brigitta mader
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Archaeological Institute, free associated - team "history of archaeological research"
Brigitta Mader, Dr phil.
Studied Slavic Studies and Prehistory and Early History in Vienna;
Lecturer at the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna;
Associate researcher at the Austrian Archaeological Institute ÖAI (Prehistory & West Asia/North African Archaeology) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and at the
Natural History Museum Vienna NHM - Prehistoric Department;
Senior Researcher at the IRRIS Institute (Institute for Research, Development and
Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment) Marezige - Koper (Slovenia).
Main research interests:
History of science (Habsburg Monarchy);
History of research - prehistoric archaeology, development of the discipline;
History of Austrian monument preservation until 1918 with a special focus on the former k.k. coastal region; cultural heritage;
Ludwig Salvator research.
Studied Slavic Studies and Prehistory and Early History in Vienna;
Lecturer at the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna;
Associate researcher at the Austrian Archaeological Institute ÖAI (Prehistory & West Asia/North African Archaeology) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and at the
Natural History Museum Vienna NHM - Prehistoric Department;
Senior Researcher at the IRRIS Institute (Institute for Research, Development and
Strategies of Society, Culture and Environment) Marezige - Koper (Slovenia).
Main research interests:
History of science (Habsburg Monarchy);
History of research - prehistoric archaeology, development of the discipline;
History of Austrian monument preservation until 1918 with a special focus on the former k.k. coastal region; cultural heritage;
Ludwig Salvator research.
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changes that also affected scholarship. In the field of prehistoric research, the territorial loss in particular had dramatic
consequences. With the loss of the Crown Lands, important areas for research were lost and the international cooperation
that had existed at the time ceased. Formerly Austrian research was continued abroad, where the various successor
states built up their national research. The poor financial situation caused by the economic crisis of the interwar period
represented a further restriction on scientific research.
The second major change within Austrian prehistoric research, took place independently of the political situation. The
establishment of the subject as an independent discipline, which occurred at the latest with Moriz Hoernes’ appointment
as holder of the first chair at the University of Vienna in 1899, brought about its reorientation from the natural sciences
to the humanities. A new generation of now graduated prehistorians entered the scene and replaced the pioneers of prehistory
who were largely determined by natural science or geology. With the “new” prehistorians, however, the focus
of research shifted towards settlement archaeology, and early history, which had hitherto been treated only marginally,
moved into the foreground.
The focus of the article lies on this phase of transition, which is presented in retrospect, through comparisons and
examples (excavation projects, biographies), with regard to the effects and reorientation of prehistoric research on the
basis of the Prehistoric Commission, which, since its foundation in 1878, together with the Natural History Museum in
Vienna, systematically conducted and determined prehistoric research in the Austrian lands.
changes that also affected scholarship. In the field of prehistoric research, the territorial loss in particular had dramatic
consequences. With the loss of the Crown Lands, important areas for research were lost and the international cooperation
that had existed at the time ceased. Formerly Austrian research was continued abroad, where the various successor
states built up their national research. The poor financial situation caused by the economic crisis of the interwar period
represented a further restriction on scientific research.
The second major change within Austrian prehistoric research, took place independently of the political situation. The
establishment of the subject as an independent discipline, which occurred at the latest with Moriz Hoernes’ appointment
as holder of the first chair at the University of Vienna in 1899, brought about its reorientation from the natural sciences
to the humanities. A new generation of now graduated prehistorians entered the scene and replaced the pioneers of prehistory
who were largely determined by natural science or geology. With the “new” prehistorians, however, the focus
of research shifted towards settlement archaeology, and early history, which had hitherto been treated only marginally,
moved into the foreground.
The focus of the article lies on this phase of transition, which is presented in retrospect, through comparisons and
examples (excavation projects, biographies), with regard to the effects and reorientation of prehistoric research on the
basis of the Prehistoric Commission, which, since its foundation in 1878, together with the Natural History Museum in
Vienna, systematically conducted and determined prehistoric research in the Austrian lands.
Brigitta Mader
Travelling - exploring - describing. "Islands of Memory" in the scientific work of the Austrian Archduke Ludwig Salvator (1847 -1915)
In the last third of the 19th century, Ludwig Salvator's research work was focused on the Mediterranean region and its little-known island worlds. As the son of the last governing Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, Ludwig Salvator had grown up in constant contact with the sciences under the late influence of the Enlightenment. A circumstance that had a decisive influence on his life. Instead of the traditional military career for male members of the imperial family, he completed an academic study programme and decided to take the path of a scholar, for whom the transfer of knowledge and the preservation of inherited cultural heritage were the main motives for his work. As a natural scientist, explorer and author, he earned international recognition for his works on the Mediterranean. However, what fundamentally distinguished him from aristocratic travel writers was not only his studies, but also his method based on field research, for which he developed the so-called Tabulae Ludovicianae based on the questionnaire system commonly used in cameralistics for the systematic survey of the state and its inhabitants: a compendium of questions adapted to the Mediterranean region, written in three languages - German, French and Italian - for a comprehensive topographical and cultural-historical survey of a region, which he distributed to specialists with local knowledge and local informants with the request for the most detailed information possible. The data collected in this way, together with Ludwig Salvator's personal research in the field and his own drawings made on site, formed the basis of his works: around four dozen descriptions of the Balearic Islands, the Aeolian Islands, Dalmatia, the Ionian Islands and the North African region, some of them in several volumes. Ludwig Salvator's almost encyclopaedic works are characterised by their multi- and interdisciplinary nature, whereby from today's perspective, those parts that can be assigned to cultural anthropology or enthnography are of particular importance. Ludwig Salvator used the "word-image principle" to preserve everything that was already in danger of disappearing due to the influence of modern technology. Descriptions of rural, agricultural, craft and domestic activities, interiors, equipment and products are always supplemented by local names and illustrations, which clearly define them.
Ludwig Salvator's works provide us with a treasury of historical data
and represent an important source for modern research of intangible cultural heritage, its roots, history and development, but also for the remembrance, contemplation and revitalisation of almost or completely lost cultural assets.
The purpose of the paper is to present the personality of Ludwig Salvator, his methods and works and their significance and analysis as a source of intangible cultural heritage in the Mediterranean region, which will be demonstrated using selected examples (domestic life, customs, traditional costumes, religion, crafts, utensils, functional processes, linguistics, local terms, proverbs, fairy tales, superstitions, remedies, music, instruments, dance, etc.).
Wir wollen daher anlässlich des 100. Todestages von Prof. Dr. Moriz Hoernes seine Leistungen würdigen! Der Werdegang des nunmehrigen Instituts für Urgeschichte und Historische Archäologie der Universität Wien wird mit Rückblicken, gegenwärtigen Bewertungen und Ausblicken in die Zukunft reflektiert. Eng und untrennbar damit verknüpft ist die Entwicklung und Positionierung des Faches in Österreich.
The Prehistoric Commission of the Imperial Academy of Science in Vienna (1878-1918) with special regard on Ferdinand von Hochstetter an the early period (-1884).
Abstract
After a short introduction on the state of art of development of prehistoric researches in Austria before 1878, the author, who is now after detailed archive researches writing about the history of the Prehistoric Commission of the Imperial Academy of Science in Vienna (Prähistorische Kommission der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften) from the foundation in 1878 until the end of the K.& k. Monarchy in 1918, presents in this paper the intense activities of this commission, which took place in the Austrian part (Cisleithanien) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and so did not become important only for the Viennese prehistoric studies but also for those of all in this territory represented nationalities (Czechs, Slovaks, Slovens, Croates, Italians) respectively cultures (german, slavic, romance).
The key position in the early period of Austrian prehistoric researches hold Ferdinand von Hochstetter, geologist, professor at the Polytechnikum in Vienna and later general director (Intendant) of the Naturalhistory Court Museum in Vienna (naturhistorisches Hofmuseum), where he was the very first to create an antropological-entnografic department with the imperial prehistoric collection.
It was also Hochstetter’s idea to propose to the Academy the institution of the Prehistoric Commission, which was first belonging only to the Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Classe but since 1886 also to the Philosophisch-historische Classe). Hochstetter with his special gift for organization directed the Prehistoric Commission until he died in 1884, had fruitful contacts with colleagues, did personally a lot of ground researches, carried out -numerous still important excavations in Boemia, Moravia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, published the results and last but not least stood up for cave protection to save archaeological and palaeontological material.
Hochstetter’s merit is also the successful collaboration between the Prehistoric Commission, the Naturalhistory museum and the Antropological Society in Vienna, founded in 1870 as well as the „education“ and promotion of his assistents Franz Heger, Ernst Kittl and particulary Josef Szombathy.
Als vor rund 150 Jahren erste archäologische Aktivitäten von der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (heute ÖAW) durchgeführt wurden, befand sich die prähistorische Archäologie noch auf dem Weg zur eigenständigen Wissenschaftsdisziplin. Durch die Erforschung der Geschichte der Menschheit, deren hohes Alter gerade erst durch Darwin und die neuesten Erkenntnisse der Geologie bestätigt worden war, kam eine Vielzahl neuer Fragen auf. Die Antworten darauf sollte die Urgeschichtsforschung liefern. Aus diesem Grund regte Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829−1884), Geologe und Intendant des Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums, an der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften die Einsetzung einer Prähistorischen Kommission an, deren Aufgabe es sein sollte, urgeschichtliche Forschungen und Ausgrabungen im österreichischen Teil der Monarchie zu unternehmen. Hochstetters Idee fiel auf fruchtbaren Boden. Der vorliegende Band stellt zum ersten Mal die Geschichte der Prähistorischen Kommission dar. Von ihrer Gründung im Jahr 1878 bis zum Ende der Habsburger Monarchie 1918 führte die Prähistorische Kommission an über hundert Fundstellen in Böhmen, Mähren, dem heutigen Österreich, der Südsteiermark, Krain, dem Küstenland (Hinterland von Triest, Istrien) und Dalmatien zum Teil mehrere Jahre in Anspruch nehmende Ausgrabungen durch. Damit trug sie nicht nur wesentlich zur Entwicklung der Urgeschichte als eigenständiges Fach bei, sondern schuf durch ihre aus heutiger Sicht internationale Tätigkeit auch die Grundlage der prähistorischen Forschung für die Nachfolgestaaten der Monarchie. Diese Erfolgsgeschichte wird anhand von bisher unveröffentlichtem und unbekanntem Archivmaterial dokumentiert. Im ersten Teil des Buches werden Gründung, Organisation und Tätigkeit der Kommission dargestellt und auch Stand und Entwicklung der österreichischen Urgeschichtsforschung bzw. prähistorischen Archäologie im Kontext der europäischen Forschungslandschaft beleuchtet. Der zweite Teil ist ein ausführlicher Katalog aller von 1878 bis 1918 erfolgten Ausgrabungen, der einen lebendigen Einblick in die Pionierzeit prähistorischer Forschung vermittelt. Kurzbiographien der Ausgräber und zahlreiche Abbildungen von Ausgräbern, Ausgrabungsstätten und Funddokumentationen vervollständigen das Szenarium der Prähistorischen Kommission, deren Mitglieder und Mitarbeiter sich in weitsichtiger Weise für die Erforschung der Menschheitsgeschichte und die Etablierung einer neuen Wissenschaftsdisziplin eingesetzt haben.
…
When the first archaeological activities were carried out by the Imperial Academy of Sciences (now the Austrian Academy of Sciences) some 150 years ago, prehistoric archaeology was still on its way to becoming an independent scientific discipline. The great antiquity of the history of mankind had just been confirmed by Darwin and the latest findings of geology raised a number of new questions. The answers would be provided by prehistoric research. For this reason Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829−1884), geologist and director of the Natural History Court Museum at the Academy, encouraged the establishment of a Prehistoric Commission, whose duty would be to undertake prehistoric research and excavations in the Austrian parts of the monarchy. Hochstetter’s idea fell on fertile ground. This volume represents a detailed and accurate history of the Prehistoric Commission for the first time. From its founding in 1878 until the end of the Habsburg monarchy in 1918 the Prehistoric Commission conducted excavations at over one hundred sites in Bohemia, Moravia, present-day Austria, southern Styria, Carniola, the Austrian littoral (the hinterlands of Trieste and Istria) and Dalmatia, some of which lasted many years. Thus it not only contributed significantly to the development of prehistory as an independent field of research, but also laid the foundations of prehistoric research for the successor states of the monarchy. The book documents this success story on the basis of previously unpublished and unknown archival material. In its first part the establishment, organisation and activities of the Commission are presented. The status and development of Austrian prehistoric research and archaeology in the context of European research are also discussed. The second part is a detailed catalogue of all excavations which took place from 1878 to 1918 and gives a vivid insight into the pioneering days of prehistoric archaeology. Short biographies of researchers and numerous pictures of excavators, excavations and finds documentation complete the image of the Prehistoric Commission, whose forward-thinking members and staff strove to gain insight into the history of mankind and to establish a new scientific discipline.
Un arxiduc amb mètode. Lluis Salvador el cientific pp.112-125; Un archiduque con método. Luis Salvador el científico pp. 278-286; An Archduke with Method. Ludwig Salvator, Man of Scienze pp. 277-284 (CD). in: Jo, L'Arxiduc. El desig d'anar més lluny. Catàleg. Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics, Palma de Mallorca 2015.