History of the department
Christian archaeology as a field of research has had a long history at the University of Bonn. Probably the earliest events that explicitly has dealt with topics of Christian archaeology were the seminars led by Hans Lietzmann, who was a private lecturer for church history at the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Bonn for a few years in 1900 and soon after offered Christian archaeological exercises for beginners.
Early works by Bonn scholars dealt with topics of Christian archaeology, e.g. Wilhelm Levinson's studies on the origins of the Ursula legend (1927), in which he also dealt with the Clematius inscription from St. Ursula in Cologne, and Wilhelm Neuss' concise work on "Die Anfänge des Christentums im Rheinlande" (The beginnings of Christianity in the Rhineland), which he presented as professor of medieval and modern church history at the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Bonn in 1933.
However, it was above all the fact that Franz Joseph Dölger came to Bonn in 1929 in succession to Albert Ehrhardt that had a formative influence on Christian archaeology in Bonn. After a stay in Rome, Franz Joseph Dölger turned to the study of early Christian liturgy and church institutions. For him, this naturally included the study of archaeological monuments of all kinds and origins - including profane ones. The foundation stone for the examination of "Antiquity and Christianity" had been laid!
After the end of the Second World War, the work was continued by Theodor Klauser, the successor to Franz Joseph Dölger's chair. The Faculty of Protestant Theology was given its own "Christian Archaeological Seminar", headed by Erich Dinkler. At the time, Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann was also an honorary professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and held lectures and seminars in Christian Archaeology. After Erich Dinkler left Bonn, the Christian Archaeological Seminar was abandoned for the time being.
Since the founding of the Franz Joseph Dölger Institute for the Study of Late Antiquity in 1955, the history of Christian archaeology and that of the Dölger Institute have been closely linked. The directors of the Dölger Institute were Theodor Klauser (until 1972) and Ernst Dassmann (until 2001). From 2001 to 2019, the Institute was under the direction of Georg Schöllgen, Ernst Dassmann's successor at the Bonn Chair of Ancient Church History and Patrology. Georg Schöllgen was succeeded by Christian Hornung as director of the Franz Joseph Dölger Institute and has been holder of the Chair of Early Church History and Patrology since July 2019.
In 1978, after intensive negotiations, a "Christian Archaeological Seminar" was re-established in the Protestant Faculty. Josef Engemann took over its direction. This now enabled even greater efficiency in teaching and research in Christian archaeology. Since 1965, at that time still as a research assistant at the Dölger Institute, Engemann also took part in the excavations in Abu Mina and worked mainly on the pottery found there. He retained responsibility for this processing when he was later appointed to the professorship of Christian archaeology. Due to the Israeli-Egyptian disputes and the fact that it was hardly possible to maintain the excavation site from Bonn, responsibility for the excavation was later transferred to the Cairo department of the German Archaeological Institute.
After the North-Rhine Westphalian Ministry of Science in Düsseldorf had enacted corresponding study and examination regulations, the subject moved to the Faculty of Philosophy in 1984, and a professorship for Christian Archaeology could be advertised. Josef Engemann was appointed to this post. The seminar was housed in the rooms of the Art History Department. From now on, it was possible to study Christian archaeology in Bonn as a major and minor subject and to do a doctorate in this subject. The library of Christian Archaeology has since been integrated into that of the Institute of Art History. As before, the range of courses was supplemented by other departments and faculties.
This widespread anchoring of the subject made it possible to hold the 12th International Congress of Christian Archaeology in Bonn, more than twenty years after the 7th International Congress of Christian Archaeology in Trier. It took place with great participation from 22-28 September 1991 on the theme: "Peregrinatio. Pilgrimage and Pilgrim Destination". In cooperation between the Seminar for Christian Archaeology and the Franz Joseph Dölger Institute, the proceedings of the congress were published in 1995 in two extensive volumes (= Akten des XII. International Congress of Christian Archaeology. Bonn 22-28 September 1991 Part 1-2 (=JbAC Erg.-Bd. 20,1-2) (Münster 1995)).
Josef Engemann directed the Christian Archaeological Seminary until his retirement in 1991. The subject of his own work, apart from basic research, was primarily image studies. Hans-Georg Severin was then appointed. He shifted the focus of the training more strongly to the sectors of architecture, architectural jewellery and sculpture.
From 11-13 May 2006, the 18th conference of the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christliche Archäologie" (Working Group for Christian Archaeology) on the study of late antique, early medieval and Byzantine culture took place in Bonn. This was the third time that Bonn had hosted the conference, having already welcomed the members of the working group in May 1996 for the 13th conference and in September 1991 for the 10th conference.
After Severin's retirement in 2006, the position was not filled again due to cost-cutting measures. This threatened the end of Christian archaeology as a subject. Due to international letters of protest and the cooperation of the university administration, the Faculty of Philosophy and the Gielen-Leyendecker Foundation, it was possible to avert this end in 2008 and to secure a future for the subject with the appointment of Sabine Schrenk, initially for 10 years. With her, archaeological textile research was introduced as a new focus alongside image studies - a unique feature at German universities.
Since the structural reorganisation of the Faculty of Humanities and the reoccupation of Christian Archaeology, it has been an independent department and now belongs, together with the other archaeological subjects of the University of Bonn, to Institute XI, the Institute for Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology. The library of Christian Archaeology continues to be housed in the Institute of Art History and is growing steadily.
After Sabine Schrenk's retirement in 2020, Sabine Feist took over as head of the Department of Christian Archaeology.
Further literature
DASSMANN E., ENGEMANN J. (Hrsg.), Akten des XII. Internationalen Kongresses für Christliche Archäologie, Bonn 1991 = JbAC ErgBd. 20 = StudAntCrist 52 (Münster 1995).
DASSMANN E. , REXIN G., Christliche Archäologie in Bonn, RömQS 105 (2010), 143-62.
FAULENBACH H., Die Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät in Bonn. Sechs Jahrzehnte aus ihrer Geschichte seit 1945 (Göttingen 2009).
SCHRENK S., LINSCHEID P., Die Christliche Archäologie im Bonner Kunsthistorischen Institut, Kanz (Hrsg.), Das Kunsthistorische Institut in Bonn. Geschichte und Gelehrte (Berlin 2018), 345-51.
SCHRENK S., VERSTEGEN U. (Hrsg.), Forschungsgeschichte als Aufbruch. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Christlichen Archäologie und Byzantinischen Kunstgeschichte, XXIV. Tagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christliche Archäologie, Bonn 2018 (Heidelberg 2022), 45-5.