Kurt Bittel

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Kurt Bittel (born July 5, 1907 in Heidenheim an der Brenz ; † January 30, 1991 there ) was a German prehistoric scientist . As president of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and excavator of the Hittite royal city of Hattuscha in Turkey , but also as an expert for the Celts in Central Europe , he made great contributions.

Live and act

At the age of 13, Bittel undertook his first excavations in a burial mound near Oggenhausen . His brother Heinz Bittel, who was three years his junior, helped him with this .

Kurt Bittel studied in Heidelberg, Vienna, Berlin and Marburg. At the age of 23 he received his doctorate on the Celts in Württemberg in 1930 under Gero von Merhart . In 1930/31 he received a travel grant from the German Archaeological Institute, which took him to Hattuša for the first time . 1930 to 1932 he took part in excavations in Egypt. Since 1931 he was only employed as a "scientific assistant" in the branches in Cairo and Istanbul. In autumn 1933, Bittel became a consultant at the Archaeological Institute of the German Empire in Istanbul with Martin Schede . From 1931 to 1977 Bittel was the head of the excavations in the capital of the Hittites , Hattuša, where he was succeeded by his long-time colleague Peter Neve . On October 1, 1937, Bittel joined the NSDAP (membership no. 4,457,046). In 1938 he became the first director of the Istanbul department of the DAI . From 1942 to 1944, Bittel worked as a lecturer at Istanbul University. At the beginning of August 1944, diplomatic relations between Turkey and the German Reich were broken off, subsequently the Istanbul department of the DAI was closed and Bittel - like many other German citizens - was expelled from Turkey.

In 1946 Bittel became Professor of Prehistory and Early History at the University of Tübingen , where in 1950 he together with from Adolf Rieth and Wolfgang Kimmig the excavations at Hallstatt Heuneburg began. In 1951 Bittel returned to Turkey as Director of the Istanbul Department of the DAI; He also held a visiting professorship at Istanbul University from 1951 to 1960. In 1952 he discovered Daskyleion at Bandırma. In 1959 he was elected a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . 1960 to 1972 he was President of the German Archaeological Institute . From 1972 he was a full member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences . On January 30, 1991, Bittel died in his hometown of Heidenheim an der Brenz, which made him an honorary citizen. Since 1989 the city of Heidenheim an der Brenz has been awarding the Kurt Bittel Prize for South German Archeology , which is awarded every two years for outstanding research achievements in the area of ​​prehistory and early history in southern Germany.

Awards and honors (extract)

Kurt Bittel's grave of honor is located in the Totenberg cemetery in Heidenheim near the Peterskapelle.

Fonts (selection)

  • The Celts in Württemberg (= Roman-Germanic research. Vol. 8, ISSN  0176-5337 ). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1934, (At the same time: Marburg, University, dissertation, 1934).
  • The Yazilikaya rock art. New recordings of the German Bogazköy expedition in 1931 (= Istanbul Research. Vol. 5, ISSN  0723-4333 ). Istanbul Department of the Archaeological Institute of the German Empire, among others, Istanbul among others 1934.
  • Prehistoric research in Asia Minor (= Istanbul Research. Vol. 6). Istanbul Department of the Archaeological Institute of the German Empire, Istanbul 1934.
  • with Hans Gustav Güterbock : New investigations in the Hittite capital (= Boǧazköy. Vol. 1 = Treatises of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Philosophical-Historical Class. Born 1935, No. 1, ZDB -ID 210015-0 ). Mann, Berlin 1935.
  • The ruins of Boǧazköy, the capital of the Hittite Empire. Short description. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1937.
  • with Rudolf Naumann and Heinz Otto: Yazilikaya. Architecture, rock paintings, inscriptions and small finds (= scientific publications of the German Orient Society. 61, ISSN  0342-4464 . Hinrichs, Leipzig 1941, reprint Osnabrück 1967).
  • with Rudolf Naumann: New Investigations of Hittite Architecture (= Boǧazköy. Vol. 2 = Treatises of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Philosophical-Historical Class. Born 1938, No. 1). Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences, Berlin 1938.
  • Studies of Asia Minor (= Istanbuler Mitteilungen. Heft 5, ISSN  0341-9142 ). German Archaeological Institute - Istanbul Department, Istanbul 1942, (Unchanged reprint. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1967).
  • Ön Asya tarih Öncesi Çaǧları. Mısır, Filistin, Suriye (= İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınları. No. 265, ZDB -ID 843349-5 ). İbrahim Horoz Basımevi, Istanbul 1945.
  • Basics of the prehistory and early history of Asia Minor. Wasmuth, Tübingen 1945, (2nd, expanded edition. Ibid 1950).
  • with Adolf Rieth : The Heuneburg on the upper Danube, an early Celtic prince seat. Preliminary report on the excavation in 1950. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1951.
  • as editor: Boğazköy-Ḫattuša. Results of the excavations. 1952 ff.
  • Hattusha. The Capital of the Hittites. Oxford University Press, New York NY 1970.
  • Bogazköy guide (= Ankara Turizmi, Eskieserleri ve Müzeleri Sevenler Derneği Yayinlari. 2, ZDB -ID 2538892-7 ). Ankara Turizmi - Eski Eserleri ve Müeleri Sevenler Dernegi, Ankara 1971, (Ankara 1971, editions in German, Turkish, English, French and Italian, new editions no year).
  • The Hittites. The art of Anatolia from the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC (= universe of art. 24). Beck, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-406-03024-6 (In French: Les Hittites (= L'Univers des formes. Le Proche et le Moyen-Orient ancien. 24, ISSN  0566-1064 ). Traduit par François Poncet. Gallimard, Paris 1976; in Spanish: Los Hititas (= El Universo de las formas. 24). Traducción del frances por José Gil de Ramales. Aguilar, Madrid 1976, ISBN 84-03-38025-9 ; in Italian: Gli Ittiti (= Il mondo della figura. 24). Traduzione del francese di Marcello Lenzini e Maria Luisa de Luigi Rotondi. Rizzoli, Milan 1976).
  • as editor with Wolfgang Kimmig and Siegwalt Schiek: The Celts in Baden-Württemberg. Theiss, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-8062-0211-7 .
  • Hattusha - capital of the Hittites. History and culture of an ancient oriental great power. DuMont, Cologne 1983, ISBN 3-7701-1456-6 (3rd edition. Ibid 1991; in Japanese language and script: ヒ ッ タ イ ト 王国 の 発 見. 山 本 書店, 東京 1991, ISBN 4-8414-0202-0 ).
  • with Siegwalt Schiek and Dieter Müller: The Celtic Viereckschanzen (= Atlas of archaeological terrain monuments in Baden-Württemberg. Vol. 1, 1–2). 2 volumes (Vol. 1: Text. Vol. 2: Supplements. ). Theiss, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0851-4 .
  • Travels and excavations in Egypt, Asia Minor, Bulgaria and Greece 1930–1934 (= Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class . 1998, no. 5). Steiner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-07328-0 .
  • How I got into archeology. Memories and travel reports (= publications of the Heidenheim an der Brenz city archive. 16, ZDB -ID 518297-9 ). Compiled and introduced by Christoph Bittel for the 100th birthday of the Heidenheim honorary citizen. City archive Heidenheim an der Brenz, Heidenheim 2007.

See the complete list of publications by Rainer M. Boehmer, Harald Hauptmann: Bibliography by Kurt Bittel. In: Rainer M. Boehmer, Harald Hauptmann (Hrsg.): Contributions to ancient history of Asia Minor. Festschrift for Kurt Bittel. Volume 1: Text. von Zabern, Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-8053-0585-0 , pp. 537-553.

literature

  • Rainer Michael Boehmer (Hrsg.): Contributions to ancient history of Asia Minor. Festschrift for Kurt Bittel. von Zabern, Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-8053-0585-0 .
  • Hermann Vetters : Kurt Bittel. In: Almanac of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. 141, 1990/1991, ISSN  0078-3447 , pp. 401-405.
  • Rainer Michael Boehmer: Kurt Bittel (July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991). In: Archive for Orient Research . 38/39, 1991/92, pp. 259-260.
  • Halet Çambel : In memoriam Kurt Bittel, July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1990. In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen. 41, 1991, ISSN  0341-9142 , pp. 5-12.
  • François Chamoux: Allocution à l'occasion du décès de Kurt Bittel, associé étranger, survenu le 30 January 1991. In: Académie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres. Comptes rendus des séances. 1991, pp. 167-168.
  • Ufuk Esin: Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. hc Kurt Bittel (July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991) (= Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları. Biyografi Dizisi 3). Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, Istanbul 1991.
  • Rudolf Naumann : Kurt Bittel. In: Gnomon . 63, 1991, pp. 663-665.
  • Heinrich Otten : Obituary for Kurt Bittel. In: Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz. Yearbook. 1991, ISSN  0084-6104 , pp. 102-104.
  • Dieter Planck : Kurt Bittel: 1907-1991. In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg. 16, 1991, ISSN  0071-9897 , pp. 651-655.
  • Joachim Werner : Kurt Bittel, July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991. In: Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Yearbook. 1991, ISSN  0084-6090 , pp. 213-218.
  • Memorial ceremony for Kurt Bittel. In: Archäologischer Anzeiger . 1992, pp. 651-667.
  • Kurt Bittel in memory, July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991. Speeches given on the occasion of the academic memorial service of the Faculty of Cultural Studies on May 16, 1991 (= Tübingen University Speeches . NF Vol. 4, ISSN  0564-4283 ). Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen 1992.
  • Hans G. Güterbock: Kurt Bittel (July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991). In: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 136, 1992, ISSN  0003-049X , pp. 579-583.
  • Wolfgang Kimmig : Kurt Bittel. July 5, 1907 - January 30, 1991. In: Yearbook of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences for 1991. ISSN  0341-2865 , pp. 112–116.
  • Franz Wieacker : Memorial words for Kurt Bittel. In: Orden Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts. Speeches and memorial speeches. 23, 1990/1992, ISSN  0473-145X , pp. 73-76.
  • Andrea Bräuning: Bittel, Kurt, prehistoric, Near Eastern archaeologist. In: Baden-Württemberg biographies. Volume 4. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-17-019951-4 , pp. 17-22.
  • Hermann Parzinger : Kurt Bittel - life and work of an archaeologist. In: Heimat- und Altertumsverein Heidenheim an der Brenz. Yearbook 2009/2010, Volume 13 ISSN  0931-5608 , pp. 8–24.
  • Jörg Klinger: Bittel, Kurt. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 108-110.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Ekkehard Ellinger: German Oriental Studies at the Time of National Socialism 1933–1945 . Deux-Mondes-Verlag, Edingen-Neckarhausen 2006, p. 468.
  2. ^ Hermann Parzinger : Kurt Bittel - life and work of an archaeologist. In: Heimat- und Altertumsverein Heidenheim an der Brenz. Yearbook 2009/2010, Volume 13, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Kurt Bittel: How I came to archeology . Publications of the Heidenheim City Archives an der Brenz 16, Heidenheim 2007. pp. 11–12.
  4. ↑ Ekkehard Ellinger: German Oriental Studies at the Time of National Socialism 1933–1945 . Deux-Mondes-Verlag, Edingen-Neckarhausen 2006, p. 37.
  5. ↑ Reiner Möckelmann: Ankara waiting room. Ernst Reuter - exile and return to Berlin . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2013. p. 128.
  6. ↑ Kurt Bittel, How I came to archeology , p. 12.
  7. ^ Kurt Bittel , entry in the member database of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, accessed on December 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Member History: Kurt Bittel. American Philosophical Society, accessed May 3, 2018 .
  9. ^ Idylle Totenberg - Graves of honor on the Totenberg in Heidenheim , accessed on June 15, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Bittel, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German prehistorian
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Heidenheim
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 1991
Place of death Heidenheim an der Brenz