The initial stage of the scientific and educational activities of the «Union of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhine Region» in the 1840s

Abstract

The article is devoted to the little-known among the domestic scientific community history of the foundation, cultural and educational activities of the German society “Union of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland”, which was created by a group of connoisseurs of ancient antiquities and experts on the ancient past in 1841 in the Rhineland province of the Kingdom of Prussia. Today, modern domestic historiography lacks comprehensive works that detail the historical circumstances, the course of institutionalization and the work of the public scientific center for the preservation of ancient cultural heritage in the Kingdom of Prussia and its Rhineland province during the 1840s of the 19th century. The author of the study set the goal, based on extensive source material (statute, reports of the institution, publications published by it), to reconstruct the reasons for the creation of the “Union of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland”, the specifics of its organizational structure, financial and scientific and educational activities aimed at studying the ancient cultural heritage and historical past in the territory of the Rhine province of the Kingdom of Prussia. The article notes the role of connoisseurs of ancient antiquities, antiquarians, representatives of the academic university environment, teachers of local secondary and primary educational institutions, representatives of the Prussian administration in the creation of a public association that dealt with the problems of popularizing the ancient Roman cultural heritage of the Rhineland in the public environment of the Kingdom of Prussia, identifying, attributing and preserving its historical and cultural monuments, and the peculiarities of forming museum funds and collections of ancient artifacts and archaeological finds. One of the main priorities of the community center was the organization of a special popular science magazine, in the columns of which modern research on Latin archaeography, archeology, numismatics, architecture, historiography was published, which gave a powerful impetus to further scientific study of the past of the ancient Roman era of the Rhine province of Prussia, a meaningful expansion of the research circle of local scientists. The active activity of the association contributed to the involvement of its members in the implementation of government projects of Prussia to preserve a wide range of monuments of the cultural heritage of Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages of the Rhineland. L. Lersch played a significant role in the activities of the society at the initial stage of its formation. It has been established that the scientific, educational, publishing and popularization activities of the “Union of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland” in the 1840s significantly influenced the internal policy of Prussia in the field of preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient Roman era, organizing and conducting systematic work on the conservation and reconstruction of monuments of architecture and art, and contributed to the exponential growth of public interest in the problems of the history of Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages, the museumization of collections of ancient antiquities, and the organization of systematic archaeological research.