Max Ohnefalsch-Richter

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Max Ohnefalsch-Richter in Cyprus in 1910

Max Hermann Ohnefalsch-Richter (born April 7, 1850 in Sohland am Rotstein , Saxony , † February 6, 1917 in Berlin ) was a German archaeologist who primarily devoted himself to the exploration of Cyprus .

Scientific work

Ohnefalsch-Richter first came to Cyprus, which had just become British, in 1878, impressed by the discoveries of Luigi Palma di Cesnola . From 1880 he carried out excavations for the British Museum , London. Until 1889 he then excavated for various clients with the aim of recovering antiques - by today's standards, more of a treasure hunt than a scientific investigation - and concentrated on temples and shrines. In order to finance himself, he sold Cypriot antiques to museums in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Leipzig, London and Mannheim.

Excavation sites:

He carried out an assignment of the statues to the respective worshiped deities and tried to separate two style groups, which he identified as Graecophoenikisch (and "ugly") and Cypriot-Greek. However, the latter also showed Assyrian and Egyptian influence. He considered Cyprus to be the most important link between the Orient and Europe. Due to this bridging function, however, no independent culture could develop here.

The Grassi Museum in Leipzig

Ohnefalsch-Richter was temporarily Superintendent of Excavations and Superintendent of Works of the Forest Commission and was one of the founders of the ' Cyprus Museum ' in Nicosia (1883), which he set up together with John L. Myres . This was founded on June 15, 1882 after a petition by the Kadis Sofronios (Archbishop) and the Mufti of Cyprus. In addition to the High Commissioner Sir Robert Biddulph , the Advisory Board established in 1883 also included Lord Kitchener and Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery Sinclair as secretaries. It had been on Victoria Street since 1889, in a house that had previously belonged to the Sisters of the Latin Convention. Furthermore, he claims to have founded a newspaper ( The Owl ) on the island .

He would have liked to set up a separate department for his rich collection of Cypriot antiquities, either in the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig or in the Antiquarium of the Royal Museums in Berlin . When this failed, he showed the finds, for example, at the Berlin trade fair in 1896 . The collection was acquired in 1898 by the patron Valentin Weisbach for the Leipzig Museum of Ethnology and exhibited in the Grassi Museum on Johannisplatz from 1927 . In 1944 the museum was bombed out, which also caused serious damage to the Cypriot collection. In 1974 it came to the Berlin Museum of German History, where it was restored, and is now in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin . It is considered to be one of the most important collections of Cypriot antiquities outside of Cyprus.

Works

  • Communications from Cyprus III. Sanctuary of Apollo near Voni . In: Athenian communications . Volume 9, 1884, pp. 127ff.
  • Cyprian vase from Athienu . In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute . Volume 1, 1886, pp. 79-82.
  • District II.-Idalion . In: The Owl . 1888, p. 41ff.
  • The museum and the excavations in Cyprus since 1878, I, II, III . In: Repertory for Art History . Volume 9, 1886, pp. 193ff., 309ff., 456ff.
  • Topographical studies in Cyprus, District II.-Idalion. Ancient Idalion and Neighborhood . In: The Owl . 1888, p. 54ff.
  • District II.-Idalion. New Discoveries at the most celebrated Temenos of Aphrodite . In: The Owl . 1888, p. 59ff.
  • The ancient cult sites on Cyprus . Berlin 1891; also: Dissertation, Leipzig 1891
  • Parallels in the customs of the old and present population of Cyprus . In: Journal of Ethnology . Volume 23, 1891 (negotiations), pp. 34-43.
  • Cyprus, the Bible and Homer. Contributions to the cultural, art and religious history of the Orient in antiquity; with special consideration of own twelve years of research and excavations on the island of Cyprus . Berlin 1893.
  • Kypros, the Bible and Homer. Oriental civilization, art and religion in Ancient Times, elucidated by the author's own researches and excavations during twelve years' work in Cyprus . London 1893.
  • Græco-Phoenician Architecture in Cyprus: with Special Reference to the Origin and Development of the Ionic Volute . London 1895.
  • News about the excavations carried out in Cyprus with the support of His Majesty the Emperor, the Berlin museums and the Rudolf Virchow Foundation . In: Journal of Ethnology . Volume 31, 1899, (negotiations), pp. 29ff., 298ff.
  • with John L. Myres : A catalog of the Cyprus Museum with a chronicle of excavations undertaken since the British occupation and introductory notes on Cypriot archeology . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899.
  • Cypriot sculptures . In: Athenian communications . Volume 40, 1915, pp. 53ff.

literature

  • Hans-Günter Buchholz : Max Ohnefalsch-Richter as an archaeologist in Cyprus . In: Cahier du Center d'Etudes Chypriotes . Volume 11-12, 1989, pp.3-27.
  • Margit Krpata: Max Hermann Ohnefalsch-Richter, bibliography and biographical remarks . In: Report of the Department of Antiquities . Cyprus 1992, pp. 337-341.
  • Dimitris G. Mylonas: Archaic limestone sculpture of Cyprus (PDF; 3.7 MB) . Dissertation, University of Mannheim 1999, pp. 17–18
  • Hans-Günter Buchholz: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter. Old and new in his early years in Cyprus . In: Philokypros. Mélanges de philologie et d'antiquités grecques et proche-orientales dédiés à la mémoire d'Olivier Masson . Salamanca 2000, pp. 91-101.
  • Robert S. Merrillees, Margit Krpata: Schliemann and Ohnefalsch-Richter. The Cyprus connection. In: Cahier de Center d'Etudes Chypriotes . Volume 27, 1997, pp. 137-143.
  • Robert S. Merrillees: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter and the British . In: Paul Åström and Dietrich Sürenhagen (eds.): Periplus. Festschrift for Hans-Günter Buchholz on his eightieth birthday on December 24, 1999 . Jonsered 2000, pp. 107-117.
  • Melitta Brönner : Max Ohnefalsch-Richter. The last part of his life . In: Acta praehistorica et archaeologica . Volume 33, 2001, pp. 227-251.
  • Melitta Brönner: For the 150th birthday of Max Ohnefalsch-Richter . In: Archäologisches Nachrichtenblatt . Volume 6, 2001, pp. 251-257.
  • Melitta Brönner: Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, 1850–1917. A look back in the 85th year of death . In: Ancient World . Volume 33, 2002, pp. 469-474.
  • Sophie G. Horacek / Stephan G Schmid (Eds.): 'I Don't Know What Am I Myself, It Is So Very Difficult to Explain.' Max Ohnefalsch-Richter (1850-1917) and the Archeology of Cyprus , Berlin: Logos Verlag 2018 (Studia Cyprologica Berolinensia; 1), ISBN 9783832545819

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Samuel Andrew Hardy: Interrogating Archaeological Ethics in Conflict Zones: Cultural Heritage Work in Cyprus , Diss., University of Sussex, 2010, p. 111 ( online , PDF).
personal data
SURNAME Ohnefalsch-Richter, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ohnefalsch-Richter, Max Hermann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Sohland am Rotstein , Saxony
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1917
Place of death Berlin