| Popis: |
COLLECTIONS OF ‘HOMELANDS ANTIQUITIES’ FROM EAST PRUSSIA IN 18TH CENTURY In the 18th century the interest in archaeology in East Prussia had grown incredibly. Thus, there was a great development of archaeological collections, even if the collecting was not understood as assembly of “national antiquities”, but rather as gathering the curiosities, testifying an attractiveness of a particular parish or communes. A special role played the clergymen who had the frequent contacts with peasants finding archeological relics accidentally, during the field works. One of the most outstanding collectors was Georg Andreas Helwing, a longtime parish priest in Węgobork (Angerburg). After his death his huge collection was mostly dispersed, although it can be assumed that some of the items were inherited by Ludwig Jakob Pisanski, his grandson and successors in the parish at once. This collection had an exceptional scientific value – later sold in Berlin, became a core of archaeological museum created in the 1830s. Even if other contemporary collections were not so spectacular, they are still a valuable witness of archaeological discoveries at that time. |
