Magnus Backes (17 September 1930 – 21 May 2019) was a German

art historian Art history is the study of 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. Traditionally, the ...

and

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

ist. From 1983 to 1991, he succeeded Werner Bornheim gen. Schilling and Hartmut Hofrichter as the third of the

General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate The Rhineland-Palatinate General Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP'') is a state agency responsible for monument protection and preservation in the Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to the Directorate ...

Rheinland-Pfalz Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Life

Origin and education

Born in Cologne, Backes first attended a grammar school in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

before taking up studies in

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

at the

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität 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 ...

there. In 1957, he was awarded a Dr. phil. with

Heinrich Lützeler Heinrich Lützeler (27 January 1902 in Bonn – 13 June 1988 in Bonn) was a German philosopher, art historian, and literary scholar. He presided over a number of institutes and was dean at the department of philosophy at the University of Bonn. B ...

for his thesis '', ein rheinisch-hessischer Barockarchitekt'' and his dissertation was also awarded the Paul Clemen Scholarship.Veit Geißler: ''Dr. Magnus Backes.'' In ''Denkmalpflege in Rheinland-Pfalz. Jahresberichte 1989–1991.'' Jahrgang 44–46, publisher Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1994, incl. list of publications , here .

Career

Following his studies and doctorate, Backes found employment from 1958 to 1961 as

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

Marksburg The Marksburg is a castle above the town of Braubach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is one of the principal sites of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fortress was used for protection rather than as a residence for royal fam ...

, which is owned by the

German Castles Association The German Castles Association () or DBV is dedicated to the conservation of historic defensive and residential buildings as witnesses of history and culture and has its headquarters at Marksburg Castle above Braubach on the Rhine. It owns the o ...

. These years had a lasting influence on his further life, but also on his work as a monument conservator. It was at Marksburg, the only hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that had remained undestroyed over the centuries, that he met his future wife, whom he married in 1960. His work on this monument "probably decided his career path, to deal directly and practically with the monuments of history and to make them clear to people, to make them understandable and, last but not least, to preserve them for future generations." He subsequently published several times on the Marksburg, some in higher editions. In the following years until 1964, Backes was entrusted with art-historical work for the Beltzer publishing house and in particular for the . His most important work from this period is the Hesse edition from the series of founded by

Georg Dehio Georg Gottfried Julius Dehio (22 November 1850 – 21 March 1932), was a Baltic German art historian. In 1900, Dehio started the "''Handbuch der deutschen Kunstgeschichte''" (Handbook of German Art History), published by Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, ...

and continued by Ernst Gall.

Monument conservator

In 1964, he finally joined the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz as a research assistant. Initially an employee, he rose there to conservator and ultimately to senior conservator before moving to the Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege in Munich in 1973. As "area consultant, head of department and representative of the general conservator", he not only learned more about Franconian culture, but also about the skills needed to run a department. Experience that would be of use to him after his appointment as the new State Conservator of Rhineland-Palatinate by the then Minister of Culture Georg Gölter on 1 January 1983. Until 30 June 1991 his office grew to up to 160 employees at times, with simultaneous restructuring towards decentralisation.Veit Geißler: ''Dr. Magnus Backes.'' In ''Monument Conservation in Rhineland-Palatinate. Jahresberichte 1989-1991.'' Volume 44-46, publisher Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1994, incl. list of publications. , here . In addition to his official activities, during which he developed, among other things, a financing model for the launch of the in Rhineland-Palatinate, Backes also belonged to numerous organisations, associations and corporations. The external reputation was just as important to him as the "internal consolidation" and expansion of the office he led. His vice-presidency in the German National Committee of

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; ) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was fou ...

for several years should be mentioned. At the level of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, he represented the Federal Republic of Germany during the talks held in Australia concerning the inclusion of the

Speyer Cathedral Speyer Cathedral, officially ''the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen'', in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae (German: ''Dom zu Unserer lieben Frau in Speyer'') in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bish ...

and the

Würzburg Residence The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/Southern German Baroque style, were involved in the construct ...

(1981) to the World Heritage List.Veit Geißler: ''Dr. Magnus Backes.'' In ''Monument Conservation in Rhineland-Palatinate. Jahresberichte 1989-1991.'' Volume 44-46, publisher Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 1994, incl. list of publications , here . Backes, who also received teaching assignments at the universities of Applied Sciences in

Koblenz University of Applied Sciences Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Koblenz, formerly known as Fachhochschule Koblenz or FH Koblenz) is a public university in Rhineland-Palatinate. Although the present university was established in 1996, it has a rich trad ...

Augsburg University of Applied Sciences Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg ( or simply ''THA'') is a public university located in Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1971, but its institutional roots as an academy of arts date back to 1670. With more than 7,000 stude ...

and at the , was also responsible for the initiative to found the Institute for Stone Conservation for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Backes died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

at the age of 88.

Publications

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References

External links

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Nachruf der Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe in Rheinland-Pfalz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Backes, Magnus Historical preservationists German art historians 1930 births 2019 deaths People from Cologne