Wilhelm Klein (archaeologist)

Wilhelm Klein around 1880

Wilhelm Klein (born November 20, 1850 in Caransebesch , Banat , † February 2, 1924 in Haindorf , northern Bohemia ) was an Austrian classical archaeologist .

life and work

Wilhelm Klein was the son of a Jewish businessman. From 1868 he studied law at the University of Vienna and in 1871 passed the state examination in law. At the same time he also heard archeology from Alexander Conze . He then studied archeology and classical philology at the universities of Göttingen (1871–1873), Vienna (1873) and Graz , where he was also employed at the coin and antiquity collection. It was 1875 in Graz with Heinrich Schenkl Dr. phil. PhD. In 1875 he went on a study trip to Greece and Asia Minor ( Troy ). In 1878 he resigned from the Jewish community and was baptized Protestant.

In 1879 Klein received his habilitation and private lecturer at the University of Vienna with a thesis on the vase painter Euphronios . In 1886 he became an associate professor, and in 1892 a full professor of classical archeology at the German-speaking Karl Ferdinand University in Prague . In 1923 he retired.

Wilhelm Klein was one of the founders of the Society for the Promotion of German Science, Art and Literature in Bohemia in 1891 and took part in this society's expedition to Asia Minor in 1902 .

His specialty was ancient Greek art. He was particularly interested in the Greek vases. For the first time he placed the artistic peculiarities of the vase painters in the foreground of research and published a fundamental study on the painter's signatures. Wilhelm Klein also dealt with the problems of ancient sculpture and Pompeian wall painting .

His students include Alois Gotsmich , Julius Jüthner , Carl Patsch and Ludwig Pollak .

Fonts (selection)

• The recovery of Helena . Dissertation, University of Graz 1874 (handwritten).
• Euphronios. A study of the history of Greek painting . Vienna 1879; 2nd, revised edition Vienna 1886 ( digitized version ).
• The Greek vases with master's signatures. Vienna 1883; 2nd increased and improved edition. Vienna 1887 ( digitized version ).
• The Greek vases with favorite inscriptions . Vienna 1890, 2nd improved and enlarged edition Vienna 1898 ( digitized version ).
• Praxiteles. Leipzig 1898 ( digitized ).
• Practical studies . Leipzig 1899 ( digitized ).
• History of Greek Art. 3 volumes, Leipzig 1904–1907 (digitized volume 1 , volume 2 ).
• From ancient Rococo. Vienna 1921.

literature

• Camillo Praschniker : Wilhelm Klein . In: Accountability report on the activities of the German Society of Sciences and Arts for the Czechoslovak Republic in 1924 . Prague 1925, pp. 15–26 (pp. 26–28 List of publications).
• Little Wilhelm. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 3, Publishing House of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1965, p. 385 f. (Direct links on p. 385 , p. 386 ).
• Heribert Sturm (Ed. On behalf of the Collegium Carolinum): Biographical Lexicon for the history of the Bohemian countries. Volume 2: I-M. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , p. 163.
• Wolfgang Schiering : Wilhelm Klein . In: Reinhard Lullies , Wolfgang Schiering (Hrsg.): Archäologenbildnisse . Portraits and short biographies of classical archaeologists in the German language. Zabern, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-8053-0971-6 , pp. 98-99.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Klein in the catalog of the German National Library
• Dictionary of Art Historians

Remarks

1. ↑ Anna L. Staudacher: "... announces the departure from the Mosaic faith". 18,000 resigned from Judaism in Vienna, 1868–1914. Names - Sources - Dates . Lang, Frankfurt a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-3-631-55832-4 , p. 305.