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 landsca ...

, 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 university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

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 constitu ...

. In 1855 he obtained his doctorate at Berlin as a student of Eduard Gerhard. 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 in ...

,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 cove ...

(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 hi ...

. 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, he organized the Archaeologic-Epigraphic Seminar at the university. Alexander Conze at Samothrace

In 1877 he succeeded Karl Bötticher as director of the Berlin ''Antikensammlung'' (Collection of Classical Antiquities), In 1887, he became Secretariat of the German Archaeological Institute.Dictionary of Art Historians
biography In 1878 with engineer

Carl Humann Carl Humann (first name also ''Karl''; 4 January 1839 – 12 April 1896) was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist. He discovered the Pergamon Altar. Biography Early Years Humann was born in Steele, part of today's Essen - German ...

, 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 Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

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, 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 Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

, 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 Asia Minor. The structure was 35.64 ...

, 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 C ...

. Conze died in

Honors

Two types of medals were struck for Alexander Conze during lifetime. The first was emitted when he left the

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 v ...

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. Medaille Alexander Conze 1877

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 ...

when Conze retired from his position as secretary of the German Archaeological Institute. Plakette Alexander Conze 1905

Selected writings

* ''Reise auf den Inseln des thrakischen Meeres'' (Travel to the islands of the Thracian Sea, 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 Asia Minor by the nar ...

), 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 E ...

). 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 George Niemann (12 July 1841, Hannover – 19 February 1912, Vienna) was a German-Austrian architect and archaeologist. From 1860 to 1864 he studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Hannover, then relocated to Vienna, where he worked as an assi ...

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