On June 4-7, 2009, the German-Russian Symposium "Gero von Mergart. German archaeologist in Siberia 1914-1921", dedicated to the memory of the scientist. The forum was organized by the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Marburg. Scientists from Germany, Russia, Austria, and Finland participated in its work. Mr. von Murgart's relatives and friends were present as guests. The working languages of the symposium were English and German.

The reference to the activities of G. von Mergart is not accidental. He is one of the most outstanding scientists in Germany, who has done a great deal for the formation and development of German archaeology. He also contributed to the formation of Russian science.

Hero Kurt Mergart von Bernegg (1886 - 1959), a native of Bregenz (Austria), received a comprehensive natural science education at the University of Munich, and in 1913 defended his dissertation on geology as the main subject and geography, anthropology, protohistory as related. The scientist came to Siberia not by choice, but as a prisoner of war officer of the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War. He came a long way across Russia to Chita. In 1919, after the ordeal of the camps, G. von Mergart was given the opportunity to engage in archaeological research in the museum of the Yenisei Region (today the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore). His high professional level allowed him to do a lot for Siberian archeology in general and for the Krasnoyarsk Museum in particular in less than two years of work. The symposium was devoted to a comprehensive study of the Siberian period of G. von Mergart's life and activity. Naturally, it was held at the University of Marburg, where in 1927 the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology was established for the first time in Germany. von Mergart, who worked here for many years and became the founder of the famous Marburg scientific school of archaeology.

The start of the symposium was preceded by the opening of the exhibition " Gero von Mergart. German archaeologist in Siberia 1914-1921". Its main exhibits were rare photographs and works of the researcher, primarily related to Siberia.

On June 5, the symposium was opened in the old assembly hall of the University of Marburg. Dean of the University of Marburg Volker Nienhaus, President of the German Archaeological Institute Hans-Joachim Goerke and head of the protohistory seminar at the University of Marburg Klaus Dobiat welcomed the participants. German colleagues told them that the University of Marburg has almost five centuries of history and rich scientific traditions. Here many famous future researchers, including M. V. Lomonosov, learned the basics of science. The Marburg School of Philosophy is known all over the world. Dr. G. von Mergart became a worthy successor and creator of university traditions.

The scientific program of the symposium began with a public report by Dr. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, "Funeral Ritual and Demonstration of Power: On the question of the Great mounds of the Siberian Steppe". He presented the results of Russian-German and Kazakh-German expeditions in 1997-2005. During this period, such archaeological sites as the Arzhan-2 burial mounds in Tuva, the Badger Log in the Minusinsk basin, and the Baykar burial ground at various times on the Ishim River (Northeastern Kazakhstan) were studied, where G. Parzinger identified mound 1, which he defined as a Scythian sanctuary. The report highlights the achievements of G. von Mergart and S. A. Teploukhov in the classification of monuments of Southern Siberia, and S. I. Rudenko, M. P. Gryaznov and S. V. Kiselyov in the study of "tsar's" mounds.

The first day of the symposium ended with the presentation of a new edition of G. von Mergart's memoirs "Daljoko. Bilderaus sibirischen Arbeitstagen" ("Далёко.

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Pictures from Siberian everyday life"). His memoirs were written on his return from Russia in the 1920s, but published for the first time in 1959 after the author's death. The first private edition of this book was published in a small print run and became a bibliographic rarity. Peter Haus, a representative of the Vienna publishing house Belau, introduced the new edition to the participants of the symposium. Helmut Svotzilek, former director of the Vorarlberg Museum of Local Lore in Bregenz, the hometown of G. von Mergart, drew attention to the German archaeologist's writing talent. The memoirs were published under the editorship and with a long introductory article by G. Parzinger. They are well illustrated and annotated.

The second and third days of the symposium were held in the classroom, which has preserved its appearance since the time of G. von Mergart. These meetings were opened with a welcome from the Dean of the Department of History and Cultural Studies of the University of Marburg, Fr. They were led by K. Dobiat, G. Parzinger and Andreas Muller-Karpe.

The participants of the symposium were particularly interested in the memories of Hermann Muller-Karpe (born in 1925) and Edvard Zangmeister (born in 1916), students of G. von Mergart. The white-haired professors spoke of their teacher with great gratitude. They noted that he was a man with a strong character, a very talented scientist and teacher. Deep natural-scientific and cultural-historical knowledge, erudition, phenomenal memory, a sharp mind and the ability to maintain a sense of humor in any situation attracted students to him.

Nikolaus Katzer, Professor of history from Hamburg, in the message "Chaos and Order. Experience in the World War, revolution and civil War (1914-1921) " described the difficult historical situation in Russia during the period when G. von Mergart was there, thereby helping the German audience to present the whole tragedy of the events that took place and assess the conditions of life and activity of the scientist in Russia.

Academician V. I. Molodin (Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS) in his report "Russian archaeological research in Siberia from the 1910s to the end of the 1920s" analyzed the state of Siberian archeology in the era of changes. On the one hand, he noted the continuity of research during this period, recalling the first academic expeditions of D. G. Messerschmidt, G. F. Miller, I.-G. Gmelin, P. S. Pallas, the research of V. V. Radlov, D. A. Klementz, A.V. Adrianov, and on the other hand, drew the attention of the audience to a new generation of archaeologists, who are currently working in the field of archaeology. In the 1920s, for the first time in Siberia, they obtained massive archaeological artifacts from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, systematized them, and were able to create the first cultural classifications for the Siberian region. The importance of the works of S. A. Teploukhov, S. I. Rudenko, M. P. Gryaznov, S. V. Kiselyov, and B. E. Petri was particularly emphasized. The activities of G. von Mergart in Krasnoyarsk also played an important role.

S. V. Kuzminykh (Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Gero von Mergart's interlocutors in Kazan, Moscow and Petrograd: (On the History of Russian archeology in 1910 - late 1920s)" described the circle of Russian archaeologists with whom the German scientist communicated in 1921 on his way to his homeland. importance of working with archaeological funds in Kazan, Moscow and Petrograd, discussions with leading Russian experts: B. F. Adler, V. A. Gorodtsov, P. P. Efimenko, D. N. Anuchin, A. A. Spitsyn, etc. He wanted to test his own hypotheses on the problems of the archeology of Siberia, to get answers to his questions. The scientist intended to continue working with Siberian materials at home. As is well known, in 1926 G. von Mergart published a generalizing monograph " Bronzezeit am Jenissei "("The Bronze Age on the Yenisei"), which summed up some of the results of his Siberian research.

L. Y. Kitova (Kemerovo State University) She thoroughly studied the Krasnoyarsk period (1919-1921) of the activities of a German archaeologist. The report "The activities of Gero von Mergart in Krasnoyarsk" notes the importance of his work on the restoration, classification and systematization of collections of antiquities stored in Siberian museums, defines the role of the scientist in the study of archaeological sites of the Yenisei province and creating a preliminary scheme for the development of Siberian cultures, presents his views on the origins and origin of these cultures.

G. Parzinger in his report "Archaeological in the "Far Away"" analyzed individual chapters of G. von Mergart's book and gave comprehensive comments on them. Describing the archaeological research of the scientist in the Yenisei province, he emphasized the modernity of G. von Mergart's views on the role of contact regions-the Achinsk region and the Angara River basin - in the formation of Siberian cultures. The speaker noted many archaeological stories that were confirmed in the research of Russian scientists of the second half of the XX century. For example, at the beginning of the XX century, G. von Mergart correctly noticed the originality of the inventory in the graves near the village of Lugovsky, and much more.

Anatoly Nagler (German Archaeological Institute) continued to report on the results of Russian-German research in Siberia and Kazakhstan, focusing separately on the characteristics of the Badger Log monument. He stressed that thanks to joint work in the 1990s - 2000s, absolute dates were obtained for all cultures of the Bronze Age and the Russian Academy of Sciences-

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Since the beginning of the Iron Age, progress has been made in the study of" royal " mounds.

E. V. Detlova (Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore) continued to study the relationship between G. von Mergart and his Russian colleagues. She devoted her speech, first of all, to the relations of the German archaeologist with Siberian researchers B. E. Petri, S. A. Teploukhov, G. P. Sosnovsky, N. K. Auerbach and others, winning the participants of the symposium with a deep knowledge of his epistolary heritage.

Timo Salminen (University of Helsinki) presented the paper "Problems of East Russian Archaeology in the correspondence of A. M. Talyren and G. von Mergart"prepared jointly with S. V. Kuzminykh. He focused on the development of Finnish archaeology in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Svend Hansen, head of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute, in his report "Impulses of the Siberian stay of G. von Mergart for the study of the Bronze Age of Europe" demonstrated the relevance of the scientist's ideas for the development of European archaeology and the formation of German scientific schools. G. von Mergart's study of the Bronze Age on the Yenisei gave its own result in the formation of similar scientific directions in Germany.

The speaker emphasized that the establishment of the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute is also a mediated impulse of G. von Mergart's stay in Siberia.

The scientific program of the symposium was completed by E. V. Detlova's report on the current situation in Krasnoyarsk archeology.

Professor Otto-Hermann Frey summed up the results of the forum, dividing all the presentations into several thematic groups.

In general, the activities of the symposium aroused great interest in the Marburg scientific community. Its meetings were attended not only by archaeologists and historians, but also by representatives of other specialties. Conducting such a comprehensive study on a given topic proved to be very useful for all participants of the symposium and contributed to strengthening scientific ties between archaeologists from different countries.

Kemerovo State University 6 Krasnaya str., Kemerovo, 650043, Russia

E-mail: kitova@kemsu.ru

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