Collection of Prehistory and Early History at the University of Leipzig

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Current location of the collection at Ritterstraße 14

The Prehistory and Protohistory Collection at the University of Leipzig today comprises around 6,500 exhibits from all time periods from the Paleolithic to modern times and a geographical area from Germany to South America. However, the focus of the collection is on regional prehistory. The main part of the collection consists of cut and cut stone tools from the Paleolithic to Neolithic. There are also urns and grave goods from the Bronze and Iron Ages from Central Germany (Lausitzer and Billendorfer culture).

History of the collection

Beginnings (1934–1943)

In 1934 the seminar for prehistory was founded at the University of Leipzig and placed under the direction of Kurt Tackenberg (1899–1992). During his three-year tenure in Leipzig, Tackenberg tried to put together a collection of teaching materials that was as broad as possible and that should help students understand how to deal with finds.

The collection initially built on existing holdings, which consisted of pieces from former Leipzig private collections. Thanks to the support of private donors and municipal collections and through targeted purchases of originals and replicas, the collection soon offered a good overview of the prehistory and early history of Central and Eastern Germany. In 1936, the collection of geologist Johannes Felix (1859–1941) was transferred from the holdings of the geological-paleontological collection of the University of Leipzig to the collection of prehistory and early history.

The collection was housed in Schillerstrasse 8, where initially only two rooms were available, which were also used as classrooms for teaching. In 1938/39 the seminar for prehistory and its collection were given an additional room in the neighboring building at Schillerstraße 7 through the assistance of their new director Leonhard Franz (1895–1974). Under Franz's aegis, the collection in 1939 also received prehistoric items from the German Society founded in 1827 for researching the patriotic language and antiquities on loan for professional storage and scientific evaluation. Thus, the collection of the seminar for prehistory had grown to over 1000 pieces within a short time. By 1943 it had also been made accessible through an extensive inventory.

War damage, losses and reconstruction (1943–1993)

Like all collections at the University of Leipzig, the prehistoric original collection also suffered considerable war damage from the attacks on Leipzig in December 1943. Although important parts of the holdings were relocated in good time and the recovery of items that were still in existence began shortly after the destruction of the collection rooms, but the inventory lists were burned. The loss of the collection documentation is particularly serious because it makes it impossible to reconstruct the original holdings and to research the provenance of items that are still available today.

In 1948 the new professor Friedrich Behn (1883–1970) discovered other parts of the Felix collection and transferred them to the study collection. In the years that followed, the collection was expanded through numerous private donations and was able to be reintegrated into teaching from 1950 onwards.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the seminar and collection were continued under various directors, and from 1974 a new inventory was created. In 1978 a detailed revision was carried out under Edith Hoffmann (* 1929), according to which the scope of the collection was then put at over 1,600 pieces. It was housed in the Krochhochhaus until 1990 and - packed in boxes - not accessible to the public.

After the reopening of the Chair of Prehistory and Protohistory (since 1993)

It was not until 1993 that the reopening of the chair for prehistory and the appointment of Sabine Rieckhoff (* 1944) began again for revisions, restorations and additions to the collection. In addition, it will continue to be systematically integrated into teaching and continuously developed by teachers and students. Drawing and determination exercises are part of the fixed teaching program of the course. Since 1999 the chair has been located at Ritterstraße 14, where parts of the collection have been presented again since then.

Since 2002, larger holdings of the Felix Geological-Paleontological Collection at the University of Leipzig have been transferred again.

collection

From the Paleolithic, the exhibition mainly presents artifacts made of flint (hand axes, scratches, blades, etc.), some of which are also from important sites such as B. St. Acheul, La Micoque and Le Moustiere come from. The cultures of the Neolithic Age, on the other hand, are largely represented by ceramic finds and stone tools from the region. Some of the most valuable pieces of this period include some complete graves of corded pottery. The large number of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age grave vessels (humpback urns, double-conical urns, miniature and multi-chamber vessels from the Lusatian and Billendorf cultures) also come largely from Central German and western Poland. The Burgkemnitz house urn is one of the earliest representatives of its kind in Central Germany and was discovered as early as 1826. By contrast, exotic objects such as a marble idol from Anatolia, a Mediterranean bronze bowl and Indian arrowheads from North America show the diversity of the collection.

Exhibition projects

The collection has already been presented in various exhibitions, also in collaboration with the Antikenmuseum der Universität Leipzig. The exhibition project “Fromm - Fremd - Barbarisch. The religion of the Celts ”(2002) called. The Chair of Prehistory and Early History is also regularly involved with its collection at the Leipzig Museum Night.

literature

  • Hans-Ulrich Cain, Sabine Rieckhoff (eds.): Fromm - Fremd - Barbarisch. The religion of the Celts. (Catalog for the special exhibition of the Professorship for Prehistory and Early History at the University of Leipzig), Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2898-2 .
  • Sabine Rieckhoff, Wolf-Rüdiger Teegen (ed.): Contributions to the religion of the Celts. A colloquium at the University of Leipzig on the occasion of the exhibition “Fromm - Fremd - Barbarisch. The religion of the Celts ”. (Leipzig research on prehistoric and early historical archeology, vol. 1), professorship for prehistory and early history at the University of Leipzig, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 3-936394-17-2 .
  • Susanne Grunwald: Collecting in Leipzig. On the history of the archaeological teaching collection of the Leipzig professorship for prehistory and early history. University of Leipzig, Leipzig 2007.
  • Detlef Döring , Tobias U. Müller (Hrsg.): Enlightenment of the world. Saxony and the beginning of modern science. 600 years of Leipzig University. (2 volumes; on the occasion of the anniversary exhibition of the University of Leipzig in the City History Museum Leipzig from July 9th to December 6th, 2009), Sandstein, Dresden 2009, ISBN 978-3-940319-62-3 .
  • Hans-Ulrich Cain (Ed.): Aurea Aetas. The heyday of the Leipzig Museum of Antiquities at the beginning of the 20th century. (Catalog for the special exhibition in the Antikenmuseum der Universität Leipzig from October 10, 2009 to January 24, 2010), Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-938543-74-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Susanne Grunwald: Collecting in Leipzig. On the history of the archaeological teaching collection of the Leipzig professorship for prehistory and early history. Leipzig 2007, p. 4.
  2. ^ Susanne Grunwald: Collecting in Leipzig. On the history of the archaeological teaching collection of the Leipzig professorship for prehistory and early history. Leipzig 2007, p. 5.
  3. ^ Serena Sabatini: The house urns of the “Prehistory and Early History Collection” at the University of Leipzig (= Leipziger online contributions to Prehistory and Early History Archeology. 18), Leipzig 2006 ( PDF online ).