Das Leben und Wirken Wilhelm Unverzagts spiegelt die Entwicklung der vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Archäologie und ein intensives halbes Jahrhundert deutscher Geschichte. Unverzagt wirkte in vier politischen Systemen als Student und Kulturgutschützer vor und im Ersten Weltkrieg, als Museumsdirektor in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich und als Direktor des Akademie-Instituts der DDR und erlebte parallel dazu als Bewohner Westberlins auch nach dem Mauerbau ein fünftes. Der Autor, der Unverzagt persönlich kannte und seine Berufslaufbahn in einem von Unverzagt stark geprägten Umfeld begann, beschäftigt sich seit vielen Jahren mit dem Thema und durchforstete allein im Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde 200 Aktenordner. Der in Wiesbaden als Sohn eines gleichnamigen Kaufmanns und seiner Frau Elise geborene und auch dort begrabene Unverzagt zog 1920 aus beruflichen Gründen nach Berlin, wo er bis zu seinem Tod arbeitete. Dort prägte er das “Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte”, wehrte die Gleichschaltung durch Anschluss an das SS Ahnenerbe ab und plante, realisierte und leitete das Akademie-Institut. Dabei stand er stets in engem Kontakt nach West und Ost.
The life and work of Wilhelm Unverzagt reflect the development of the subject of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and an intensive half-century of German history. Unverzagt worked in four political systems as a student and protector of cultural heritage before and during World War I, as a museum director in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich and as director of the Academy Institute of the GDR, while also experiencing a fifth as a resident of West Berlin, even after the Wall had been built. The author, who knew Unverzagt personally and began his professional career in an environment strongly influenced by him, has been working on the subject for many years and has combed through 200 files in the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde alone. Unverzagt, who was born in Wiesbaden as the son of a merchant of the same name and his wife Elise and is also buried there, moved to Berlin in 1920 for professional reasons, where he worked until his death. There he shaped the „Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte“, fended off Nazification by joining SS Ahnenerbe and planned, implemented and managed the Academy Institute. He was closely connected with both West and East.
The life and work of Wilhelm Unverzagt reflect the development of the subject of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and an intensive half-century of German history. Unverzagt worked in four political systems as a student and protector of cultural heritage before and during World War I, as a museum director in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich and as director of the Academy Institute of the GDR, while also experiencing a fifth as a resident of West Berlin, even after the Wall had been built. The author, who knew Unverzagt personally and began his professional career in an environment strongly influenced by him, has been working on the subject for many years and has combed through 200 files in the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde alone. Unverzagt, who was born in Wiesbaden as the son of a merchant of the same name and his wife Elise and is also buried there, moved to Berlin in 1920 for professional reasons, where he worked until his death. There he shaped the „Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte“, fended off Nazification by joining SS Ahnenerbe and planned, implemented and managed the Academy Institute. He was closely connected with both West and East.