THE LEGACY OF COURLAND PROVINCE MUSEUM
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-12-15

The beginnings of archaeological science in Latvia can be traced back to the early 19th century. One of the main actors in this field were the Literature and Art Society of Courland (Kurländische Gesellschaft für Literatur und Kunst) in Mitau (today: Jelgava), founded by Baltic German intellectuals in 1815. Their goal was to fulfill the ideals of Enlightenment and humanism by developing archaeology, ethnology, natural and other sciences. An important part of their work was to educate the general public. To spread knowledge, the members of the Society established a museum in 1818 – the Courland Province Museum (Kurländische Provinzialmuseum). Among others, there was also an Archaeology Section with an archaeological collection from all around the territory of today’s Latvia, as well as some artifacts from other parts of the world. Today, one of the first museums in Latvia no longer exists (in 1944 the building was destroyed), but its legacy and parts of the former archaeological collection are now scattered throughout different archives and museums around the world. Although the Museum itself is now only a legend, there are still plenty of informative materials and traces to research.

This paper aims to reconstruct the history of the archaeological collection of the Courland Province Museum, from its creation to preservation and exhibition. Overall, this paper is a reflection on the history of archaeology and the thoughts constituting it.


Author(s): Broka-Lace, Zenta (Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia)