Paul Grimm

Paul Grimm (18 August 1907 – 19 November 1993) was a German prehistorian and also a pioneer of Medieval archaeology, especially of the excavation of abandoned villages and castles. Grimm worked on various periods, but mainly in central Germany – the names of two important Neolithic archaeological cultures in the area, the Baalberge group and the Salzmünde group derive from him. His comprehensive excavations at and were important milestones in the history of German archaeology. Grimm was a leading member of the Völkisch movement in the 1920s and 30s and a member of the Nazi Party from 1933. He headed the State Agency for Prehistory and Protohistory in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II. His involvement in the plundering of prehistoric artefacts from the Nazi-occupied territories in Eastern Europe at this time is a matter of controversy. After the war, he lived in East Germany, where he was a professor at Humboldt University of Berlin from 1955 until 1972. Life Early career Grimm, son of a paymaster, was born in Torgau, graduated from high school at Aschersleben in 1925, and then attended the University of Halle, where he studied prehistory, history, classical archaeology, German studies, geography and geology until 1929. He first participated in an excavation in 1927 under Hans Hahne. From 1929 he was a research assistant at the State Bureau for Prehistory. In 1929 he was awarded a doctorate for his dissertation on Die vor- und frühgeschichtliche Besiedlung des Unterharzes und seines Vorlandes auf Grund der Bodenfunde (The Prehistoric and Protohistoric Settlement of Lower Harz and its Hinterland on the basis of Archaeological Finds). His examiners were Hahne and Georg Karo.