Adolf Weissenberg (1790–1840) was a Bavarian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and archaeologist. He was appointed by Otto of Greece as

ephor The ephors were a board of five magistrates in ancient Sparta. They had an extensive range of judicial, religious, legislative, and military powers, and could shape Sparta's home and foreign affairs. The word "''ephors''" (Ancient Greek ''ép ...

of antiquities, overseeing all archaeology and archaeological sites in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, in 1833, but forced to resign in September 1834.

Career

Weissenberg was born in 1790. From 1822, he lived in Rome. In June 1833, he was appointed as "Ephor of Antiquities" ( el, Ἔφορος τῶν ἀρχαιοτήτων, eforos ton archaiotiton) with responsibility for "the conservation, discovery and collection of the archaeological treasures of the

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

". Three others were appointed with the title of 'sub-ephor' ( el, ὑποέφορος, hupoeforos):

Kyriakos Pittakis Kyriakos S. Pittakis or Pittakys ( el, Κυριακός Πιττάκης) (1798–1863) was a Greek archaeologist of the 19th century. He is most notable as the first Greek Ephor-General of Antiquities of Greece, the head of the Greek Archaeo ...

, for central and northern Greece; Ludwig Ross, for the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

, and for the Aegean Islands. On , Weissenberg was appointed to lead the

Greek Archaeological Service The Greek Archaeological Service ( el, Αρχαιολογική Υπηρεσία) is a state service, under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, responsible for the oversight of all archaeological excavations, museums and the country's ar ...

, which had notionally been established by Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1829 but lacked a formal administrative structure until then. Weissenberg's short tenure saw the passage of the Archaeological Law of 10/22 May 1834, which named all antiquities in Greece as the "national property of all the Greeks", asserted the ownership of the state over all archaeological sites not already on private land and created the core administrative structure of the Archaeological Service. Weissenberg drafted the law alongside the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Georg Ludwig von Maurer Georg Ludwig Maurer, from 1831 Georg Ludwig von Maurer (2 November 1790 – 9 May 1872) was a German statesman and legal historian from the Electoral Palatinate. Biography Maurer was born at Erpolzheim, near Dürkheim as the son of a Protes ...

. Weissenberg was accused by Ross of lacking interest in antiquities, and had also attracted the enmity of

Josef Ludwig von Armansperg Josef Ludwig, Graf von Armansperg ( el, Κόμης Ιωσήφ Λουδοβίκος Άρμανσπεργκ; 28 February 1787 – 3 April 1853) served as the Interior and Finance Minister (1826–1828) and Foreign and Finance Minister (1828–1831) u ...

, head of the regency council, by trying to organise opposition to his government alongside von Maurer. Both Weissenberg and von Maurer were sacked (along with Kokkonis) in September 1834 and recalled to Bavaria. In Weissenberg's stead, Ross was named as Ephor General of Antiquities, with Pittakis and Athanasios Iatridis as his assistants. Weissenberg died in 1840.

Footnotes

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weissenberg, Adolf 1790 births 1840 deaths Archaeologists from Bavaria Archaeology of Greece History of Greece (1832–1862)