Ernst Christian Andreas Martin Fabricius (

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, 6 September 1857 –

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, 22 March 1942) was a German historian, archaeologist and classical scholar. Between 1882 and 1888 he participated in excavations in Greece and Asia Minor and also pioneered German research on the Roman Empire border defenses known as the

Limes Germanicus The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier''), or 'Germanic Limes', is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman ...

Biography

Ernst Fabricius began his university studies in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In 1881 he received a doctorate in 'Comprehensive Greek Architecture' from the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. His teachers included

Adolf Michaelis Adolf Michaelis (22 June 1835 – 12 August 1910) was a German classical scholar, a professor of art history at the University of Strasbourg from 1872, who helped establish the connoisseurship of Ancient Greek sculpture and Roman sculpture on thei ...

Rudolf Schöll Rudolf Schöll (1 September 1844 in Weimar – 10 June 1893 in Munich) was a German classical scholar. He specialized in the fields of Greek and Roman legal history, classical archaeology and Greek epigraphy.Heinrich Nissen Heinrich Nissen (born 3 April 1839 in Hadersleben; died 29 February 1912 in Bonn) was a German professor of ancient history. Life Heinrich Nissen studied in Kiel under Karl Wilhelm Nitzsch and in Berlin under August Boeckh and Theodor Mommsen. ...

and

Hermann Usener Hermann Karl Usener (23 October 1834 – 21 October 1905) was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion. Life Hermann Usener was born at Weilburg and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg ...

. As a fellow of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

, along with geographer

Heinrich Kiepert Heinrich Kiepert (July 31, 1818 – April 21, 1899) was a German geographer. Early life and education Kiepert was born in Berlin. He traveled frequently as a youth with his family and documented his travels by drawing. His family was friends wit ...

, he visited

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. In 1886, he was appointed professor of classical philology, archeology and ancient history at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. Subsequently, he participated in excavations in Greece and Asia Minor, specifically at

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. From 1888 until his retirement (1926) he was professor of ancient history at the

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, and the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

Breisgau The Breisgau () is an area in southwest Germany extending along the Rhine River and enveloping portions of the Black Forest. Part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, it centers on the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The district of Breisgau-Hoch ...

. At the University of Freiburg, Fabricius was the dean of the college, rector (1910–11), and Chairman of the Committee for the construction of the new universities. In 1902 he was appointed President of the German Limes Commission for the Committee on the Germanic-Rhaetian Limes. During his career, Fabricius was extensively involved in politics. He served in the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

(Badische Ständeversammlung) from 1913 to 1918. He was a supporter of both German colonialism and

Pangermanism Pan-Germanism ( or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist political ideology, political idea. Pan-Germanism seeks to unify all ethnic Germans, German-speaking Europe, German-speaking people, and po ...

. For many years he was a member of the People's League for Germans Abroad (Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland) becoming president of the association in 1920. Fabricius worked with

Federico Halbherr Federico Halbherr (15 February 1857 in Rovereto, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire – 17 July 1930 in Rome) was an Italian archaeologist and epigrapher, known for his excavations on Crete. In particular, he is known for his excavations of the ...

on the Italian archaeological mission to Crete, and was a major contributor in the excavation and study of the

Gortyn Code The Gortyn code (also called the Great Code) was a legal code that was the codification of the civil law of the ancient Greek city-state of Gortyn in southern Crete. History Our sole source of knowledge of the code is the fragmentary boustr ...

("Leggi di Gortina") on civil rights.

Publications

, Ernst Fabricius e

Domenico Comparetti Domenico Comparetti (27 June 1835 – 20 January 1927) was an Italian scholar. He was born in Rome and died in Florence. Life He studied at the University of Rome La Sapienza, took his degree in 1855 in natural science and mathematics, and enter ...

, ''Leggi antiche della città di Gortyna in Creta''. Firenze (Torino, Roma) : Loescher, 1885 * ''Der Limes vom Rhein bis zur Lahn. Nach den Untersuchungen der Streckenkommissare'', Peters, Heidelberg 1915 * ''Über die Lex Mamilia Roscia Peducaea Alliena Fabia'', Winter, Heidelberg 1924 (Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 1924/25, 1) * as co-editor: ''Der obergermanisch-raetische Limes des Roemerreiches. Im Auftrag der Reichs-Limeskommission'', Peters, Berlin-Leipzig, Heidelberg 1894–1938. – Reprint Greiner, Remshalden, 2005,

Bibliography

* Jürgen von Beckerath, Wilhelm Schleiermacher: ''Bibliographie Ernst Fabricius''. In: ''Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission'' 32, 1942, pp. 229–236.

External links

Breve autobiografia di Fabricius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabricius 1857 births 1942 deaths German classical scholars 20th-century German historians Archaeologists from Hesse Writers from Darmstadt German male non-fiction writers Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities