Gertrud Dorka

Gertrud Dorka (19 March 1893 – 14 February 1976) was a German archaeologist, prehistorian, museum director and teacher. She was the museum director of the State Museum for Prehistory and Early History between 1947 and 1958.

Early life and education Dorka was born on 19 March 1893 in Orlau in Germany (now Orłowo in Poland). Her father was a teacher. She qualified to be a teacher in 1914 however the family fled to Berlin at the outbreak of World War I. She then taught in various schools in Pankow, a borough of Berlin.

She became a guest student at the University of Berlin, where she studied anthropology, history, prehistory and geology. In 1918, she began studying under Albert Kiekebusch at the Märkisches Museum and participated in excavations.

During the 1950s, Dorka led excavations in Berlin, which was still in the process of being rebuilt. These excavations took place in the districts of Britz, Mariendorf and Hermsdorf. She retired as museum director on 31 March 1958.

She was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1973. on 14 February 1976. In November 1996, a street, Gertrud-Dorka-Weg, in Berlin was named after her.