Bersu und die Schweiz – eine Annäherung. Einführung und Fragestellung

Abstract

The article offers a first assessment of Gerhard Bersu‘s impact on archaeology in Switzerland. The historical documents from various archives in Switzerland and from the Romano-Germanic Commission (RGK) show the great influence exerted by Bersu, not only through his own excavations in Switzerland, especially those on the Wittnauer Horn in Canton Aargau, but also with regard to decisions on the appointment of personnel. The forum for this was the Swiss Prehistoric Society, of which he had been a member since 1926. Through the Society’s annual reports, it is possible to trace visits made by Swiss archaeologists to Bersu’s excavations and their active participation, for example, at the Goldberg in Württemberg and in the Roman military camp at Altrip. Gerhard Bersu had particularly close ties with Alban Gerster, and with the archaeologists Emil Vogt and Rudolf Laur-Belart, who both had a decisive influence on archaeology in Switzerland and were supported by the RGK. In Switzerland, too, Bersu brought to bear his ability to inspire people with enthusiasm for archaeology and put them in contact with each other. One way of making this institutionally visible was to appoint Swiss archaeologists as corresponding members of the German Archaeological Institute. Bersu probably never considered emigrating to Switzerland after 1933, but influential archaeologists lobbied for him to remain as the first director of the RGK.