Robertinum

Description

In the historic centre of Halle (Saale) the Archäologische Museum der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg preserves the university collections of ancient art and culture. It is housed in the building on the Universitätsplatz, erected between 1889 and 1891, which has borne the honorary name Robertinum since 1922.

The museum’s roots reach back to the 19th century: the Vereinigte Friedrichs-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, founded in 1817, decided in 1841 to establish an archaeological collection. After the opening of a small public museum in 1849, the development remained for a long time part of the university’s teaching and research activities; only in 1891 were the holdings transferred to a purpose-built museum on the Universitätsplatz. At this location the collection was continuously expanded, and in 2016 the 125th anniversary of the building’s inauguration was celebrated.

As the only institution in Saxony-Anhalt devoted exclusively to the ancient art and culture of the Mediterranean, the collection comprises objects from the Near East, ancient Egypt, Greece, Etruria and Rome. The holdings include over 800 plaster casts of ancient sculptures, dactyliothecae, electrotype reproductions and watercolours of Pompeian wall painting. The origins lie in a university coin collection that played a major role in the establishment of numismatics at the university; in this context an early visit by Winckelmann to Halle is also discussed.

The museum has served and continues to serve as a teaching collection and a public research museum. In addition to a few Ancient Near Eastern tablets and Egyptian papyri, it preserves above all an extensive coin collection and numerous vases, including works by the Achilles Painter and the Niobid Painter. Among the best-known exhibits is a Panathenaic prize amphora dating to about 562–558 BC, one of the oldest surviving vessels of this type.

Since 2008 the museum has published its own dedicated publication series. With regular studio exhibitions and collaborations, for example with the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg and the Goethe-Museum, the museum maintains a public presence and participates in interdisciplinary research and exhibition projects.