The Most Famous
ARCHAEOLOGISTS from Germany
This page contains a list of the greatest German Archaeologists. The pantheon dataset contains 104 Archaeologists, 17 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 2nd most number of Archaeologists.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary German Archaeologists of all time. This list of famous German Archaeologists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of German Archaeologists.
1. Heinrich Schliemann (1822 - 1890)
With an HPI of 76.71, Heinrich Schliemann is the most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 61 different languages on wikipedia.
Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (German: [ˈʃliːman]; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and an influential amateur archaeologist. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeological excavator of Hisarlik, now presumed to be the site of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His work lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad reflects historical events. Schliemann's excavation of nine levels of archaeological remains has been criticized as destructive of significant historical artifacts, including the level that is believed to be the historical Troy.
2. Theodor Mommsen (1817 - 1903)
With an HPI of 75.64, Theodor Mommsen is the 2nd most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 99 different languages.
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (German: [ˈteːodoːɐ̯ ˈmɔmzn̩] ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for his historical writings, including The History of Rome, after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code.
3. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752 - 1840)
With an HPI of 60.09, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach is the 3rd most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He has been called the "founder of racial classifications." He was one of the first to explore the study of the human being as an aspect of natural history. His teachings in comparative anatomy were applied to his classification of human races, of which he claimed there were five, Caucasian, Mongolian, Malayan, Ethiopian, and American. He was a member of what modern historians call the Göttingen school of history. He is considered a pivotal figure in the development of physical anthropology. Blumenbach's peers considered him one of the great theorists of his day, and he was a mentor or influence on many of the next generation of German biologists, including Alexander von Humboldt.
4. Karl Richard Lepsius (1810 - 1884)
With an HPI of 59.15, Karl Richard Lepsius is the 4th most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.
Karl Richard Lepsius (Latin: Carolus Richardius Lepsius) (23 December 1810 – 10 July 1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist, linguist and modern archaeologist. He is widely known for his opus magnum Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien.
5. Leo Frobenius (1873 - 1938)
With an HPI of 58.03, Leo Frobenius is the 5th most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.
Leo Viktor Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) was a German self-taught ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography.
6. Ami Boué (1794 - 1881)
With an HPI of 55.83, Ami Boué is the 6th most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Ami Boué (16 March 1794 – 21 November 1881) was a geologist of French Huguenot origin. Born at Hamburg, he was trained in Edinburgh and across Europe. He travelled across Europe, studying geology, as well as ethnology, and is considered to be among the first to produce a geological map of the world.
7. Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1853 - 1940)
With an HPI of 55.63, Wilhelm Dörpfeld is the 7th most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Wilhelm Dörpfeld (26 December 1853 – 25 April 1940) was a German architect and archaeologist, a pioneer of stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects. He is famous for his work on Bronze Age sites around the Mediterranean, such as Tiryns and Hisarlik (the site of the legendary city of Troy), where he continued Heinrich Schliemann's excavations. Like Schliemann, Dörpfeld was an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. While the details of his claims regarding locations mentioned in Homer's writings are not considered accurate by later archaeologists, his fundamental idea that they correspond to real places is accepted. Thus, his work greatly contributed to not only scientific techniques and study of these historically significant sites but also a renewed public interest in the culture and the mythology of Ancient Greece.
8. Ernst Curtius (1814 - 1896)
With an HPI of 55.16, Ernst Curtius is the 8th most famous German Archaeologist. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Ernst Curtius (; 2 September 1814 – 11 July 1896) was a German archaeologist, historian and museum director.
9. Isdal Woman (1940 - 1970)
With an HPI of 52.10, Isdal Woman is the 9th most famous German Archaeologist. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
The Isdal Woman (Norwegian: Isdalskvinnen, c. 1930–1945 – November 1970) is a placeholder name given to an unidentified woman who was found dead at Isdalen ("The Ice Valley") in Bergen, Norway, on 29 November 1970. Although police at the time ruled a verdict of likely suicide, the nature of the case encouraged speculation and ongoing investigation in the years since. Half a century later, it remains one of the most profound Cold War mysteries in Norwegian history.
10. Halet Çambel (1916 - 2014)
With an HPI of 51.44, Halet Çambel is the 10th most famous German Archaeologist. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Halet Çambel (27 August 1916 – 12 January 2014) was a Turkish archaeologist and Olympic fencer. She was the first woman with a Muslim background to compete in the Olympic Games.
Pantheon has 17 people classified as archaeologists born between 1752 and 1953. Of these 17, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased archaeologists include Heinrich Schliemann, Theodor Mommsen, and Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. As of April 2022, 1 new archaeologists have been added to Pantheon including Klaus Schmidt.
Deceased Archaeologists
Go to all Rankings
Heinrich Schliemann
1822 - 1890
HPI: 76.71
Theodor Mommsen
1817 - 1903
HPI: 75.64
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
1752 - 1840
HPI: 60.09
Karl Richard Lepsius
1810 - 1884
HPI: 59.15
Leo Frobenius
1873 - 1938
HPI: 58.03
Ami Boué
1794 - 1881
HPI: 55.83
Wilhelm Dörpfeld
1853 - 1940
HPI: 55.63
Ernst Curtius
1814 - 1896
HPI: 55.16
Isdal Woman
1940 - 1970
HPI: 52.10
Halet Çambel
1916 - 2014
HPI: 51.44
Heinrich Karl Brugsch
1827 - 1894
HPI: 50.32
Ernst Herzfeld
1879 - 1948
HPI: 49.54
Newly Added Archaeologists (2022)
Go to all Rankings
Which Archaeologists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 17 most globally memorable Archaeologists since 1700.
