Gerhard Zinserling (11 June 1926 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

– 11 November 1993) was a German classical archaeologist.

Education and career

Zinserling left high school in 1944 with a ''Reifevermerk'' (certificate of maturity), to take part in the

war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

. He was captured as a prisoner of war, but was released early in 1945 and enrolled in preliminary studies for university in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

in the same year and soon completed his final examination. In 1946 he enrolled in classical archaeology,

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. In 1949 he completed the final academic exam and became an academic assistant at the archaeological institute in Jena. His studies came to an end in 1950, when he received his doctorate from Ludger Alscher and Friedrich Zucker. His dissertation was entitled ''Die Stilentwicklung der stadtrömischen Porträtkunst vom Ausgang des zweiten Jahrhunderts n. Chr. bis zum Beginn der Spätantike'' (The Stylistic Development of Portraiture in the City of Rome from the End of the Second Century AD until the Beginning of Late Antiquity). He was then made an acting lecturer. In March 1956 he completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

from Robert Heidenreich und Horst Kusch at the same location with the work ''Die Stilentwicklung der stadtrömischen Porträtkunst vom Ausgang des zweiten Jahrhunderts n. Chr. bis zum Beginn der Spätantike'' (The Stylistic Development of Portraiture in the City of Rome from the End of the Second Century AD until the Beginning of Late Antiquity), which was a continuation of the studies he had carried out for his doctorate. In September 1956 he became an ordinary lecturer, from June 1960 he was a professor with lectureship and from February 1963 a professor with full lectureship. Finally, in September 1969, Zinserling was appointed chair of classical archaeology at Jena, where he continued to teach until his retirement in 1991.

Research and personal life

Zinserling is best known for his handbook ''Abriss der griechischen und römischen Kunst'' (Outline of Greek and Roman Art), which received five editions in the DDR. He first married art historian Liselotte Honigmann-Zinserling and then classical archaeologist Verena Paul-Zinserling.

Selected works

* ''Abriss der griechischen und römischen Kunst'' (Outline of Greek and Roman Art), Reclam, Leipzig 1970 (Reclams Universal-Bibliothek, Bd. 435)

Bibliography

* Lothar Mertens: ''Das Lexikon der DDR-Historiker.'' Saur, München 2006, , pp. 663–664.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zinserling, Gerhard German classical archaeologists Academic staff of the University of Jena 1926 births 1993 deaths