Manfred Korfmann

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Manfred O. Korfmann (April 26, 1942 in Cologne — August 11, 2005, in Ofterdingen, Baden-Württemberg) was a German archaeologist. During the final decade of his life, he had become well-known in Germany as the head of the renewed effort to excavate the ancient city of Troy in modern-day Turkey.

Korfmann began training as an English and history teacher after finishing school in 1961. As a school assistant in Beit Jala/Bethlehem (Jordan, today West Bank) he found great interest in archaeology. Thereupon he decided to pursue study, from 1962-1970, on pre- and early history as well as archaeology at the University of Frankfurt/Main and the American University of Beirut. He graduated in 1970 in Frankfurt/Main. From 1971/72 he was a scientific researcher at the University of Frankfurt/Main with the project of mapping Africa funded by the DFG. Among other things afterwards he worked from 1971-1978 as a scientific adviser to the German archaeological Institute (department of Istanbul) involving excavations in Demircihueyuek. In 1978-1982 he was a scientific researcher at DAI Berlin. In 1980 he obtained the habilitation and became a private lecturer at the University of Frankfurt/Main. He received a professorship in 1982 for pre- and early historical archaeology at the University of Tübingen.

In 1988 the Turkish government gave him an exclusive excavation license. It opened large parts of the lower part of town Troy and a part of the foundation walls for his team. During the excavation campaign and under the direction of Korfmann, altogether 13,240 square meters of land were excavated by 370 scientists. Since Schliemanns work of Troy there is cultural and historical interpretation disputed. With his work he succeeded to animate the myth created by the Greek writer Homer again around Troja. While many old historians doubt the significant of Troy, Korfmann presented his thesis that the bronze-temporal city had played a central role in the Mediterranean area. In the years 2001 and 2002, this debate reached its high point. In a much-hour controversy among scientists in February 2002 in Tübingen, Korfmann stated good arguments for his conclusions over the decades of past scientific works in Troy. Main point of the controversy was the real size and interpretation of the bronze-temporal in Troy. Further excavation in August 2003 in Troy supported Korfmann's theory. "Troy was much larger than so far accepted, which I can prove by my excavations", exclaimed the Tüebinger archaeologist.

In 1996 he helps to establish a national park in historical Troy and two years later UNESCO declared this site as World Cultural Heritage. Many tourists came to see the excavation site in the Troy city. The scientist had accepted in 2004 the Turkish nationality given to him from the government of Turkey for his contribution to that country. And he added Osman to his middle name. 15 years long had past since excavation work first started around Troy. Owing to Korfmann the interest in Troy rose enormously. Korfmann's excavations again rekindled the enthusiasm for the myth around Troy. It is the desire of Professor Korfmann that the excavations continue. Still to the end of August 2005 are approximately 45 scientists in Troy, mostly from University of Tübingen. It is of hope that the Turkish government fulfills Professor Korfmann's wishes of building a museum in Troy. Also due to his initiative, in 2001 a grand Troy exhibition was displayed in Stuttgart, "Troy - dream and reality". About 800,000 visitors visited this exhibition. Apart from excavations in Troy, he also turned to excavation in other places for example in the Caucasus and Central Asia. He died of lung cancer on August 11, 2005 at the age of 63 in his home in Ofterdingen near Tübingen. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

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