Nyerup, Rasmus

(1759–1829)

During the early-nineteenth century, Copenhagen was the administrative and intellectual center of the joint kingdom of denmark and Norway, and, as in the rest of Europe, there was growing concern about the destruction of ancient monuments and archaeological sites. A royal collection of artifacts, or a Kunstkammer, was located in Christianborg, but it was unordered and overflowing with material. sweden had already passed legislation for the protection of its monuments and artifacts, and groups in Denmark and Norway became interested in similar legislation.

Professor Rasmus Nyerup researched these issues and traveled throughout Europe to find the best solutions. In 1801, he visited the Museum of French Monuments in Paris, which had been set up under the new republic, and was most impressed. In 1806, he published the results of his research and recommendations: Survey of the National Monuments of Antiquity Such as May Be Displayed in a Future National Museum, the last volume of which outlined his ideas as to how prehistoric material and later remains from Denmark and Norway should be exhibited in a museum similar to the one in Paris.

The defeat of the Danish by the English in 1801 and 1807 stimulated national enthusiasm for past greatness now perceived to be circumscribed by contemporary politics, and by 1806, Nyerup was beginning to receive the first contributions of archaeological material for a future national museum. In 1807, the first legislation for the protection of monuments and archaeological finds was enacted, and it provided for the setting up of a commission to advise on the foundation of a state museum. Nyerup became secretary and member of this commission.

By 1816, the job had become too big for him, and a young numismatist, with a deep interest in antiquity, the right connections, and a talent for classification, christian jurgensen thomsen, replaced him as secretary. Although it was Thomsen who gradually brought the Danish national collection into working order, which involved developing a whole new system of classification, it was Nyerup’s survey that helped Thomsen formulate the system. And it was Nyerup’s passion for, and knowledge of, antiquities that helped found the Danish National Museum, whose collections and scholars greatly contributed to the elucidation of prehistory, not only in Scandinavia, but also in Europe as a whole.

Tim Murray

References

Klindt-Jensen, O. 1975. A History of Scandinavian Archaeology. London: Thames and Hudson.