![Alexander Conze 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Alexander_Conze_3.jpg)
Alexander Christian Leopold Conze (10 December 1831 – 19 July 1914) was a German
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
, who specialized in ancient Greek art.
He was a native of
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, and studied at the universities of
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
and
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. In 1855 he obtained his doctorate at Berlin as a student of
Eduard Gerhard
Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard (29 November 1795 – 12 May 1867) was a German archaeologist. He was co-founder and secretary of the first international archaeological society.
Biography
Gerhard was born at Posen, and was educated at Breslau ...
. In 1863 he became an associate professor at the
University of Halle
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
,
[Biography of Alexander Conze]
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie
''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...
(NDB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, , S. 348 and from 1869 to 1877, he served as a professor of archaeology at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. In the 1870s, he performed two archaeological explorations at
Samothrace
Samothrace (also known as Samothraki, el, Σαμοθράκη, ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,859 (2011 ...
(1873 and 1875). In 1876, with
Otto Hirschfeld
Otto Hirschfeld (March 16, 1843 – March 27, 1922) was a German epigraphist and professor of ancient history who was a native of Königsberg.
In 1863 received a doctorate from the University of Königsberg, and in 1869 became a professor at the ...
, he organized the Archaeologic-Epigraphic Seminar at the university.
![Alexander Conze at Samothrace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Alexander_Conze_at_Samothrace.jpg)
In 1877 he succeeded
Karl Bötticher
Karl Gottlieb Wilhelm Bötticher (29 May 1806, Nordhausen – 19 June 1889, Berlin) was a German archaeologist who specialized in architecture.
Biography
He was born in Nordhausen. He studied at the Academy of Architecture in Berlin, and was af ...
as director of the Berlin ''Antikensammlung'' (Collection of Classical Antiquities),
[ In 1887, he became Secretariat of the ]German Archaeological Institute
The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...
.[Dictionary of Art Historians]
biography
In 1878 with engineer Carl Humann, he began excavation at Pergamon
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...
in Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, a project that lasted until 1886. With Wilhelm Dörpfeld
Wilhelm Dörpfeld (26 December 1853 – 25 April 1940) was a German architect and archaeologist, a pioneer of stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects. He is famous for his work on Bronze Age site ...
, he started a second archaeological dig at Pergamon in 1900. At Pergamon, Conze and Humann uncovered one of the greatest archaeological treasures of Hellenistic civilization
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as sig ...
, the Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greek King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of Pergamon in Anatolia, Asia Minor.
The structure wa ...
, which today is housed at the Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Class ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.[
Conze died in ]Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Honors
Two types of medals were struck for Alexander Conze during lifetime. The first was emitted when he left the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
in 1877. This piece has been made by famous Austrian engraver Josef Tautenhayn. The reverse shows an Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
Parthenos with a dedication in ancient Greek enclosed by a laurel wreath. The dedication names the memories and friendship that Conze will leave behind as reasons for commissioning this medal.
The second piece was made in 1905 by German artist and engraver Adolf Brütt
Adolf Brütt (10 May 1855 in Husum – 6 November 1939 in Bad Berka)[Husum Tourismus ...](_blank)
when Conze retired from his position as secretary of the German Archaeological Institute
The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...
.
Selected writings
* ''Reise auf den Inseln des thrakischen Meeres'' (Travel to the islands of the Thracian Sea
250px, Thracian Sea satellite picture
The Thracian Sea ( el, Θρακικό Πέλαγος, ''Thrakiko Pelagos''; tr, Trakya Denizi) is the northernmost part of the Aegean Sea. It is bounded by Macedonia and Thrace as well as northwestern Tur ...
, 1860.
* ''Reise auf der Insel Lesbos'' (Travel on the island of Lesbos
Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...
), 1865.
* ''Die Bedeutung der klassischen Archäologie'' (The importance of classical archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...
). Wien 1869
* ''Zur Geschichte der Anfänge der griechischen Kunst'' (The history of the beginnings of Greek art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of ...
). Wien 1870–1873.
* ''Heroen- und Göttergestalten der griechischen Künste'' (Heroes and "god-figures" in Greek art). Wien 1874.
* ''Römische Bildwerke einheimischer Fundorte in Österreich'' (Roman works locally discovered in Austria). Wien 1872–78.
* ''Archäologische Untersuchungen auf Samothrake''; with Alois Hauser, George Niemann, Otto Benndorf
Otto Benndorf (13 September 1838 – 2 January 1907) was a German-Austrian archaeologist who was a native of Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz. He was the father of physicist Hans Benndorf (1870–1953).
He studied under Friedrich Gottlieb We ...
(Archaeological investigations on Samothrace); 2 volumes, 1875–80.
* ''Über griechische Grabreliefs'' (On Greek grave reliefs), 1877.
* ''Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabung zu Pergamon 1880-1881'', (Results of the excavation at Pergamon in 1880–81), 1882.Alexander Conze
de.Wikisource (bibliography)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conze, Alexander
Archaeologists from Lower Saxony
People of the Antikensammlung Berlin
Directors of museums in Germany
1831 births
1914 deaths
University of Halle faculty
Academics of the University of Vienna
People from Hanover