Speakers: O. Dally, C. Jansen, M. Linder

Summary Introduction Objectives and Methods Bibliography

Forschungscluster 5 [DE] (PDF) Research Cluster [EN] (PDF)

Summary

Cluster 5 differs from the other research clusters in several respects. Firstly, it is the smallest in terms of financial outlay and the number of researchers involved. Another unique feature is that archaeologists work together contemporary historians. The Cluster has, lastly, a nuclear structure: at the centre a small history-of-science research association based in Berlin, which cooperates closely with the archive in its arrangement activities, and works loosely with the various Cluster 5 projects in the departments.

Introduction

In the public at large there is undiminished interest in the question of how institutions which are highly regarded today conducted themselves under the National Socialist regime. The German Archaeological Institute is aware of the fact that, for various reasons, its history during the Nazi era has not been examined in sufficient depth, notwithstanding a few studies (e.g. by Klaus Junker). The archive material relevant for the period has by no means been fully studied by researchers; indeed it has not even undergone initial appraisal. Important files which have not been registered are likely to be found in the archives of the Foreign Office, the Federal Archive in Berlin, the Berlin Municipal Archive and other archives. The holdings of the DAI Archive itself are still far from being systematically appraised, let alone studied scientifically. What's more there are indications that documents from the DAI Archive may today be found in Russia, apparently having been transported there after the war ended.

While in the past the history of the DAI has been written by archaeologists with an interest in the history of science, mainly on the occasion of Institute anniversaries, the task of coordinating a thorough investigation into the history of the DAI in the 20th century (as part of Cluster 5) has been entrusted to a modern historian recognised in the field of the history of science and university history, Prof. Dr. Christian Jansen; and it is primarily contemporary historians and historians of science who have been engaged for other research projects. This approach has been adopted for two reasons. Firstly, only professional historians possess the special knowledge and training necessary to cope competently with the complicated situation regarding files and sources. Secondly, the aim is to write a complete history of the Institute in the context of political, scientific, legal and social history, the history of science, institutions, ideas and thought, in the 20th century.

Although our original interest in studying the DAI's history was the Nazi era, it is prudent for a variety of reasons to widen the focus of research. The period from the beginning of the 20th century to about 1980 seems most reasonable. The study period should therefore commence in the late Wilhelminian era and end with the 150th anniversary celebrations and the establishment of the Commission for General and Comparative Archaeology in Bonn (today the Commission for the Archaeology of Non-European Cultures) in 1979, since the Commission represented the final step in the effort to globalise the Institute's work. It is necessary to widen the focus of scientific research because contemporary history and in particular research into National Socialism does not recognise any 'zero hour'. On the contrary - and very fruitfully for an understanding of the epoch - it views the Third Reich as integrated in the continuum of German history of the 20th century; as a result it can identify the undisputed discontinuities as well as the continuities more precisely. In respect of the DAI, too, therefore the Nazi period ought not to be examined in isolation, but instead its activities should be evaluated against the background of long-term political developments and trends in research, and analysed in their scientific and political context.

Objectives and Methods

The objective is a complete history of the Institute in the years 1900-1979, to be written by a contemporary historian and submitted in around 2010, and accompanied by two dissertations on specific aspects and by diverse projects on the history of the departments abroad (see below: Individual Projects). Further questions can be examined in greater depth in workshops and colloquia, with the findings perhaps being published too.

In the investigation of the history of the DAI in the 20th century it will be possible to follow the example set by the Max Planck Society, which commissioned and carried out a now completed examination of the history of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society during the Third Reich (see http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/KWG/publications.htm). In addition, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has commissioned a working group of independent historians of science to examine its history between 1920 and 1970; the working group, which has yet to conclude its investigations, will seek to contextualise the DFG's research policy during the Nazi era against the background of long-term trends in politics and research (see http://www.histsem.uni-freiburg.de/DFG-history/). Similar research projects have been launched recently. Among them is an independent investigation into the role of the Berliner Universität in the National Socialist era, commissioned by the Academic Senate of Humboldt University in 2002 (see http://ns-zeit.history.hu-berlin.de/). Mention should also be made here of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic (whose portfolio includes the DAI), which has set up a research programme into its own history during the Third Reich, to be conducted by a commission of historians (see http://www.auswaertiges-mt.de/diplo/de/AAmt/history/Historikerkommission.html). An investigation of this kind at the DAI would therefore not only be desirable in itself and guaranteed to attract great interest, but also the developments that occurred in the DAI could be viewed with considerable precision within their historical context thanks to the latest research methodology. This Cluster 5 nevertheless project remains less cost and labour intensive than the other research projects that have been discussed here.

All Cluster 5 projects should be conducted in close consultation with a commission of contemporary historians and archaeologists with a research-history approach. The scientific commission supervising the research project 'The History of the DAI in the 20th Century' consists of the following archaeologists and contemporary historians:

A. Borbein, G. Brands, R. vom Bruch, O. Dally, N. Frei, S. Hansen, H. Hassmann, C. Jansen, K. Junker, M. Maischberger, H. Parzinger (chair) and S. von Schnurbein.

Bibliography

- Altekamp, Stefan: Klassische Archäologie und Nationalsozialismus, in: Elvert, Jürgen (Hg.): Kulturwissenschaften und Archäologie, Stuttgart: Erscheinen nicht absehbar; Volltext

- Bittel, Kurt u. a. (Hg.): Beiträge zur Geschichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 1929 bis 1979, Teil 1. Mainz 1979. Dieser Band behandelt die Auslandsabteilungen des DAI; ein geplanter zweiter Band über die Zentrale ist nie erschienen.

- Dally, Ortwin: Geschichte und Entwicklung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, in: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologen-Verbandes 36 (2005), S. 39-51.

- Jansen, Christian: The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) between Transnational Scholarship and Foreign Cultural Policy, in: Fragmenta 2 (2008).

- Junker, Klaus: Das Archäologische Institut des Deutschen Reiches zwischen Forschung und Politik. Die Jahre 1929 bis 1945. Mainz 1997.

- Meyer, Hans: Der Rechtsstatus des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Rechtsgutachten, in: Archäologischer Anzeiger 2004/2, S. 155-220.

- Parzinger, Hermann: Die Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin und das Deutsche Archäologische Institut. Rückblick und Ausblick, in: Andrea Bärnreuther/Peter-Klaus Schuster (Hg.): Freistätte für Kunst und Wissenschaft. Die Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin als Forschungseinrichtung. Berlin 2007, S. 36-43.

- Rieche, Anita (Hg.): Die Satzungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 1828-1972. Mainz 1979.