Ludger Alscher

Ludger Alscher (born April 11, 1916 in Münster , † November 9, 1985 in Berlin-Köpenick ) was a German classical archaeologist . Alscher can be regarded as the most important representative of his field in the GDR.

Life

Ludger Alscher studied Ancient History and Classical Archeology since 1936 , first at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster, then from 1939 at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . Soon he switched to archeology as the main subject of his studies , especially under the influence of his Münster teacher Friedrich Matz . In Munich he was particularly impressed and shaped by Ernst Buschor . In 1942 he received his doctorate with a thesis on the free plastic representation of nails at Munich University.

From 1945 Alscher headed the establishment of the archaeological institute at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , which he headed as director until 1951. During this time, Alscher completed his habilitation in 1950 with a thesis on early Greek small sculptures. The work became the first part of a multi-volume monograph on Greek sculpture . In 1951 Alscher was appointed to the Humboldt University in Berlin and initially taught as a lecturer, from 1952 as a professor with a teaching assignment and since 1953 as a professor. In 1968 his chair was integrated into the Aesthetics / Art Studies department. On the one hand, this suited Alscher's inclinations; on the other hand, Classical Archeology at the Humboldt University had to accept many setbacks at that time. Many of the premises were lost to the institute, the subject became a politically deliberately insignificant marginal subject. Nevertheless, as a division manager, Alscher was still one of the leading figures in classical archeology in the GDR. In addition to a few other scientists such as Gottfried von Lücken , Carl Blümel , Elisabeth Rohde and Gerhard Zinserling , he was one of the most influential scholars in his field. In 1985 he died unexpectedly. His successor at the Humboldt University was his student and long-time employee Wolfgang Schindler . A large part of the young archaeological generation in the GDR were directly or indirectly academic students of Alscher.

Alscher dealt with the archaeological legacy of Greco-Roman antiquity . At the beginning of his time in Berlin, he had to rebuild the renowned classical archaeological institute with limited funds. This also included the institute library , which had to be rebuilt from old holdings and the library of Gerhart Rodenwaldt . His two scientific assistants Evamaria Schmidt and Wolfgang Schindler stood by his side for a long time . His main work was a five-part treatise on Greek sculpture in six volumes (I [1954], II / 1 [1961], II / 2 [1982], III [1956], IV [1957]). The long work on Volume II / 2 resulted from ever new knowledge about the so-called Boston throne and health problems that hindered Alscher for a long time. Most recently he worked on a three-part sequel to the Roman portrait, which, however, did not go beyond the first volume in manuscript form. Alscher approached the archaeological objects in a form-analytical way. By determining syntactic findings, Alscher was able to pave the way for determining the meaning and function of the examined object. In his research he brought together the views and results of his teachers Matz and Buschor. According to the archaeologist portraits, Alscher is considered to be one of the most important German-speaking classical archaeologists of the post-war period.

Fonts

• Greek sculpture. Vol. 1. Monumental sculptures and their preliminary stages in early Greek times , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1954
• Greek sculpture. Vol. 2 / I. Archaism and the change to classical , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1961
• Greek sculpture. Vol. 2 / II. Klassik , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1982
• Greek sculpture. Vol. 2 / II supplementary volume. Gods in court. The problem of counterfeiting the Boston "throne", classical Greek art and archaeologists , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1963
• Greek sculpture. Vol. 3. Post-Classical and Pre-Hellenism , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1956
• Greek sculpture. Vol. 4. Hellenism , Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1957
• (Editor): Lexicon of Art in 5 volumes. Architecture, fine arts, applied arts, industrial design, art theory , seaman, Leipzig 1968–1978

literature

• Wolfgang Schindler : Ludger Alscher on his 65th birthday . In: Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift 22 (1981), pp. 81–84.
• Wolfgang Schindler: Ludger Alscher † . In: Gnomon 59 : 571-572 (1987).
• Wolfgang Schindler: Ludger Alscher . In: Reinhard Lullies and Wolfgang Schiering (eds.): Archaeologists' portraits . Zabern, 2nd edition, Mainz 1991. pp. 319-320. ISBN 3-8053-0971-6

Web links

• Dictionary of Art Historians

Remarks

1. ↑ Wolfgang Schindler: Ludger Alscher , In: Reinhard Lullies and Wolfgang Schiering (Hrsg.): Archäologenbildnisse . Zabern, 2nd edition, Mainz 1991. p. 320.