Heinrich Gens, discovered the tomb of the Roman legionnaire Lucius Poblicius together with his brother Heinz while studying foundations under his parents' house at Cologne's Chlodwigplatz 24 in 1964 . With the help of his brother and five friends, as well as the support of a young archaeologist as a mentor, he succeeded in recovering 70 tons of relief blocks from a depth of up to nine meters below street level. In May 1970 the city of Cologne acquired all the excavated stones from the finders for 510,000 DM. The tomb was rebuilt in the Roman-Germanic Museum of the city of Cologne.

Gens, who still deliberately describes himself as a hobby archaeologist and hobby historian, not only surprised the professional world with this important find, but also provided a first reconstruction drawing of the tomb, an archaeological find documentation and, via initial research, proof that already In 1884 the first relief cubes of the Poblicius and a neighboring tomb were found on Chlodwigplatz.

After more than 40 years as a qualified engineer specializing in mechanical engineering at Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG , Gens resumed his research work on the Poblicius tomb and the history of Cologne in 2005 and published another attempt at reconstruction of the Poblicius tomb in 2009.

In 2012 Gens received the Severins Citizens' Prize in recognition of his contribution to the customs and culture of the city of Cologne. The laudator was the head of the Roman-Germanic Museum, Marcus Trier .

In 2013 Gens published the book “Grabungsfieber”, in which he presented both the history of the excavation and his previous research results on the Poblicius tomb. In the following years, Gens was given access to the libraries, archives and depots of the Roman-Germanic Museum in Cologne and the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn for further research . In 2016, he presented the results of this research to the museums mentioned in numerous files and tables.

In 2017, Gens and Hermann Krüssel, senior teacher at the Pius-Gymnasium in Aachen, published the book “The Poblicius Monument - Cologne in Augustan Times”, in which they both presented their joint research from 2014 to 2017. The two - by far earlier - dates of the Poblicius tomb and the time when the Ubier settlement was founded met with particular interest.

Gens published further research results in 2018 on the "Logistics and Construction Technology of Roman Factory Huts" and in 2019 - again together with Hermann Krüssel - on "New Findings on the Statue of Burtscheid".

Fonts

  • Find documentation Gens 1967 (archive of the Roman-Germanic Museum since July 1967; in the Arachne file of the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne since 2009), published in 2013 in the book “Grabungsfieber” pp. 260–331.
  • Description of the first reconstruction of the Poblicius tomb in 1967 (archive of the Roman-Germanic Museum since August 1967), published in 2013 in the book “Grabungsfieber” p. 332–337.
  • Dig fever . The adventurous discovery of the Poblicius tomb. Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 2013, ISBN 3-462-03839-7 .
  • with Hermann Krüssel: Secretum Poblicii - The Cologne Poblicius Monument - New knowledge from a philological, epigraphic and technical archaeological point of view. In: Pro Lingua Latina issue 16, spring 2015, pp. 155–197.
  • The Poblicius Monument - Cologne in Augustan times. Mainz Verlag, Aachen 2017, ISBN 978-3-86317-029-5 .
  • De Arte Officinarum - logistics and construction technology of Roman works huts - illustrated using the example of the Poblicius tomb. In: Pro Lingua Latina issue 19, spring 2018, pp. 41–57 ( digitized version ).
  • with Hermann Krüssel: Statua Porcetensis - New Findings on the Statue of Burtscheid. In: Pro Lingua Latina issue 20, spring 2019, pp. 19–29 ( digitized version ).

Press (selection)

  • Under the spell of the ancient faun. In: Kölnische Rundschau , May 16, 1967.
  • Under the haberdashery by the city gate. In: Time magazine December 1, 1967.
  • Archeology / Roman grave: Faun after work . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1967, p. 201-202 ( Online - Dec. 4, 1967 ).
  • Carl Dietmar: Poblicius tomb. Story of a sensational find. In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger 1./2. September 2012, p. 35.
  • The man who found the Roman grave in the cellar. In: Kölnische Rundschau , September 3, 2012
  • Andreas Fasel: The incredible find by a hobby archaeologist . In: Die Welt September 8, 2013.
  • Andreas Fasel: in the basement . In: Die Welt September 11, 2013.
  • Dig times . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung March 24, 2014, p. 3 ( digitized version ).

Film & radio

  • A secret Roman grave - sensational find under my house , conversation with video recordings, Germany, 2014, 58:13 min. Moderator: Birgit Klaus. Guest: Josef Gens, Production. WDR. BR-alpha, SWR, series: Planet Wissen, first broadcast: June 10, 2014 on WDR, BR-alpha, summary (Memento from May 21, 2015 in the web archive: archive today with online videos from WDR.)
  • Petra Müller: Josef Gens - archeologist by chance: On Roman traces in your own cellar. In WDR 5, Experienced Stories, October 27, 2013, with audio file, 24 min.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seitenengel: To the discoverer and author. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
  2. ^ Andreas Fasel: Poblicius-Grabmal: The incredible find of a hobby archaeologist. In: welt.de . September 8, 2013, accessed July 2, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Seitenengel: On the excavation history. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Peter Fuchs (Ed.): Chronik zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln , Volume 2, 1991, p. 306.
  5. ↑ Seitenengel: On the dating. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Seitenengel: Reviews of Josef Gens: The Poblicius Monument, Josef Gens Book 2017 "The Poblicius Monument - Cologne in Augustan Times" Book 2013 "Excavation Fever". Retrieved on July 2, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ Seitenengel: Reviews of Josef Gens: The Poblicius Monument, Josef Gens Book 2017 "The Poblicius Monument - Cologne in Augustan Times" Book 2013 "Excavation Fever". Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Gens, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German amateur archaeologist and discoverer of the Poblicius tomb in Cologne
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne