Archaeology - Prehistory and Early History

Opening the Germanic Museum of the University of Jena (Germanisches Museum der Universität Jena) in 1863, art historian Friedrich Klopfleisch laid the foundation for the Prehistory and Early History Collection.

Next to Klopfleisch’s private collection, the original inventory mainly featured ‘Praehistorica’ objects from the Grand Ducal Library in Weimar dating back to the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christian August Vulpius.
With more than one million single objects categorized into more than 50,000 inventory groups, it is one of largest collections on prehistoric and early historic archaeology in Europe. Focusing on Central Germany with archaeological finds from more than 1,000 different sites, the collection covers all prehistoric and early historic cultural groups worldwide.

Studying collection items often helped describe prehistoric cultures and epochs for the very first time, for instance: linear pottery, corded ware, Dreitzscher Gruppe, or Großromstedt cultures. The collection also features an extensive selection of archaeological complexes of transregional research significance, such as Ölknitz, Borsch, Ostheim, Dienstedt, among others, making it an ideal basis for teaching, research and exhibitions.