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УДК 930(092)
DOI: 10.30914/2411 -3522-2019-5-2-157-165
Wilhelm Kubitschek - an Austrian scholar of classical antiquity
T. Klokner
Danubius College, Janko Jesensky Faculty of Law, Slovakia
The paper provides a brief biography of the Austrian professor Wilhelm Kubitschek (1858-1936), whose scientific interests in the field of ancient history were extremely diverse. Most of his work was devoted to the field of numismatics, though he also dealt in studies of ancient chronology, geography, economic history and Greek and Roman epigraphy. He is, therefore, rightly considered to be one of the last Austrian polymaths. He left a strong imprint in the studies of antiquity which we should not forget about even more than 80 years after his death.
Keywords: Wilhelm Kubitschek, ancient numismatics, Austrian scholars, antiquity.
Вильгельм Кубичек - австрийский ученый античного мира
Т. Клокнер
Колледж Данубиус, Юридический факультет им. Янко Есенского, Словацкая Республика
В статье приводится краткая биография австрийского профессора Вильгельма Кубичека (1858-1936), научные интересы которого в области древней истории были чрезвычайно разнообразны. Большая часть его работ была посвящена нумизматике, хотя он также занимался исследованиями древней хронологии, географии, экономической истории и греческой и римской эпиграфики. Поэтому он по праву считается одним из последних австрийских ученых-универсалов, а его значительный вклад в исследование античного мира представляет научную ценность и через 80 лет после его смерти.
Ключевые слова: Вильгельм Кубичек, древняя нумизматика, австрийские ученые, античность.
Knowledge of its own past comprises a significant part of every scientific discipline. Despite of that the historiography of classical antiquity somehow still escapes consistent treatment. We would like to contribute to bridging this gap in knowledge of lives, fortunes and successes of distinguished scholars of classical antiquity by presenting a humble portrait of Wilhelm Kubitschek. The following text does not attempt, in any sense, to bring a complex picture of life and work of this scholar, since such a goal has not yet been met even by much more advanced, German historiography. Instead it focuses primarily on recognition and assessment of his works, efforts and contribution to our field of study.
Wilhelm Kubitschek was born on 28 June 1858 in Bratislava as a son of high ranking postal officer of the imperial council, Wilhelm Kubitschek. Between 1867 and 1875 Kubitschek studied at an academic gymnasium in Vienna. He continued his studies at the University of Vienna, where he belonged to the first generation of students at the newly-founded
Archeo-epigraphical seminar (1876) led by Otto Hirschfeld and Otto Benndorf.1 Here Kubitschek specialized in classical philology, ancient history, classical archaeology and epigraphy.2 In his studies, he was influenced by lectures of leading scholars as Max Büdinger, Alexander Conze, Wilhelm von Härtel, Karl Schenkl, as well as Otto Hirschfeld a Otto Benn-dorf.3 As a member of Archeo-epigraphical seminar which fused ancient history and classical archeology, Kubitschek was asked to carry out a mission to southern Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia between 1878 and 1879 in order to study local antiquities.
1 Winkler, Gerhard: Kubitschek, Wilhelm. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 13. Berlin 1982, p. 161.
2 Pesditschek, Martina: Kubitschek, Wilhelm. In: Geschichte der Altertumswissenschften. Biographisches Lexikon. P. Kuhlmann -H. Schneider (eds.). Reihe Der Neue Pauly-Supplemente, Band 6. Stuttgart; Weimar 2012, p. 674.
3 Beiz, Artur: Kubitschek Wilhelm. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950. Band 4. Wien 1968, p. 314.
© Клокнер Т., 2019
His first journey to southern Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia Kubitschek took with his colleague Emmanuel Löwy.1 The report on the result of the journey was published in Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn2 According to the report their journey lasted from 22 August to 9 November 1878. The report was divided into epigraphical part, written by Kubitschek, and an archaeological part prepared by Löwy. Their primary aim was to study and record ancient remains in situ. They paid particular attention to epigraphical remains, reviewed their conditions and discovered and copied new ones. During their journey they visited these locations: Dalja, Erdöd, Almas, Osijek (Mursa), Pecs (Sopianae). In Pecs they parted ways: Löwy continued directly to Zagreb while Kubitschek paid a visit to Hungarian city Keszthely (Mogentiana) and Teplice pri Varazdme (Aqua Viva) before he reached Zagreb.
In a short time, Kubitschek set out on another journey, this time to Slavonia. The journey lasted from 25 July to 10 August 1879 and at this time Kubitschek was accompanied by another colleague, Josef Brunsmid (1858-1929). The report published after completing their mission shows that their primary aim was an epi-graphical survey of the surroundings of late-antique Sirmium (Mitrovica).3 However, already in the introduction to the report the authors noted that this was not fully accomplished because of health issues. While Brunsmid suffered from cold fever right from the fifth day, Kubitschek became ill towards the end of the journey. On the way from Osijek to Sirmium they visited several sites (e.g. Diakovar, Vukovar, Ilok, Susek, Petrovaradin), some which Kubitschek had already known from his previous travels. Because of its significance and rich history, they devoted most time to Sirmium, which provided them with the most extensive data.
After finishing his university studies and obtaining teaching qualification in classical philology in 1879, Kubitschek was assigned to Mariahilfer gymnasium
1 Emanuel Löwy became, later on, a professor of classical archaeology and taught at universities in Rome (1891-1915) and Vienna (1918-1928). He also enjoyed a close friendship with Sigmund Freud. See KENNER, Hedwig: Loewy, Emanuel. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 15. Berlin 1987, p. 114-115.
2 Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Loewy, Emanuel: Bericht über eine Reise in Ungarn, Slavonien und Croatien. In: Archäologischepigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn, 3.2, 1879, p. 152-174.
3 Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Brunsmid, Joseph: Bericht über eine Reise in die Gegend zwischen Essegg und Mitrovica. In: Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn, 4.1, 1880, p. 97-124.
in Vienna. Shortly thereafter he presented a work in Latin titled "De Romanarum tribuum origine ac prop-agatione", for which in 1881 he was awarded a doctorate in philosophy. For the winter semester of 1881/1882 academic year Kubitschek was granted a state scholarship in Berlin where he had a chance to meet many distinguished scholars and authorities in study of ancient history. During his stay in Berlin he regularly visited lectures of Theodor Mommsen, Emil Hübner, Adolf Kirchhoff and Otto Seeck.4 He drew a lot of inspiration from his stay in Berlin, since in that time the study of ancient history was flowering in Germany. Authorities as Theodor Mommsen called to action, inspired and heavily influenced younger generations of colleagues. After his return from Berlin, Kubitschek worked as a high school teacher at Oberhollabrunn gymnasium (1881-1883). Here he grew his in ancient geography and published his remarks on cosmographer Iulius Honorius in the annual reports.5
For 1883/1884 academic year Kubitschek was granted a scholarship in Italy. During his one year's stay he studied and collected a considerable amount of epigraphical data.6 Afterwards he continued his career of a high school teacher in various schools in Vienna. Besides his teaching he also paid particular attention to his academic work. In 1886 he completed the Handbook of Roman Antiquities (Handbuch der römischen Antiquitäten) and decided to extend his dissertation and publish it under the title "Imperium Romanum tributim discriptum" (1889).
He did not lose his passion for travel even after finishing his studies. He set out on various study trips within the area of Habsburg monarchy as well as to various parts of the late Roman Empire. Sometimes he traveled by himself, sometimes with a companion. In 1893, for example, Kubitschek set out on a quite distant journey with archaeologist Wolfgang Reichel to Greece and Asia Minor.7 Reports on his travels and
4 Szaivert, W.: Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek zum 60. Todestag. In: Mitteilungsblatt des Instituts für Numismatik 13, 1996, p. 5-25.
5 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Kritische Beiträge zur Cosmographia des Julius Honorius. 2 Bände. Oberhollabrunn 1882-1883. See also Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Die Erdtafel des Julius Honorius. In: Wiener Studien, 7, 1885, p. 1-24; 278-310.
6 Pink, Karl: Wilhelm Kubitschek. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift, 30, 1937, p. 20.
7 They published a report on the result of the journey: Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Reichel, Wolfgang: Bericht über eine Reise in Karien und Phrygien. In: Anzeiger Wiener Akademie, 30.1, 1893, p. 93-105. For information on Wolfgang Reichel (1858-1900) see Vetters, Hermann: Reichel (Ernst) Wolfgang. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950. Band 9. Wien 1988, p. 30.
discoveries were published on a regular basis on the pages of Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn. From a Slovak point of view, especially his visit to Brigetio during the Easter of 1890 is of particular interest.1 He visited the site with prof. F. Franze, a close friend with whom the reviewed local epigraphical remains in the vicinities of Uj-Szöny and Komárno.2
Exploring places which were under Roman influence centuries earlier helped to form his view of classical antiquity, but especially of Austria's Roman past which was his main area of interest. Moreover he certainly held the opinion, similarly to many of his colleagues, that a historian should know everything that could help him in the study of the past.3 During his travels he repeatedly visited "the jewel" of Middle Danube - Roman Carnuntum. Kubitschek was fascinated by the history of this Roman settlement located near the city of Vienna. Already in the time of his interest in the site (late 80s and mid 90s of 19th c.), Carnuntum was known as "Pompei at the gates to Vienna". Archaeological research lasted almost 50 years and bore fruitful results. Carnun-tum was becoming still more popular which was obvious from the ever-growing number of visitors. Growing popularity of the site demanded a well-written travel guide which would synthetically shed light on the Roman presence in the area. Ku-bitschek promptly responded to this issue and in collaboration with Salomon Frankfurter he prepared the Guide to Carnuntum (Führer durch Carnuntum), first published in 1891. The success and popularity of the Guide is evident in its six editions until 1923. Thus, in his application for habilitation, Kubitschek was able to show his strong publishing activities and solid academic background. Subsequently, after his habilitation, Kubitschek became an associate professor of ancient history at the University of Vienna.4
It is, however, surprising that Kubitschek, an authority in the field of ancient numismatics did not show obvious interest in the subject during this period
1 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Inschriften aus Brigetio. In: Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn. Band 14, 1891, p. 130-136.
2 Ibid, p. 130.
3 Already Polybios, a Greek historian of 2. c. BC listed the requirement of personal experience among the three conditions that should be met by any historian focusing on political history. Polyb. XII, 25e.
4 In that time, it was not uncommon for a university lecturer to teach at a high school.
of his life. In the list of future lectures and courses which was a part of his application for habilitation there is no mention of numismatics.5 However, later on Kubitschek incorporated numismatics into his research, probably under influence of his role model, Theodor Mommsen.6
In 1890 Kubitschek published his first review of a book on ancient numismatics. It was the work of Karl Bissinger dealing with Roman coin finds from Grand-Duchy of Baden.7 A year later he published an article focusing on replicas of ancient coins and their usage in the teaching process.8 In 1892 he delivered his first lecture at Numismatic Society in Vienna (Numismatische Gesellschaft in Wien) titled Der sogenannte Einundzwanziger der aurelianischdiokletianischen Munzordnung. The lecture was subsequently published.9 In December of 1892 Kubitschek became a member of the society and remained one for 44 years, until his death. Throughout his career he held various positions within in the society, from ordinary member, through comitee member and editor, to president and lastly president emeritus. Already in 1884 he published 4 shorter articles in classical numismatics. It was in this time he completed one of his most significant works, the Summary of last five years of ancient numismatics, a commentary on the research in the field between 1890 and 1894.10 In 1896, after these first successes Kubitschek was offered a position of extraordinary professor of Roman antiquity in Graz, and he decided to unexpectedly leave Vienna. At this point he also stopped his high school teaching activities.
Shortly thereafter Kubitschek's career got another break when he was offered a position at the cabinet of numismatics at Kunsthistorisches Museum
5 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 20.
6 E.g. Mommsen, Theodor: Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens. Berlin 1860.
7 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: rez. Bissenger, Karl: Funde römischer Münzen im Großherzogtum Baden. In: Zeitschrift für Österreichische Gymnasien 41, 1890, p. 373.
8 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Erläuterungen zu einer für den Schulgebrauch ausgewählten Sammlung galvanoplastischer Abdrücke antiker Münztypen. In: Zeitschrift für Österreichische Gymnasien 42, 1891, p. 1121-1139.
9 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Der sogenannte Einundzwanziger der aurelianisch-diokletianischen Münzordnung. In: Monatsblatt der Numismatischen Gesellschaft Wien, 2, 1892, p. 137-142.
10 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Rundschau über das letztverflossene Quinquennium der antiken Numismatik (1890-1894) I. und II. In: Jahresbericht über das k. k. Staatsgymnasium im VIII. Bezirke Wiens für das Schuljahr 1894/95 und 1895/96.
in Vienna.1 In the request of his return to Vienna it was Kubitschek's general scholarly significance and expertise in ancient numismatics that were emphasized.2 Since Kubitschek did not want to give up his academic career, he conditioned his return by securing a professorial postition in Vienna.3 Kubitschek was lucky in this respect since reopening the former positon of professor in numismatics was called for in academic circles for a long time. The position was formerly held by Joseph Hilarius Eckhel (1737-1798), a Jesuit and the founder of scientific numismatics.4 Even the Office of the Highest Chamber (Oberstkammereramt) was in for continuing this discontinued 30 years old tradition of combining the leading of imperial numismatic cabinet with teaching activities.5 Kubitschek accepted the offer and during the Spring of 1897 he was designated a secondary Keeper of the imperial numismatic collection and extraordinary professor of Roman antiquity at Archaeo-epigraphical seminar at the University of Vienna, with a specialization in ancient numismatics. However, the position was unpaid.
Another breaking point in Kubitschek's career came the following year. In 1889 Julius Menadier (1854-1939), the new director of numismatic cabinet in Berlin, visited Vienna and, however unofficially, offered Kubitschek a position in Berlin. The offer became official in Autumn and Theodor Mommsen himself approved it. Kubitschek was about to become the assistant of the director and was offered also a positon of extraordinary professor in numismatics at local university. The cabinet wanted to involve him with the projects of ancient coin collection from Northern Greece which was started at that time in Berlin. Scholars from Berlin found Ku-bitschek the best suited candidate for the cooperation, but Kubitschek decided to reject the offer and preferred to stay in Vienna. Today, his rejection of the offer is viewed as a manifestation of his national pride and loyalty.6 His decision to stay in Vienna was surely based also on the presence of well-educated scholars of numismatics and inspiring aca-
1 Szaivert, Wolfgang: Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek zum 60. Todestag. In: Mitteilungsblatt des Instituts für Numismatik 13, 1996, p. 5.
2 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 20-21.
3 Szaivert, Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek, p. 5.
4 The Numismatic society called for setting up a position for general linguistics at the University of Vienna for several years. Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 21.
5 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 21.
6 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 21.
demic environment.7 At the Numismatic Society in Vienna Kubitschek had many close friends and supporters, e.g. Viktor von Renner (1846-1943),8 major Andreas Markl (1829-1913),9 or Lieutenant-Colonel Otto von Voetter (1841-1926).
Before the end of 1898 Kubitschek was designated a primary Keeper of the imperial numismatic collection and in short time, he was also allowed to create a numismatic collection for teaching purposes at the University of Vienna (Lehrapparat). In 1929 before his retirement, Kubitschek published an article in the Magazine of Numismatics which summarized the 30 years of building this collection.10 In this summary he expressed also his personal feelings and emotions regarding this project. It is obvious that he attached deep significance to the collection and invested a great amount of energy in its building.
In the introduction to the summary Kubitschek told the readers about the difficult beginnings of the project since the project was permitted originally only for one year. Subsequently the permit was extended to 3 year, and only after that it became unlim-ited.11 During the first years he had to face problems with very low budget (500 crowns per year). The project was thus highly dependent on Kubitschek's friends and supporters.12 In the article he also mentioned the humble goal of the project being "to provide the student with a general overview of the work of a historically oriented numismatist, to discuss issues of classical and byzantine coinage within lectures and courses, to build a small specialized library and a collection of copied objects."13
7 Szaivert, Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek, p. 6.
8 Smiliarly to Kubitschek, even Renner was born in Slovakia -in the village of Kuchyna. For more information see Koch, Bernhard: Renner, Viktor von. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950. Band 9. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1984, p. 82.
9 For more information see Koch, Bernhard: Andreas Markl. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950. Band 6. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1973, p. 96.
10 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Der numismatische Lehrapparat der Universität Wien. Zu seinem dreißigjährigen Bestand. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift 62, 1929, p. 57-60.
11 Ibid, p. 57.
12 Szaivert, Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek, p. 6.
13 Kubitschek, Der numismatische Lehrapparat, p. 57: "Allgemeine Vorstellung vom Arbeiten des historisch orientierten Numismatikers zu vermitteln, dann in Vorlesungen und Übungen die Fragen der antiken und byzantinischen Münzkunde zu erörtern und eine kleine Fachbücherei, sowie Abgüsse und Abdrücke oder Durchreibungen von Originalen zu sammeln."
Kubitschek received great support, beyond his expectations. Among his main supporters were his close friends as Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer, a Swiss numismatist and Ioannis N. Svoronos, the director of the numismatic cabinet in Athens, who helped to build the library. Kubitschek was also specially grateful to the Numismatic Society in Vienna and its members Theodor Rohde, Andreas Markl, Otto Voetter, Karl Adolf Bachofen, Demeter Petrovits, count Windischgratz adn Armin Egger.1 Besides many minor purchases Kubitschek also managed to acquire gifts of whole collections, e.g. the collection of doctor Eugen Schott, consisting mostly of Roman coins and supplied with well-picked library of around 3500 titles.2 Kubitschek managed to acquire also the inheritance after Josef Schellinger, a high-school teacher from Moravian Ostrava. The inheritance consisted of approximately 1070 coins of ancient, medieval and early modern date. Even the collection of ophthalmologist Josef Brettauer from Trieste ended up in Kubitschek's collection. This collection, "Medicina in Nummis," consisted of a large number of medical medals and coins and enabled a wholly new numismatic specialization. The most significant contribution to Kubitschek's collection came from his friend, Josef Scholz, who left behind to Kubitschek the Greek part of his ancient coin collection, with a complete catalogue. In addition to that, Kubitschek purchased several galvano-types from the British museum.3
After overcoming the harsh beginnings and expansion of the collection Kubitschek had to face problems concerning the storage of the collection. The collection officially belonged to the Archaeo-epigraphical seminar and thanks to the good will of the management Kubitschek got two rooms in the basement of the university where the collection could be stored.4 According to his colleagues, in this time Kubitschek fully concentrated on his work and they could not bring him greater joy than a present to his collection. 5
Except for building the collection, Kubitschek focused also on its cataloguing. For this task he found two excellent co-workers, Alfons Barb, his assistant, and Karl Elsner, a member of the Numis-
1 Kubitschek, Der numismatische Lehrapparat. p. 57.
2 Ibid, p. 58.
3 Ibid, p. 58.
4 Ibid.
5 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 21.
matic Society.6 With regard to his retirement in 1929 Kubitschek started to feel sad since he was about to leave so well-known place. He described his feeling this way: "When handing over the office to my successor I feel as a father who lets his child go and live his own life. All the love and care needed in the child's upbringing wakes again, but now twice as strong. "7
Let us now return to Kubitschek's work in the Kunsthistoriches museum in Vienna. In 1903 he started to work at the Central Committee for research and restoration of works of art. A year later he became the main conservationist of antiquities in the Austrian lands.8 In 1910 he became the director of the Department of antiquities of the imperial cabinet. He remained at this position until 1916 and achieved remarkable results. His successes were partly also the result of the times during which he lived. That time's Vienna became a very popular place of ancient numismatics. The creation of Viennese school, the members of which met regularly and explored the history through the development of money, contributed to the growing general interest in the field. The school was led by Alexander Missong (1847-1885) and later by Otto Voetter. The school had formerly 6 members (Alexander Missong, Josef von Kolb, Andreas Markl, Theodor Rhode, Franz Trau and Otto Voetter) and specialized in late-antique coins, predominantly from the third century AD. Wilhelm Kubitschek joined the school and took care of the hardly built collection, in order to preserve it for scientific purposes and for future. This was warmly welcomed by the other members of Missong's group.
Thanks to this Kubitschek managed to regularly expand the collections of the numismatic cabinet. In 1901 he acquired the collection of Andreas Markl which consisted of approximately six thousand coins of emperors Claudius II and Quintillius. In 1906 a valuable collection of Adolf Bachofen, consisting of one thousand gold and silver coins, found its way to the cabinet. Two years later Kubitschek acquired the largest contribution to his collection - the collection of Otto von Voetter consisting 30 000 late
6 Kubitschek, Der numismatische Lehrapparat, p. 58 and 60.
7 Kubitschek, Der numismatische Lehrapparat, p. 60: "Bei der Übergabe des NLA an meinen Nachfolger im Lehramt fühle ich mich in der Stimmung eines Vaters, der sein Kind in eine neue Umgebung zu entlassen im Begriff ist: alle Liebe und Fürsorge, die seine Heranbildung gekostet hat, wachen neu und gleichsam verdoppelt auf."
8 Winkler, Kubitschek, Wilhelm, p. 161.
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Roman coins. In the following years he continued expanding the cabinet's collection. Some of the coins were purchased and some of them found its way to the cabinet directly from archaeological fieldworks to which Kubitschek constantly paid great attention. He focused especially on the coin find from Roman Carnuntum and Lauriacum. The effectiveness of his work is evident from a simple statistics: in 1916, when leaving the numismatic cabinet at the Kunsthistorisches museum, the inventory of Greek coins rose from the original 27602 objects to 37025 objects and the number of Roman coins almost doubled.
After the relocation of the imperial numismatic cabinet into new premises in 1910, Kubitschek started re-cataloguing the imperial collection. However, he never finished this task because of the outbreak of the WW1. After its end Kubitschek had to deal with many other issues and the idea of finishing the re-cataloguing the imperial collection was left for future generations. Kubitschek was worried about the future of the field itself since the older generations of scholars were slowly dying out and the younger generations did not produce many scholars with an interest in numismatics. He expressed his worries in an article on the numismatic collection and research of earl Klement of Westphalia.1
In 1914, a distinguished epigrapher and ancient historian at the University of Vienna, professor Eugen Bormann retired.2 This brought another opportunity for Wilhelm Kubitschek to boost his career. In a short time, he left Kunsthistorisches museum and became the Bormann's successor. In 1916 he was designated a professor of ancient history, and after the death of professor Adolf Bauer he covered also the chair of the Roman history. Despite of his many tasks he never lost his passion for numismatics. He regularly visited the numismatic cabinet and always asked about the new publications and objects.3 Besides his extensive organization works and collection building he devoted great amount of time to his scholarly outputs. His research interests were manifold and he never limited himself to only one
1 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Des Grafen Klemens Westphalen Münzsammlung und Münzforschung. Ein vorläufiger Bericht, zugleich als Übersicht über Ziel und Stand der Forschung auf dem Gebiete der spätrömischen Numismatik. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift 48, 1915, p. 131-184.
2 Bormann taught also at the German university in Prague. Vidman, Ladislav: Psano do kamene. Praha 1975, p. 48.
3 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 23.
field within the study of classical antiquity. Of course, numismatics had a special place within his interests, however he knew that if someone was is to seriously approach this field, he had to acquire extensive knowledge of various aspects of life in antiquity. That is why he focused on various issues within ancient chronology, geography, Greek and Roman epigraphy,4 and ancient economy.5
Rudolf Egger, in his Kubitschek's bibliography clearly manifested the depth and great extent of Kubitschek's works.6 It is clear from the text that he devoted a lot of time to numismatics. He wrote a monograph on Roman republican coinage7 and published almost in issue of the Numismatic magazine (Numismatische Zeitschrift). Since 1899 he was a member of the editorial board of the magazine and later (1907) became the editor. In 1908 became the editor-in-chief and remained at this position until 1927. Under his editorship the Numismatic magazine gained recognition and scholarly prestige in Austria. Kubitschek himself published more than 60 articles in the magazine. These articles dealt with various issues of Celtic, Greek, Roman and Byzantine coinage.
Kubitschek was also regularly published in other periodicals, especially in the monthly journal of the Numismatic Society in Vienna (Monatsblatt der Numismatischen Gesellschaft Wien), magazine for Austrian gymnasiums (Zeitschrift für Österreichische Gymnasien), Archaeo-epigraphical reports from Austria-Hungary (Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn), German Hermes magazine and others. He was published even in the scholarly annuals focusing of the antiquity, but after the outbreak of WW1 they disappeared. For instance Kubitschek himself created the Annual for antiquity (Jahrbuch für Altertumskunde) published between 1907 and 1913 (7 volumes).8
Another important field of Kubitschek's interest was ancient chronology within which he was interested chiefly the sites of Eastern Mediterranean. This professional interest resulted in a handbook
4 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Römerfunde von Eisenstadt mit einem Beitrag von Sdndor Wolf. Wien 1926.
5 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Zur Abfolge der Prägungen der Kaiser Marcus und Verus. Wien 1932.
6 Egger, Rudolf: Wilhelm Kubitschek. In: Almanach der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, 87, 1937, p. 290-323.
7 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Studien zu Münzen der römischen Republik. Wien 1911.
8 Beiz, Kubitschek Wilhelm, p. 314.
on chronology.1 Kubitschek concentrated very intensively also on ancient geography. His work between 1916 and 1919 resulted in another monograph.2 His work and passion for Greek and Roman epigraphy is evident as well. During his numerous study trips he copied and recorded a large amount of epi-graphical data which he subsequently published within Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum with a detailed commentary. As a true patriot he ascribed great significance to the Roman history of Austria. This was closely related to questions regarding the limits of Roman Empire. In order to always have the most up-to-date information, he regularly took part in archaeological excavations, especially in Carnun-tum and Vindobona.
Kubitschek remained academically active even after his retirement. Moreover, some of his most significant works were written in this period. Influenced by a new flowering of Roman numismatics in Britain, he wrote two remarkable works on the coinage of emperors Nerva3 and Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.4 To the issue of the limits of Roman Empire Kubitschek devoted a monograph assessing older research of Roman borderline in Panonia.5 During this time he also published a collection of essays on Ptolemy I., his last major work in ancient geography.6
A substantial part of his lifetime achievements lies in his colaboration on the project of Paulys Rea-lencyclopädie der classsichen Altertumswissenschaft for which he wrote 229 entries from the fields of numismatics and chronology (e.g. as, aureus, binio, bigati, bomios), politcal, social, economic and religious history and ancient geography (e.g. alimentum, aedilis, Hieromykes, Königs-, Priester-, Eponymen-, Beamtenverzeichnisse, legio 1, signifer, tribus). From the Slovak point of view, we should also note, that he also authored a short entry on Laugaricio7 where he briefly summarized previous researh on the
1 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Grundriß der antiken Zeitrechnung. Wien 1928.
2 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Itinerar-Studien. Wien 1919.
3 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Nervas römische Münzen. In: Anzeiger der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, 70, 1933, p. 4-22.
4 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Zur Abfolge der Prägungen der Kaiser Marcus und Verus. Wien 1932.
5 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Ältere Berichte über den römischen Limes in Pannonien. Wien 1929.
6 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Studien zur Geographie des Ptole-maios. I. Die Ländergrenzen. Wien 1935.
7 It stays unclear why has the entry in Paulys Realency-
clopädie der classsichen Altertumswissenschaft form Langaricio
and not Laugaricio.
site.8 The name Laugaricio denotes non-Roman settlement mentioned in an inscription placed on the rock upon which the Trencin castle is standing. He also gives the identification number of the inscription as listed in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum and notes that previously the inscription was regarded as false under different number.9 Kubitschek also mentions that a part of the II legion Adiutrix probably under the command of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus spent a winter at this place. Moreover, he thinks that the inscription was created to serve as a reminder of their stay at the place. The entry included the Latin original of the inscription, however Kubitschek avoided the damaged ending containing the problematic name of a Roman commander. Of course, today we know that the name was Marcus Valerius Maximianus, but the inscription from Algerian Zana which helped to identify the name was unknown in Kubitschek's time. In the entry he also discusses the possible number of soldiers mentioned in the inscription, according to him it could have been 855 or 859, and finishes the entry with the problem of exact localization of the Roman settlement. 80 years have passed since the publication of this entry and the issue has not yet been fully explained.
Even though Kubitschek wrote the majority of his works in German and published them in Austrian and German journals, he gained recognition abroad as well.10 As a scholar with expertise in ancient numismatics, epigraphy, classical archeology, chronology, geography and ancient history, Kubitschek should rightly be regarded as a polymath. Among his peers he was known to avoid any visible or lavish expressions of honor and respect. He was fully satisfied with the fact, that his result contributed to a solution to a problem.11 In order to mention at least the most important awards of Kubitschek's work, it must be noted that in 1890 he became a corresponding member, and from 1983 a full member of the German Archaeological Institute. In 1899 he was elected a member of the newly-founded Austrian
8 Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Langaricio. In: Paulys Realency-clopädie der classsichen Altertumswissenschaft, Supplementband V, Stuttgart: J. B. Metzlersche Verlagbuchhandlung, 1931, col. 541.
9 It was rekated to the primary description made by the local priest Starek and sent to Theodor Mommsen in a rather inconsistent way. Momsen could only regard it as false.
10 He was well read in English, Italian and Latin, in which he published his dissertation.
11 Pink, Wilhelm Kubitschek, p. 23.
Archaeological institute. The Austrian Academy of Sciences named him its corresponding member (1904) and later on a full member (1918). Throughout his career Kubitschek gained even various international awards. He was awarded an honorary membership to numismatic societies in Britain (1904), Italy (1913) and Hungary (1925). In 1923 he was awarded an honorary medal by the English numismatic society and 10 years later the American numismatic society awarded him the prestigious Huntington medal.1
It is obvious that Kubitschek extended his knowledge and expertise all his life by various study trips and regular visits to museums and important sites around the Mediterranean. Moreover, he stayed in touch and maintained vital relationships with many renowned scholars which helped him to face even the biggest challenges of his profession.
Wilhelm Kubitschek died on 2. October 1936 and the field of classical studies lost one of its last broadly specialized experts. Kubitschek's successors Karl Pink (1884-1965) and Robert Gobi (1919-1997) continued his efforts at the University and at the numismatic cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches museum. Gobi managed to set up a new numismatic institute at the University of Vienna.2 However, without Kubitschek's previous efforts that would only hardly be possible.
Despite of the fact that Kubitschek did not manage to finish all his works and bring to life all his ideas (e.g. he planned to establish a collection of Greek coins from Habsburg monarchy), he left behind a strong legacy which should not be overlooked even today, more than 80 years from his death. Kubitschek showed himself to be a modern scholar in many respects and that is why he could be a great source of inspiration for today's researchers.
References
1. Betz, Artur: Kubitschek Wilhelm. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815 - 1950. Band 4. Wien 1968, p. 314-315.
2. Egger, Rudolf: Wilhelm Kubitschek. In: Almanach der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 87, 1937, p. 290-323.
3. Kenner, Hedwig: Loewy, Emanuel. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 15. Berlin 1987, p. 114-115.
4. Koch, Bernhard: AndreasMarkl. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815 - 1950. Band 6. Wien 1973, p. 96.
5. Koch, Bernhard: Renner, Viktor von. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815 - 1950. Band 9. Wien 1984, p. 82.
6. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Kritische Beiträge zur Cosmographia des Julius Honorius. 2 Bände. Oberhollabrunn 1882-1883.
7. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Die Erdtafel des Julius Honorius. In: Wiener Studien 7, 1885, p. 1-14; 278-310.
8. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: rez. Bissenger, Karl: Funde römischer Münzen im Großherzogtum Baden. In: Zeitschrift für Österreichische Gymnasien 41, 1890, p. 373.
9. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Inschriften aus Brigetio. In: Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn. Band 14, 1891, p. 130-136.
10. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Erläuterungen zu einer für den Schulgebrauch ausgewählten Sammlung galvanoplastischer Abdrücke antiker Münztypen. In: Zeitschrift für Österreichische Gymnasien 42, 1891, p. 1121-1139.
11. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Der sogenannte Einundzwanziger der aurelianisch-diokletianischen Münzordnung. In: Monatsblatt der Numismatischen Gesellschaft 2, 1892, p. 137-142.
12. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Rundschau über das letztverflossene Quinquennium der antiken Numismatik (1890-1894) I. und II. In: Jahresbericht über das k. k. Staatsgymnasium im VIII. Bezirke Wiens für das Schuljahr 1894/95 und 1895/96.
13. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Studien zu Münzen der römischen Republik. Wien 1911.
14. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Des Grafen Klemens Westphalen Münzsammlung und Münzforschung. Ein vorläufiger Bericht, zugleich als Übersicht über Ziel und Stand der Forschung auf dem Gebiete der spätrömischen Numismatik. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift 48, 1915, p. 131-184.
15. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Itinerar-Studien. Wien 1919.
16. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Römerfunde von Eisenstadt mit einem Beitrag von Sdndor Wolf. Wien 1926.
17. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Grundriß der antiken Zeitrechnung. Wien 1928.
1 Huntington medal is regularly awarded since 1918. The was later awarded to scholars as Harold Mattingly (1938), Arthur Evans (1940), Jocelyn Toynbee (1956), Andreas Alfoldi (1965) a many others.
2 The institute was created in 1965 on the 600th anniversary of establishing the University of Vienna. The institute was named Institut für Antike Numismatik und vorislamische Geschichte Mittelasiens. Its first director was Robert Göbl. Today the institute is called Institut für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte.
18. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Ältere Berichte über den römischen Limes in Pannonien. Wien 1929.
19. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Der numismatische Lehrapparat der Universität Wien. Zu seinem dreißigjährigen Bestand. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift 62, 1929, p. 57-60.
20. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Langaricio. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classsichen Altertumswissenschaft, Supplementband V. Stuttgart 1931, col. 541.
21. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Zur Abfolge der Prägungen der Kaiser Marcus und Verus. Wien 1932.
22. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Nervas römische Münzen. In: Anzeiger der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 70, 1933, p. 4-22.
23. Kubitschek, Wilhelm: Studien zur Geographie des Ptolemaios. I. Die Ländergrenzen. Wien 1935.
24. Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Brunsmid, Joseph: Bericht über eine Reise in die Gegend zwischen Essegg und Mitrovica. In Archäologisch-epigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn 4.1, 1880, p. 97-124.
25. Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Loewy, Emanuel: Bericht über eine Reise in Ungarn, Slavonien und Croatien. In Archäologischepigraphische Mitteilungen aus Österreich-Ungarn, 3.2, 1879, p. 152-174.
26. Kubitschek, Wilhelm - Reichel, Wolfgang: Bericht über eine Reise in Karien und Phrygien. In: Anzeiger Wiener Akademie, 30.1, 1893, p. 93-105.
27. Mommsen, Theodor: Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens. Berlin 1860.
28. Pesditschek, Martina: Kubitschek, Wilhelm. In: Geschichte der Altertumswissenschaften. Biographisches Lexikon. P. Kuhlmann -H. Schneider (eds.). Reihe Der Neue Pauly - Supplemente, Band 6. Stuttgart - Weimar, 2012, p. 674.
29. Pink, Karl: Wilhelm Kubitschek. In: Numismatische Zeitschrift 30, 1937, p. 19-24.
30. Szaivert, Wolfgang: Wilhelm Josef Kubitschek zum 60. Todestag. In: Mitteilungsblatt des Instituts für Numismatik 13, 1996, p. 5-25.
31. Vetters, Hermann: Reichel (Ernst) Wolfgang. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950. Band 9. Wien 1988, p. 30.
32. Vidman, Ladislav: Psano do kamene. Praha 1975.
33. Winkler, Gerhard: Kubitschek, Wilhelm. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 13. Berlin 1982, p. 161.
Submitted 13.04.2019; revised 12.05.2019.
Статья поступила в редакцию 13.04.2019 г.; принята к публикации 12.05.2019 г.
The author has read and approved the final manuscript.
Автор прочитал и одобрил окончательный вариант рукописи.
Для цитирования:
Клокнер Т. Вильгельм Кубичек - австрийский ученый античного мира // Вестник Марийского государственного университета. Серия «Исторические науки. Юридические науки». 2019. Т. 5. № 2. С. 157-165. Б01: 10.30914/2411-3522-2019-5-2157-165
Об авторе Клокнер Томас
кандидат наук, Высшая школа Данубиус, юридический факультет им. Янко Есенского, ШсЫегоуа 1171 925 21 Сладковичово, Словацкая Республика, [email protected]
Citation for an article:
Tomâs Klokner. Wilhelm Kubitschek - an Austrian scholar of classical antiquity. Vestnik of the Mari State University. Chapter "History. Law". 2019, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 157-165. DOI: 10.30914/24113522-2019-5-2-157-165 (In Russ.).
About the author Tomás Klokner
PhD, Danubius College, Janko Jesensky Faculty of Law, Richterova 1171 925 21 Sládkovicovo, Slovakia, [email protected]
