Umbrella organisation for archaeology founded
Press release from 10/11/2011
German archaeologists found an umbrella organisation and create a mouthpiece for politicians and the public.
The founding meeting of the "German Association for Archaeology" (DVA) took place in Bremen on 4 October 2011 as part of the 7th German Archaeology Congress. Following failed attempts to unite German archaeology at the beginning of the 20th century and again after German reunification in the early 1990s, the new umbrella organisation is the first in the history of German archaeology to represent the interests of all archaeology, archaeological research and related disciplines in the Federal Republic of Germany organised by associations and organisations. With over 3,000 members, the DVA will be an important voice for archaeology and related disciplines. It will be involved in matters relating to the preservation of cultural heritage, archaeological museums, the preservation of archaeological monuments, universities and other research institutions in the field of archaeology and represent their concerns and interests to politicians and the public.
The following individual associations and societies joined the DVA at the founding meeting: Nordwestdeutscher Verband für Altertumsforschung e.V., West- und Süddeutscher Verband für Altertumsforschung e.V., Mittel- und Ostdeutscher Verband für Altertumsforschung e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte e.V., Deutscher Archäologen-Verband e.V., Verband der Landesarchäologen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V., Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit e.V., Dachverband Archäologischer Studierendenvertretungen e.V., Gesellschaft für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie - Archäometrie and Archäologische Kommission für Niedersachsen e. V.
The prehistorian Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Hermann Parzinger was elected President of the "German Association for Archaeology". Hermann Parzinger was elected president. Following his university assistantship and habilitation in prehistory and early history at the LMU Munich, Parzinger was initially Second Director of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Frankfurt am Main (1990-94), then Founding Director of the Eurasia Department of the DAI (1995-2003) and finally President of the Institute (2003-2008); he has been President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 2008. He is undoubtedly one of the most renowned archaeologists in Germany; in 1998 Parzinger was the only representative of his discipline to receive the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation and a few months ago he was inducted into the Order Pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts. He is a member of numerous academies in Germany, Russia, China, Great Britain and the USA. His excavation work ranges from Spain, Turkey and Iran to Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia.
In his acceptance speech, Parzinger described the founding of the new umbrella organisation as a "historic moment". He continued: "Archaeology has developed into an incredibly dynamic and transdisciplinary science that is extremely successful in attracting research funding and is very popular with the public worldwide due to its current topics on the preservation and research of archaeological monuments. It was therefore high time to create an umbrella organisation for archaeology in Germany, under which all associations, societies and institutions with their different traditions, tasks and objectives could be brought together and their interests pooled."
In addition to Parzinger, four vice presidents were elected to the board of the "German Association for Archaeology": Prof. Dr Friedrike Fless, President of the German Archaeological Institute, Prof. Dr Ute Halle, State Archaeologist of the Hanseatic City of Bremen, Prof. Dr Jürgen Kunow, Chairman of the Association of State Archaeologists in the Federal Republic of Germany and Prof. Dr Alfried Wieczorek, Director General of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen Mannheim. Prof. Dr Matthias Wemhoff, Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History at the National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage, where the new umbrella organisation's office will also be located, was appointed Managing Director.