- Email: [email protected]
MERHART REDUX: A GERMAN-RUSSIAN SYMPOSIUM “GERO VON MERHART: A GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGIST IN SIBERIA, 1914–1921”
ARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY OF EURASIA Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38/2 (2010) 155–157 E-mail: [email protected]
155
INFORMATION MERHART REDUX: A GERMAN-RUSSIAN SYMPOSIUM “GERO VON MERHART: A GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGIST IN SIBERIA, 1914–1921”
On June 4–7, 2009, a German-Russian symposium “Gero von Merhart: A German Archaeologist in Siberia, 1914–1921,” sponsored by the German Archaeological Institute Eurasian Department, Berlin, and by the Philipps University of Marburg, took place in Marburg, Germany. Participants were scholars from Germany, Russia, Austria, and Finland; the invited guests were Merhart’s relations. Gero Kurt Merhart von Bernegg (1886–1959) was an outstanding scholar, who has made a huge contribution to German archaeology. At the same time, he contributed to Russian archaeology. A native of Bregenz, Austria, he received an all-round scienti¿c education at Munich University where, in 1913, he defended a dissertation in geology as a major and in geography, physical anthropology, and prehistory as minors. Merhart came to Siberia not of his own free will but as a captive – a former of¿cer of the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. He made a long journey all across Russia, as far east as Chita. In 1919, after having suffered all the hardships at the prisoners’ camps, he received a position at the Yenisei Regional Museum (now Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum). In the course of Merhart’s incomplete two-year service at the Museum, thanks to his high professionalism, he accomplished a great deal for Siberian archaeology in general and for the Krasnoyarsk Museum in particular. The choice of location for the symposium, which centered on Merhart’s Siberian period, was not incidental. It was at Marburg University that he was appointed the ¿ rst Chair of the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology founded in 1927 – the ¿ rst such department in Germany. Merhart worked there for many years and became the founder of the famous Marburg school of archaeology. The symposium was preceded by an exhibition “Gero von Merhart: A German archaeologist in Siberia,
1914–1921,” which was opened on June 4. The principal exhibits were Merhart’s rare photographs and works, primarily those relating to Siberia. The symposium started on June 5 at Marburg University old assembly hall. Participants were greeted by University Dean Volker Nienhaus, President of the German Archaeological Institute Hans Joachim Gehrke, and the Convener of the Marburg University Seminar on Prehistory and Protohistory Claus Dobiat. The university’s scholarly tradition spans nearly ¿ve centuries. Many Russian researchers including Michail Lomonosov studied there; the Marburg philosophical school is famous worldwide. Merhart was among the prominent ¿gures associated with this center. The symposium began with the public lecture delivered by the President of the Prussian Foundation for Cultural Legacy Hermann Parzinger titled “The Burial Rite and the Demonstration of Power: The Large Kurgans of the Siberian Steppe.” The speaker integrated the findings of Russo-German and Kazakh-German expeditions over the period of 1997–2005. Over that time, objects such as Arzhan-2 in Tuva, Barsuchiy Log in the Minusinsk Basin, and Baykara on the Ishim River in northeastern Kazakhstan, were excavated; the latter site contained burials dating to various periods. Parzinger regards mound 1 at Baikara as a Scythian sanctuary. He paid especial tribute to Merhart’s and S.A. Teploukhov’s contribution to the classi¿cation of Southern Siberian sites, and the role of S.I. Rudenko, M.P. Gryaznov, and S.V. Kiselev in the study of “royal” burials. The symposium’s ¿rst day ended by the presentation of a new edition of Merhart’s memoirs Daljóko. Bilder aus sibirischen Arbeitstagen (From Afar: Visions of the Working Days in Siberia). The memoirs were written on his return from Russia in the 1920s, but were ¿rst published posthumously in 1959. The ¿rst edition was issued in a small number of copies and has since become
Copyright © 2010, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2010.08.020
156
L.Yu. Kitova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38/2 (2010) 155–157
a rarity. The new edition was introduced by Peter Rauh of the Viennese publishing house “Bölau”. Helmut Swozilek, the former director of the Vorarlberg Regional Museum at Bregenz, Merhart’s hometown, mentioned the German archaeologist’s pencraft. The memoirs were edited by H. Parzinger, who premised them with a large introductory article. The book is amply illustrated and commented. Sessions of the second and third days of the symposium took place in the auditorium of the Seminar on Prehistory and Protohistory – a room that has preserved its appearance ever since Merhart’s times. The opening speech was delivered by the Marburg University Deputy Dean of Historical and Cultural Studies V. Postel, and the sessions were convened by C. Dobiat, H. Parzinger, and A. Müller-Karpe. The recollections of Merhart’s former students – Hermann Müller-Karpe (born in 1925) and Edward Sangmeister (born in 1916) were fascinating. The grayhaired professors described their teacher with a touching air of gratitude, describing him as a man with a great deal of character, a talented scholar and lecturer. His profound knowledge, relating to both natural sciences and the humanities, his excellent memory, acute mind, and the sense of humor, which he maintained in any situations, greatly contributed to his popularity with the students. In his talk “Chaos and Order: Experiences of the World War, Revolution, and Civil War (1914–1921),” the Hamburg professor of history Nikolaus Katzer analyzed the intricate context of Merhart’s stay in Russia, giving the audience an idea of the tragic events of that time and of the conditions of his life in Siberia. V.I. Molodin of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, in his lecture titled “Russian Archaeological Studies in Siberia from the 1910s to the late 1920s,” described the developments in Siberian archaeology at the age of pivotal changes. On the one hand, he mentioned the continuity between the early Soviet archaeological school and the old academic tradition, originating from the ¿rst Academic expeditions by D.G. Messerschmidt, G.F. Müller, J . G . G m e l i n , a n d P. S . P a l l a s , c o n t i n u e d b y V.V. Radlov, D.A. Klementz, A.V. Adrianov, and, after the Revolution, by a new generation of scholars who, in the 1920s, were able to examine entire series of archaeological artifacts spanning the time from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, which enabled them to construct the ¿ rst general classi¿ cations of Siberian cultures. The leading ¿gures in this process were S.A. Teploukhov, S.I. Rudenko, M.P. Gryaznov, S.V. Kiselev, and B.E. Petri. Merhart’s activities in Krasnoyarsk were of key importance as well. In his lecture “From the History of the Russian Archaeology in the 1910s – late 1920s: Gero von
Merhart’s Interlocutors in Kazan, Moscow, and Petrograd” S.V. Kuzminykh of the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow traced Merhart’s scholarly connections on his way back to Germany in 1921. Apart from studying archaeological collections in Kazan, Moscow, and Petrograd, his priorities included discussions with the leading Russian experts such as B.F. Adler, V.A. Gorodtsov, P.P. Yefimenko, D.N. Anuchin, A.A. Spitsyn, etc. His aim was to test his own hypotheses relating to Siberian archaeology, and to answer certain questions he had posed. Merhart intended to continue analyzing Siberian materials in his homeland. In 1926, he published the monograph “The Bronze Age of the Yenisei,” where the results of his Siberian studied were integrated. L.Yu. Kitova of Kemerovo State University provided details relating to various facets of Merhart’s work at the Krasnoyarsk Museum (1919–1921), addressing issues such as restoration and classi¿cation of artifacts housed at Siberian museums. She underscored Merhart’s role in studying the antiquities of Yenisei Province, elaborating a tentative classi¿cation of Siberian cultures, and advancing theories concerning the origins of these cultures. In his paper “Archaeological Issues in Daljóko,” H. Parzinger presented a detailed commentary on Merhart’s book. Having outlined the latter’s studies in Yenisei Province, the speaker accented the relevance of Merhart’s ideas on contact zones such as the Achinsk area and the Angara Basin for understanding the ways Siberian cultures had formed. According to Parzinger, Merhart’s views were echoed by the Russian studies of the late 20th century. Speci¿cally, he proved right in drawing his colleagues’ attention to the peculiarity of the assemblage from Lugovskoye. Anatoli Nagler of the German Archaeological Institute reported on the results of the joint Russo-German studies in Siberia and Kazakhstan, focusing at the Barsuchiy Log burial ground. Thanks to the collaboration over the period of 1990–2000, absolute dates are currently available for all Bronze and Early Iron Age Siberian cultures, and the excavations of “Royal” kurgans culminated in impressive achievements. E.V. Detlova of Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum took up the story of Merhart’s ties with the Russian experts in Siberian archaeology, primarily with B.E. Petri, S.A. Teploukhov, G.P. Sosnovsky, N.K. Auerbach, and others. She fascinated the listeners with a profound knowledge of Merhart’s correspondence. Timo Salminen of Helsinki University in his paper co-authored with S.V. Kuzminykh and titled “Issues in Eastern Russian Archaeology in the Correspondence between A.M. Tallgren and G. von Merhart,” concentrated on developments in the Finnish archaeology in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
L.Yu. Kitova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38/2 (2010) 155–157
Svend Hansen, Head of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute, presented a paper “The Impact of Merhart’s Siberian Studies on the Archaeology of Bronze Age Europe,” where he demonstrated the ways Merhart’s ideas had inÀuenced European archaeology in general and the German schools in particular. His Bronze Age studies on the Yenisei affected the works of his colleagues in Germany. As the speaker stressed, the foundation of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Society, too, was an indirect sequel of Merhart’s stay in Siberia. The last talk, that of E.V. Detlova, addressed the current situation of archaeology in Krasnoyarsk. The results of the symposium were summarized by O.-H. Frey who evaluated the papers according to thematic blocks.
157
In sum, the symposium aroused considerable interest among the Marburg scholars. It was attended not only by archaeologists and historians but also by representatives of other disciplines. This multidisciplinary meeting was useful for all participants alike and has strengthened scholarly ties between archaeologists working in various countries.
L.Yu. Kitova Kemerovo State University, Krasnaya 6, Kemerovo, 650043, Russia E-mail: [email protected]
155
INFORMATION MERHART REDUX: A GERMAN-RUSSIAN SYMPOSIUM “GERO VON MERHART: A GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGIST IN SIBERIA, 1914–1921”
On June 4–7, 2009, a German-Russian symposium “Gero von Merhart: A German Archaeologist in Siberia, 1914–1921,” sponsored by the German Archaeological Institute Eurasian Department, Berlin, and by the Philipps University of Marburg, took place in Marburg, Germany. Participants were scholars from Germany, Russia, Austria, and Finland; the invited guests were Merhart’s relations. Gero Kurt Merhart von Bernegg (1886–1959) was an outstanding scholar, who has made a huge contribution to German archaeology. At the same time, he contributed to Russian archaeology. A native of Bregenz, Austria, he received an all-round scienti¿c education at Munich University where, in 1913, he defended a dissertation in geology as a major and in geography, physical anthropology, and prehistory as minors. Merhart came to Siberia not of his own free will but as a captive – a former of¿cer of the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. He made a long journey all across Russia, as far east as Chita. In 1919, after having suffered all the hardships at the prisoners’ camps, he received a position at the Yenisei Regional Museum (now Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum). In the course of Merhart’s incomplete two-year service at the Museum, thanks to his high professionalism, he accomplished a great deal for Siberian archaeology in general and for the Krasnoyarsk Museum in particular. The choice of location for the symposium, which centered on Merhart’s Siberian period, was not incidental. It was at Marburg University that he was appointed the ¿ rst Chair of the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology founded in 1927 – the ¿ rst such department in Germany. Merhart worked there for many years and became the founder of the famous Marburg school of archaeology. The symposium was preceded by an exhibition “Gero von Merhart: A German archaeologist in Siberia,
1914–1921,” which was opened on June 4. The principal exhibits were Merhart’s rare photographs and works, primarily those relating to Siberia. The symposium started on June 5 at Marburg University old assembly hall. Participants were greeted by University Dean Volker Nienhaus, President of the German Archaeological Institute Hans Joachim Gehrke, and the Convener of the Marburg University Seminar on Prehistory and Protohistory Claus Dobiat. The university’s scholarly tradition spans nearly ¿ve centuries. Many Russian researchers including Michail Lomonosov studied there; the Marburg philosophical school is famous worldwide. Merhart was among the prominent ¿gures associated with this center. The symposium began with the public lecture delivered by the President of the Prussian Foundation for Cultural Legacy Hermann Parzinger titled “The Burial Rite and the Demonstration of Power: The Large Kurgans of the Siberian Steppe.” The speaker integrated the findings of Russo-German and Kazakh-German expeditions over the period of 1997–2005. Over that time, objects such as Arzhan-2 in Tuva, Barsuchiy Log in the Minusinsk Basin, and Baykara on the Ishim River in northeastern Kazakhstan, were excavated; the latter site contained burials dating to various periods. Parzinger regards mound 1 at Baikara as a Scythian sanctuary. He paid especial tribute to Merhart’s and S.A. Teploukhov’s contribution to the classi¿cation of Southern Siberian sites, and the role of S.I. Rudenko, M.P. Gryaznov, and S.V. Kiselev in the study of “royal” burials. The symposium’s ¿rst day ended by the presentation of a new edition of Merhart’s memoirs Daljóko. Bilder aus sibirischen Arbeitstagen (From Afar: Visions of the Working Days in Siberia). The memoirs were written on his return from Russia in the 1920s, but were ¿rst published posthumously in 1959. The ¿rst edition was issued in a small number of copies and has since become
Copyright © 2010, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2010.08.020
156
L.Yu. Kitova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38/2 (2010) 155–157
a rarity. The new edition was introduced by Peter Rauh of the Viennese publishing house “Bölau”. Helmut Swozilek, the former director of the Vorarlberg Regional Museum at Bregenz, Merhart’s hometown, mentioned the German archaeologist’s pencraft. The memoirs were edited by H. Parzinger, who premised them with a large introductory article. The book is amply illustrated and commented. Sessions of the second and third days of the symposium took place in the auditorium of the Seminar on Prehistory and Protohistory – a room that has preserved its appearance ever since Merhart’s times. The opening speech was delivered by the Marburg University Deputy Dean of Historical and Cultural Studies V. Postel, and the sessions were convened by C. Dobiat, H. Parzinger, and A. Müller-Karpe. The recollections of Merhart’s former students – Hermann Müller-Karpe (born in 1925) and Edward Sangmeister (born in 1916) were fascinating. The grayhaired professors described their teacher with a touching air of gratitude, describing him as a man with a great deal of character, a talented scholar and lecturer. His profound knowledge, relating to both natural sciences and the humanities, his excellent memory, acute mind, and the sense of humor, which he maintained in any situations, greatly contributed to his popularity with the students. In his talk “Chaos and Order: Experiences of the World War, Revolution, and Civil War (1914–1921),” the Hamburg professor of history Nikolaus Katzer analyzed the intricate context of Merhart’s stay in Russia, giving the audience an idea of the tragic events of that time and of the conditions of his life in Siberia. V.I. Molodin of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, in his lecture titled “Russian Archaeological Studies in Siberia from the 1910s to the late 1920s,” described the developments in Siberian archaeology at the age of pivotal changes. On the one hand, he mentioned the continuity between the early Soviet archaeological school and the old academic tradition, originating from the ¿rst Academic expeditions by D.G. Messerschmidt, G.F. Müller, J . G . G m e l i n , a n d P. S . P a l l a s , c o n t i n u e d b y V.V. Radlov, D.A. Klementz, A.V. Adrianov, and, after the Revolution, by a new generation of scholars who, in the 1920s, were able to examine entire series of archaeological artifacts spanning the time from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, which enabled them to construct the ¿ rst general classi¿ cations of Siberian cultures. The leading ¿gures in this process were S.A. Teploukhov, S.I. Rudenko, M.P. Gryaznov, S.V. Kiselev, and B.E. Petri. Merhart’s activities in Krasnoyarsk were of key importance as well. In his lecture “From the History of the Russian Archaeology in the 1910s – late 1920s: Gero von
Merhart’s Interlocutors in Kazan, Moscow, and Petrograd” S.V. Kuzminykh of the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow traced Merhart’s scholarly connections on his way back to Germany in 1921. Apart from studying archaeological collections in Kazan, Moscow, and Petrograd, his priorities included discussions with the leading Russian experts such as B.F. Adler, V.A. Gorodtsov, P.P. Yefimenko, D.N. Anuchin, A.A. Spitsyn, etc. His aim was to test his own hypotheses relating to Siberian archaeology, and to answer certain questions he had posed. Merhart intended to continue analyzing Siberian materials in his homeland. In 1926, he published the monograph “The Bronze Age of the Yenisei,” where the results of his Siberian studied were integrated. L.Yu. Kitova of Kemerovo State University provided details relating to various facets of Merhart’s work at the Krasnoyarsk Museum (1919–1921), addressing issues such as restoration and classi¿cation of artifacts housed at Siberian museums. She underscored Merhart’s role in studying the antiquities of Yenisei Province, elaborating a tentative classi¿cation of Siberian cultures, and advancing theories concerning the origins of these cultures. In his paper “Archaeological Issues in Daljóko,” H. Parzinger presented a detailed commentary on Merhart’s book. Having outlined the latter’s studies in Yenisei Province, the speaker accented the relevance of Merhart’s ideas on contact zones such as the Achinsk area and the Angara Basin for understanding the ways Siberian cultures had formed. According to Parzinger, Merhart’s views were echoed by the Russian studies of the late 20th century. Speci¿cally, he proved right in drawing his colleagues’ attention to the peculiarity of the assemblage from Lugovskoye. Anatoli Nagler of the German Archaeological Institute reported on the results of the joint Russo-German studies in Siberia and Kazakhstan, focusing at the Barsuchiy Log burial ground. Thanks to the collaboration over the period of 1990–2000, absolute dates are currently available for all Bronze and Early Iron Age Siberian cultures, and the excavations of “Royal” kurgans culminated in impressive achievements. E.V. Detlova of Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum took up the story of Merhart’s ties with the Russian experts in Siberian archaeology, primarily with B.E. Petri, S.A. Teploukhov, G.P. Sosnovsky, N.K. Auerbach, and others. She fascinated the listeners with a profound knowledge of Merhart’s correspondence. Timo Salminen of Helsinki University in his paper co-authored with S.V. Kuzminykh and titled “Issues in Eastern Russian Archaeology in the Correspondence between A.M. Tallgren and G. von Merhart,” concentrated on developments in the Finnish archaeology in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
L.Yu. Kitova / Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38/2 (2010) 155–157
Svend Hansen, Head of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute, presented a paper “The Impact of Merhart’s Siberian Studies on the Archaeology of Bronze Age Europe,” where he demonstrated the ways Merhart’s ideas had inÀuenced European archaeology in general and the German schools in particular. His Bronze Age studies on the Yenisei affected the works of his colleagues in Germany. As the speaker stressed, the foundation of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Society, too, was an indirect sequel of Merhart’s stay in Siberia. The last talk, that of E.V. Detlova, addressed the current situation of archaeology in Krasnoyarsk. The results of the symposium were summarized by O.-H. Frey who evaluated the papers according to thematic blocks.
157
In sum, the symposium aroused considerable interest among the Marburg scholars. It was attended not only by archaeologists and historians but also by representatives of other disciplines. This multidisciplinary meeting was useful for all participants alike and has strengthened scholarly ties between archaeologists working in various countries.
L.Yu. Kitova Kemerovo State University, Krasnaya 6, Kemerovo, 650043, Russia E-mail: [email protected]