Carl Humann

Carl Humann (first name also Karl, born 4 January 1839 in Steele, part of today’s Essen - Germany; † 12 April 1896 in Smyrna, today İzmir - Turkey) was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist. He discovered the Pergamon Altar.

Biography

Early Years

Humann, an educated railroad engineer and aspiring architecture student, he worked initially on the construction of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway in North Rhine-Westphalia—position he got through help from his older brother Franz, who had been working there—and later attended the Building-Academy in Berlin. Due to him falling ill to tuberculosis, he looked for warmer climates and moved to the then Ottoman Empire and settled down in Istanbul. He participated in excavations on the island of Samos—joining his brother Franz, who had been working on the Heraion sanctuary—, building palaces and travelling in 1864 through Palestine, under order of the Ottoman Empire, drawing up accurate maps of the area. His work as a surveyor for the railway and road construction departments helped him gain a personal familiarity with classical-era ruins, as well as develop an extensive network of contacts and acquaintances.