Adolf Mahr (7 May 1887 – 27 May 1951) was an Austrian

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 served as director of the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...

in Dublin in the 1930s, and is credited with advancing the work of the museum substantially. Through his leadership of the Dublin

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

chapter, and later broadcasting propaganda from Germany, he became a highly controversial figure in twentieth-century Irish history, and was not allowed to return to his job after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life

Early life

Mahr was born in May 1887 in Trent in the southern reaches of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. His father, Gustav Johann Mahr (1858–1930), and grandfather, Franz Anton Mahr (1830–1891), were military bandmasters and well-known composers. His mother, Maria Antonia Schroll, like his father, was a German from the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

. Mahr was brought up as a Roman Catholic, later becoming an atheist, and later still (at least nominally) Protestant.

Early career and university

Mahr served in the Austrian Army in 1906, attaining the rank of lieutenant, and then studied geography and prehistory 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 ...

, where he also sustained a long-term arm injury while duelling.

Professional career

Mahr went to work for a museum in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

, Austria's third city, and then the Natural History and Prehistoric Museum of Vienna, where he rose to the ranks of curator and deputy director of a section. His excavation work included early exploration of the salt mine and Iron Age Celtic cemetery at

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

. Mahr arrived in Ireland in 1927 to work as Senior Keeper of (Irish) Antiquities in the

in Dublin, succeeding Walther Bremer. Mahr implemented the recommendations of Professor Nils Lithberg on reorganisation of the collections, and otherwise worked to bring order to the museum's holdings. One of his key achievements was the production of a card index of excavations and finds, and he also drove a return to active archaeological dig work, after an interval of decades. In 1934

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

appointed Mahr as the director of the museum, for which he built an international reputation through creativity and dedication. de Valera was so impressed with his commitment that he wrote him a personal cheque for one excavation project, in

Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. History Early to mediaeval Drimna ...

, Dublin, for what was then a considerable sum. During a stay for an archaeology congress in Berlin and family visit to Austria, on 1 September 1939, he was kept by Nazi Germany ("''

Heim ins Reich The ''Heim ins Reich'' (; meaning "back home to the Reich") was a foreign policy pursued by Adolf Hitler before and during World War II, beginning in 1938. The aim of Hitler's initiative was to convince all ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans) wh ...

''") (the ship did not leave the harbour) due to the outbreak of the war, and could not return to his directorship, from which he took a leave of absence. At the time, he still expected to be back in Dublin by early 1940.

Nazi activities

As the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

rose to power in Germany in the 1930s, Mahr joined in 1933 and became the Local Group Leader (''Ortsgruppenleiter'') of the official Nazi Party in Ireland – the ''Auslandsorganisation'' (NSDAP-AO). During his time as Nazi leader he recruited roughly 23 Germans. Later, Mahr was arrested and accused of being a Nazi spy, with a claim that he used his position as Director of the National Museum to plan Hitler's invasion of Ireland. No formal charges were brought. After his release, Mahr tried to return to his director’s position in Ireland, but was not allowed to do so.

Late life

Mahr sought to return to his directorship, and the Taoiseach was originally in favour, given his achievements, but there was opposition from Ireland's Head of

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, and a vocal TD. In the end, Mahr was left in Germany, but given some pension, and derived some income from occasional lectures. He died of heart failure in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

while preparing for a new job, on 27 May 1951.

Family

In 1921 Mahr married Maria van Bemmelen (1901–1975), daughter of the Dutch university professor and zoologist . They had four children, two born in Ireland; all were raised in Dublin in the 1930s, but they were stranded in Germany or German-occupied Austria in September 1939 and were unable to travel back to Ireland, eventually settling down in post-war (West) Germany. His marriage deteriorated from 1941. One daughter (Ingrid) later moved back to Ireland for a time. The eldest daughter, Hilde, is the subject of Chapter 7, "Hilde’s Journey 1945", in Mullins' book. It describes how the 18-year old girl, in the attempt to re-unite her parents, "comes through a defeated Germany, a land in ruins, to safety".From the prologue: