Collecting with a passion 1/2 – Neues Museum am See

Showcase 4

Collecting with a passion – Looking for clues at the lakeside

Science in an ivory tower? Absolutely not! For over 170 years, local enthusiasts have been working on pile dwelling research in the lakes and moors without any official commission. They explore their environment with their eyes open, discover sites and secure valuable objects. They work together with the State Offices for Monument Protection and museums. The founding and endowment of many regional museums is thanks to this citizen science. The privately collected “treasures” make up a large and invaluable contribution to the research of pile dwelling settlements. Unfortunately, they usually disappear into archives and are not open for public viewing. To show the range of finds, we present a selection here. The objects are as diverse as the collectors’ motivations.

01

Kaspar Löhle (1799-1878)
Municipal bookkeeper and farmer
Motivation: Interest in local history, passion for collecting
Photo: Fischerhaus Wangen, W. Quellmalz/G. Ludes
Object: Knife | Wood, flint | 3000 BC | Wangen-Hinterhorn | BLM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

02

Konrad Dietrich Hassler (1803- 1873)
Teacher and monument conservator
Motivation: Presentation of regional history, additions to the national collection
Photo: Historical eye Ralf Feltz / Alamy Stock Photo
Object: Needle | Bronze | 1050 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | LMW
Photo: LMW

03

Franz Xaver Ullersberger (1807-1885)
Foundation administrator
Motivation: Interest in local history, passion for collecting
Photo: Überlingen town archive
Object: Bracelet | Bronze | 900 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | LMW
Photo: LMW

04

Friedrich Wilhelm Duke zu Urach Count of Württemberg (1810-1869)
General of the Württemberg infantry, honorary doctor
Motivation: Interest in regional history
Photo: Historic Images, Alamy
Object: Knife | Wood | 3850 BC | Robenhausen, Switzerland | IVF
Photo: F. Müller | APM

05

Joseph Viktor von Scheffel (1826-1886)
Writer and poet
Motivation: Historical interest
Photo: wikimedia, after a photograph by Schulz and Suck, court photographers in Karlsruhe
Object: Poem “The Stake Man”
from A. A. Steiner, Joseph Victor von Scheffel, works in two volumes, vol. 2
(Frankfurt/Zurich, 1969) 217-218 | APM
Photo: APM

06

Jakob Messikommer (1828-1917)
Farmer, poet, excavator, honorary doctor
Motivation: Interest in local history, passion for collecting
Photo: Wiesendanger, AO Wetzikon
Object: Botanical specimens | Specimens in glass cylinder | 3850 BC | Robenhausen, Switzerland | IVF
Photo: F. Müller | APM

07

Ludwig Leiner (1830-1901)
Pharmacist, museum founder
Motivation: Interest in local history,
Collecting and exhibiting historical documents from his home region
Photo: Constance City Archives, Wolf Collection
Object: Bronzes | 900 BC | Hagnau-Burg | RGM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

08

Theodor Lachmann (1835-1918)
Medical councillor, museum founder
Motivation: Interest in local history,
Collecting and exhibiting historical documents of the town
Photo: Archive of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings
Object: Pendant | Bear’s tooth | 3000 BC | Sipplingen-Osthafen | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

09

Eugen Frank (1842-1897)
Main State Archives Stuttgart
Royal chief forester
Motivation: Interest in regional history, passion for collecting
Object: Dagger | Bronze | 1200 BC | Bad Schussenried-Lissen | SMBPK
Photo: SMBPK

10

Richard Pufahl senior (1854-1912)
Huntsman and mayor of the municipality of Schnetzenhausen
Motivation: Interest in local history, passion for collecting
Photo: Friedrichshafen city archive
Object: Decorated stone | Pebble | 3500 BC | Manzell | LMW
Photo: LMW

11

August Gröber (1856-1931)
Master tinsmith and chairman of the association
Motivation: Interest in local history, Collecting and exhibiting historical documents of the town
Photo: APM
Object: Beaker | Pottery | 1050 BC | Bad Buchau-Wasserburg | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

12

Hermann Levinger (1865-1944)
District administrator, initiator and co-founder of the pile-dwelling association
Motivation: Promotion of science, history education, promotion of tourism
Photo: Archive City of Überlingen | APM
Object: Letter from Hermann Levinger to Georg Sulger 19 March 1936 | APM
Photo: APM

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Moritz Vierfelder (1877-1961)
Master confectioner, paramedic, newspaper publisher, chairman of the synagogue of the Jewish community of Buchau, co-founder and secretary of the Buchau Antiquities Society
Motivation: Interest in local history,
Collecting and exhibiting historical documents of the town
Photo: Friedl Fisher (Vierfelder) | APM
Object: Spinning whorl | Clay | 1000 BC | Bad Buchau-Wasserburg | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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Robert Rudolf Schmidt (1882-1950)
Prehistorian, excavator, director of the institute
Motivation: Interest in prehistory and its pedagogical communication
Ethnology, anthropology, archaeology (worldwide)
Photo: APM
Object: R. R. Schmidt, German prehistory in schools! Swabian pamphlets, issue 2, Stuttgart 1920 | APM
Photo: APM

18

Jacob Picard (1883-1967)
Writer
Motivation: Literary and historical interest
Drawing: W. Waentig
Object: Text passage from: Jacob Picard Werke (1991) ed. Manfred Bosch, 128-133 | APM
Photo: APM

19

Heinz Hertlein (1888-1971)
Teacher and educational councillor
Motivation: educational use in the school’s teaching collection,
Passion for collecting
Drawing: Walter Waentig
Object: Reindeer antlers | Bones | 12000 BC | Engen-Petersfels | estate
Hertlein, APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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Paul Weber (1893-1985)
Farmer, politician, prehistorian, art collector
Motivation: Interest in local history, enthusiasm for old things
Photo: Weber family private archive
Object: Jug | Pottery | 3600 BC | Bodman-Weiler | Weber Collection
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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Christian Murr (1898-1948)
Model carpenter
Motivation: Interest in old craft techniques,
Pleasure in the reconstruction of archaeological objects
Photo: APM
Object: Fur scraper | Boar’s tooth | 3800 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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Hans Reinerth (1900-1990)
Prehistorian
Motivation: Research into the architecture and an overall picture of the pile dwellings, Indo-European research, NS archaeology
Photo: APM
Object: Lower jaw of domestic cattle | Bone | 3000 BC | Sipplingen-Osthafen | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

27

Ernst Wall (1903-1985)
Senior teacher
Motivation: Interest in local history and natural sciences
Photo: Wall | APM
Object: Replica of a gold bowl from the princely tomb of Hochdorf |
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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Immanuel Off (1919-1956)
Hotel manager, cook
Motivation: Interest in local history, passion for collecting
Photo: APM
Object: Interior decoration | Lime plaster on mortar, painted | 3rd century AD | Oberuhldingen-Schlossbühl | APM
Photo: F. Müller | APM

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