Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte

The Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology, and Prehistory (German: Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte) is a learned society for the study of anthropology, ethnology, and prehistory founded in Berlin by Adolf Bastian and Rudolf Virchow in 1869 as the Berlin Anthropological Society (German: Berliner Anthropologische Gesellschaft).

Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte
AbbreviationBGAEU
Formation1869 (1869) as Berliner Anthropologische Gesellschaft
PurposeAdvancement of anthropology, ethnology, and prehistory
HeadquartersMuseum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Berlin)
Websitewww.bgaeu.de

History

As a national organization, the German Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory was founded in 1870, but dissolved in 1935. Before the inflation after the First World War, the company had considerable assets, which were gained from well-known foundations, such as that of Heinrich Schliemann. This made it possible for the company to financially support expeditions and excavations. Numerous holdings in Berlin museums go back to earlier research by the company and some of them are still legally owned by the company. [1]

After the Second World War, the company was temporarily dissolved by the Allies and re-established in the early 1950s, particularly on the initiative of Hans Nevermann.[2]

Current activities

Since then, the company has been organizing lectures, excursions and forums on a regular basis and promoting the exchange between scientists from different disciplines. The society annually awards the Rudolf Virchow Prize for excellent master's, master's and diploma theses from universities in Berlin and Brandenburg relating to the subjects represented in the society.[3]

The anthropological collection

The Society owns an internationally outstanding collection of physical anthropological evidence.[4] In 2021, the Journalist Markus Grill, with the support of the Society's head of archives Nils Seethaler, succeeded in finding skulls of Canadian aborigines in the Archaeological Centre of the National Museums that were thought to be missing from the Society's anthropological collection.[5] The collection's administrator, Barbara Teßmann, who was supposedly unaware of the existence of these skulls, gave a racist explanation for the constitution and survival of the collection of skulls she was continuing to study: "The skulls, they just all look different". She declared that the skulls stolen from tombs during the colonial era were archaeological material: "As a general rule, we don't return archaeological material!" At the same time, she expressed her lack of interest and justified this by her insufficient salary: "I'm not going to start opening boxes!" She refused to return the stolen skulls.[6]

References
  1. Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Bestehen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, 1869–1969, edited by Hermann Pohle and Gustav Mahr, vol. 1, Fachhistorische Beiträge. Berlin: Karl Flagel und Sohn, 1969:p. 5-25
  2. Nils Seethaler: Der Ethnologe Hans Nevermann und sein Werk – zwischen dem Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin und der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte (BGAEU). In: Mitteilungen der BGAEU, Band 35, 2014, S. 71–78.
  3. https://www.bgaeu.de/rudolf_virchow_foerderpreis.html
  4. Bernhard Heeb/Barbara Teßmann: Zur Geschichte der anthropologischen Rudolf-Virchow-Sammlung (RV-Sammlung). Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology Volume 24. Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2019: p. 75-90
  5. David Bruser: The untold story of four Indigenous skulls given away by one of Canada’s most famous doctors, and the quest to bring them home. Toronto Star: Article of December 17, 2020.
  6. Markus Grill/Ralf Wiegand: Die Spur der Schädel Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17.12.20.
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