Honor where honor is due
Humboldt-Universität has many busts of scholars, which are part of it's oldest art collection. They once adorned the former auditorium and are now dispersed across various locations. This collection can now be explored digitally once again.
Representatives of the scientific community
The bust of the linguist Franz Bopp (1791–1867) was once part of the group of marble busts displayed in the old auditorium of the main building on Unter den Linden. It was created posthumously in 1871 by Eduard Lürssen – in accordance with the regulations governing the installation of busts and other works of art – and, although it possesses the classical form of a herms, the depiction of the scholar is otherwise not idealized in the classical style. Rather, the physiognomy appears lifelike, with pronounced forehead, eye, and cheek wrinkles. The slight turn of the head and the alert gaze also lend the bust its naturalistic expression. Until 1929, the Bopp bust represented linguistics alongside a range of other illustrious scholars such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Leopold Ranke, and Friedrich Ernst Daniel Schleiermacher. But then the auditorium was renovated, and the busts were moved to the basement or given to individual departments.
Relocation
Among the scientists honored with busts were many physicians, as well as mineralogists and physiologists. They were repositioned in the halls of the Charité and the Museum für Naturkunde. For a long time, these two institutions were part of Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität and Humboldt-Universität, respectively.
It is quite typical for a group of artworks that was originally displayed together to become dispersed over the years; this is due in particular to changes in physical space, but also to shifting scholarly and aesthetic assessments. The bust of Franz Bopp continues to be highly valued at the Institute for German Language and Linguistics. His work in the field of comparative-historical linguistics was, in its time, fundamental to the understanding of Oriental and Indo-European languages and their relationships. A member of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität since 1821 and a full professor of Oriental Literature and general linguistics since 1825, he devoted himself to the teaching and research of Sanskrit and the comparative study of Indo-European languages. Bopp was a close friend of Wilhelm von Humboldt, who supported him in Berlin. He was a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences and was part of a broad network of scholars. To this day, there is a professorship in Historical and Comparative Linguistics at the HU that honors Bopp as the founder of Indo-European studies as an academic discipline.
Digital Reunification
Busts of scholars can still be found in many other departments as well, such as in philosophy, classical philology, and even mathematics. Yet today they stand alone, without their historical context. The project Gelehrtenbüsten Aula der Universität on Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin’s online portal Sammlungen digital has now digitally reunited the busts that were formerly displayed in the Aula. The collaboration among participants from the various institutions of the Berlin University Alliance—which was necessary for identifying locations, conducting archival research, and carrying out a large-scale photography campaign—was particularly smooth and enriching (see also the blog post on this subject). Now, regardless of their current locations, visitors can trace the history of an artistically outstanding group of works that once formed the representative core of Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität.
The Artwork of the Month showcases selected pieces from the art collection. Each month, one or more objects are highlighted to provide insights into material culture, the history of the collection and academic contexts. The articles examine the provenance, design and significance of the objects from various angles and highlight the broader issues they raise. In this way, they open up new perspectives on historical developments, cultural practices and current research interests associated with the art collection.
