Joachim Werner (archaeologist)

Joachim Werner (born 23 December 1909, Berlin; d. 9 January 1994, Munich) was a German archaeologist who was especially concerned with the archaeology of the Early Middle Ages in Germany. The majority of German professorships with particular focus on the field of the Early Middle Ages were in the second half of the 20th century (and also partly in the generation following that) occupied by his academic pupils.[1]

Life

Werner completed his school finishing examinations at the French High-School in Berlin, and in 1928 began his specialist study of Prehistory and Early History, Classical Archaeology and both ancient and middle History. Among his teachers were (amongst others) Max Ebert and Wilhelm Unverzagt in Berlin, Oswald Menghin in Vienna and Gero von Merhart in Marburg. In Marburg he obtained his doctorate on 7 December 1932 with a dissertation on Coin-dated grave finds from Austrasia, which under the guidance of Hans Zeiss undertook the project to develop an absolute chronology of the Merovingian period based upon graves which contained (datable) coins. Although it has often had to be revised since then, this work was nevertheless a milestone in the knowledge of the Early Middle Ages.

After the Machtergreifung (Takeover of Power) of the National Socialists in 1933 he joined the Nazi Party and the Sturmabteilung,[2] to deflect attention from the fact that his father and grandparents were members of the Romani people.

The following appointments or occupations may be listed in brief:

His scientific interests included the pre-Roman Iron Age and Germanic ethnic origins, late antique fortresses, Merovingian-age cemeteries and richly-furnished graves, the errant knights (?literally, nomadic horsemen) of the Early Middle Ages and the art of the Carolingian era. To these he added further similar researches into wealthy graves in South Korea.

From Munich he was able to lead countless excavation projects, above all in Late Roman fortifications:

Additional excavation projects took place in Austria, Italy and Slovenia: Kuchl, Invillino in Friaul, Hrusica und Vranje. The Organizational structure for these excavations was mainly the Commission for archaeological research into late Roman Rhaetia, founded by Werner, at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

In the publication of the Cemetery of Mindelheim Werner worked up a chronological typology of belt-buckles, which was later modified by his pupil Rainer Christlein with reference to the cemetery of Marktoberdorf (Market Oberdorf). This remains even now an essential foundation for the chronology of the Merovingian age.

Werner supervised the doctorates of 33 students (including Bernhard Overbeck, Hans-Jörg Kellner and Hayo Vierck) and the inauguration as lecturers of seven colleagues, namely Vladimir Milojčić, Georg Kossack, Hermann Müller-Karpe, Günter Ulbert, Walter Torbrügge, H. Schubart und Volker Bierbrauer.

Publications (Selected)

Sources

Notes

  1. ↑ In its initial form, this article is a translation of the article of the same name in German Wikipedia, as it appeared on 1 February 2010.
  2. ↑ Ernst Klee, Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945 (S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007), p. 658.
  3. ↑ Jagellonian University webpage list of Honorary Doctorate recipients
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.