The renowned Egyptologist, religious and cultural scientist Jan Assmann is dead. He died in Konstanz after a long illness at the age of 85.
The Egyptologist and cultural scientist Jan Assmann died on Monday night. A spokeswoman for the University of Heidelberg announced this on Tuesday upon request. The university is in contact with the family and has received the message from Assmann’s family, the spokeswoman said.
From Heidelberg to Konstanz
Assmann was an Egyptologist, cultural and religious scientist. From 1976 to 2003, when he retired, he was professor of Egyptology at the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg. There he primarily researched religious history and ideas about death in ancient Egypt. He then worked as an honorary professor at the University of Konstanz, where his wife Aleida Assmann was professor of English literature and general literature.
New type of culture of remembrance
The cultural scientist lived in Konstanz with his wife Aleida Assmann. Together they coined the term and concept of “cultural memory.” The point is that entire societies can have a collective memory and a common culture of remembrance.
The couple was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2018. “Highly deserved!” were many comments at the time when the award was announced. Her books inspired scholars from Egyptology to Holocaust research.
His greatest passion was music
Jan Assmann was the father of five adult children. If he had been able to follow his passions, he would not have become an Egyptologist but a musicologist. Assmann said that at the age of 61.
Born in 1938 in the Harz Mountains and growing up in Lübeck, it was primarily his memories of the nights of bombing that gave rise to his fascination with the topic of how memories work and shape a society. Jan Assmann has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates, most recently the Grand Federal Cross of Merit with Star in 2022.
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