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Elisabeth Ettlinger

1915 – 2012

Swiss archaeologist

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About Elisabeth Ettlinger

Lived 1915 – 2012 (aged 96). Elisabeth Ettlinger was a Swiss archaeologist and university teacher.

Elisabeth Ettlinger, ( Lachmann; 14 July 1915 – 21 March 2012) was a German-born archaeologist and academic, who specialised in archaeology of the Roman provinces and Roman Switzerland. Career Ettlinger completed her doctorate in 1942 at the University of Basel, having immigrated to Switzerland in the 1930s to escape Nazi Germany: her thesis was published in 1949 as Die Keramik der Augster Thermen (Insula XVII). Ausgrabung 1937-38. From September 1963 to June 1964, she was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. From 1964 to 1980, Ettlinger taught at the University of Bern. Her research centred on Roman ceramics such as Terra Sigillata, and she co-founded Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautores, a learned society dedicated to Roman pottery: she was its secretary, vice-president and then served as its president from 1971 to 1980. In 1972 she published Die römischen Fibeln in der Schweiz, which "still acts as an essential reference book for the study of Roman brooches." Ettlinger also worked prolifically on Vindonissa, the site of a Roman military camp, and served as president of the Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa.

Honours Ettlinger was elected to the German Archaeological Institute in 1968, and as a corresponding member of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in 1975.

Personal life Ettlinger was born in 1915 in Breslau into a Jewish academic family: her parents were (1885–1916) and Hedwig Hopf (1893–1953); her maternal uncle was the mathematician Heinz Hopf (1894–1971). After her father's death, she and her mother moved to Berlin, and then in 1935 to Switzerland to escape Nazi Germany. In 1940, she married the Swiss microbiologist , with whom she had two sons.

Selected works

Ettlinger, Elisabeth (1951). Legionary Pottery from Vindonissa. The Journal of Roman Studies, 41, 105–111. Ettlinger, E., & Fellmann, R. (1955). Ein Sigillata-Depotfund aus dem Legionslager Vindonissa. Germania: Anzeiger der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 33(4), 364-373. Ettlinger, Elisabeth (1972). Die römischen Fibeln in der Schweiz. Bern: Francke Ettlinger, Elisabeth (1977). Aspects of amphora-typology,-seen from the North. Publications de l'École Française de Rome, 32(1), 9-16.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Employers
University of Bern
Awards
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

People in Elisabeth Ettlinger's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Elisabeth Ettlinger's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Elisabeth Ettlinger?

Swiss archaeologist (1915-2012)

When was Elisabeth Ettlinger born?

Elisabeth Ettlinger was born on 14 July 1915 in Wrocław.

When did Elisabeth Ettlinger die?

Elisabeth Ettlinger died on 21 March 2012 in Küsnacht.

What was Elisabeth Ettlinger's occupation?

Elisabeth Ettlinger was an archaeologist and university teacher.

What nationality was Elisabeth Ettlinger?

Elisabeth Ettlinger was Swiss.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Elisabeth Ettlinger

· Wikidata: Q1329893

· DBpedia: Elisabeth Ettlinger

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Elisabeth Ettlinger. https://biography.guide/elisabeth-ettlinger/

MLA: "Elisabeth Ettlinger." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/elisabeth-ettlinger/.

Chicago: "Elisabeth Ettlinger." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/elisabeth-ettlinger/.

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