Philipp Houben

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Philipp Houben (1767–1855)

Philipp Houben (born September 25, 1767 in Grathem ( Netherlands ), † August 12, 1855 in Xanten ) was a German administrative officer, notary and, as an autodidact, provincial Roman archaeologist . Philipp Houben carried out the first systematic excavations documented in writing and in drawings in the Roman city ​​of Colonia Ulpia Traiana and in the legionary camp Vetera .

Live and act

Title page of Houben's publication of the Xanten findings (1839)
Plate 15 from Houben's publication of the Xanten findings (1839)

Philipp Houben was born as the eldest son of his family in Grathem, a small community on the Maas in the Netherlands. He came from a poor background. In 1784 he began an administrative career in Geldern , where he worked in Goch and Kleve , among others . Finally he came to Xanten in 1798, where he worked as a notary from 1822. He officially held this office until his death, but de facto he has not held it since 1845.

In Xanten, through the pastor Johannes Spenrath, he came into contact with ancient studies, which have never let go of him since. In 1803 he acquired the old provost house of the place and set up a private museum there with his finds. This is said to have been visited by a total of around 11,000 people between 1820 and 1856. From 1819 to 1849 he carried out excavations at his own expense in the area of ​​the Roman city of Colonia Ulpia Traiana and in the legionary camp Vetera. Among other things, he uncovered around 1,500 Roman graves. The primary goal of his endeavors was to obtain objects for his antiquities collection. However, he was one of the first early archaeologists to document their excavations in writing and drawing.

As a result of the excavations and purchases in the antique trade, Houben increased his collection to around 4,500 objects. A separate room in the collection was reserved for items with erotic representations. Access to it was only possible for visitors for an entrance fee that Houben donated to charity. In 1839 he published the two writings Denkmaeler von Castra Vetera and Colonia Traiana and Antike erotic picture works, the text of which came from the high school professor Franz Fiedler.

Philipp Houben died on August 12, 1855. His collections were initially left in their old location until a considerable part of the exhibits were stolen in a break-in in 1859. Neither the city of Xanten nor the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn could decide to buy the remaining pieces together, so that the collection was auctioned on June 4, 1860 by a Cologne auction house. The collections were scattered over many European countries, the majority of the finds are now considered lost.

He is the father of the German lawyer and politician Ludwig Franz Houben (1803-1884) and a direct ancestor of the German art historian Harold Hammer-Schenk (* 1944).

Memberships

He was a corresponding member of the antiquarian societies of Rome, Trier, Bonn, Wetzlar, Minden and Antwerp as well as an honorary member of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine.

Philipp Houben was a founding member of the Schützengesellschaft Xanten e. V.

Fonts

  • with Franz Fiedler: Monuments from Castra Vetera and Colonia Traiana in Ph. Houben's Antiquarium in Xanten . Xanten, Wesel 1839 full text .
  • Antique erotic pictures in Ph. Houben's Antiquarium zu Xanten . Xanten, Wesel 1839 full text .

literature

  • Werner Böcking: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , pp. 81–85.
  • Gabriele B. Clemens: Real estate dealers and speculators. The social and economic historical significance of the large buyers at the national property auctions in the Rhenish departments (1803-1813). Boldt, Boppard 1995, ISBN 3-7646-1948-1 , pp. 332-333.
  • Carl Houben: Philipp Houben, notary and archaeologist in Xanten. His life and work. In: The home. Journal for homeland care in the Lower Rhine region. Volume 22, 1951, pp. 158-162.
  • Martin Müller : Philipp Houben's collection of Roman antiquities. In: Hans-Joachim Schalles , Dirk Schmitz (Ed.): Treasure houses. Antiquities from private collections in Xanten and European museums (= catalogs of the LVR Roman Museum in the Xanten Archaeological Park. Volume 4). Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-89678-854-2 , pp. 14-18.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Müller: Philipp Houben's collection of Roman antiquities. In: Hans-Joachim Schalles, Dirk Schmitz (Ed.): Treasure houses. Antiquities from private collections in Xanten and European museums. Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-89678-854-2 , pp. 14-18, here p. 14.
  2. ↑ Catalog of Houben'schen collection of Roman antiquities. Cologne art auction on June 4, 1860, auction house JM Heberlé (H. Lempertz). Cologne 1860.
  3. ↑ Martin Müller: Philipp Houben's collection of Roman antiquities. In: Hans-Joachim Schalles, Dirk Schmitz (Ed.): Treasure houses. Antiquities from private collections in Xanten and European museums. Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-89678-854-2 , pp. 14-18, here p. 16.
  4. ↑ Shooting Society Xanten e. V. founded in 1831 175 years, pp. 11 and 15 (PDF; 3.3 MB), accessed on May 5, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Houben, Philipp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German administrative officer, notary and archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Grathem
DATE OF DEATH August 12, 1855
Place of death Xanten