Colourful Characters: Albert van Giffen

On 9 December 2025, it will have been exactly 400 years since Ubbo Emmius, the founder of the University of Groningen, passed away. In his tracks, various people who worked and studied there through the centuries made the UG a brighter place. Some of them have been exceptionally important, due to their remarkable achievements, ideas, and activities. This series sheds a light on some of these ‘Colourful Characters’. This week: Albert van Giffen.

17 June 1922: Opening of the Biological-Archaeological Institute on the Poststraat

The official opening of Ab van Giffen’s Biological-Archaeological Institute (BAI) took place in the Academy Building, as the actual building of the Institute on Poststraat was too small. Known as the ‘father of dolmens’, he stayed affiliated with the Institute throughout his professional life and kept an office there until 1966.

Terp excavations

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Frisian terps and Groningen wierden (both meaning artificial dwelling mounds) were rapidly excavated. This terp soil, rich in organic fertilizers, was then sold to enrich agricultural land. As a result, many valuable archaeological data were permanently lost. That continued until artificial fertilizer was widely introduced. The dolmens in Drenthe were also in a state of disrepair. At that point, Albert Egges (Ab) van Giffen came into the picture.

Van Giffen’s entry into archaeology actually happened by chance. In 1908, the 24-year-old student was asked to oversee the excavation of Dorkwerd, a wierde near Groningen. Van Giffen was not an archaeologist; he studied botany and zoology, and his role was to examine fossils. Following his graduation in 1910, he became an official assistant at the Zoological Laboratory. At the same time, he started his PhD research on fauna in terps.

A new view on archaeology

In 1912, Van Giffen was appointed curator at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. He was brought in by Jan Hendrik Holwerda, and in less than one year, they found themselves in a major conflict, to the point that the Minister of the Interior had to step in and arrange for Van Giffen to return to Groningen in 1916. In addition to personal differences, opposing views on archaeology contributed to the conflict. Holwerda’s background was in the humanities and classical Mediterranean archaeology, whereas Van Giffen, a natural scientist, integrated geological and biological methods into archaeology.

Restoring dolmens

Upon his return to Groningen, Van Giffen became curator at the Zoological Laboratory. He picked up his research on wierden and expanded his focus to include burial mounds, urn fields, Celtic fields, and, of course, dolmens. In 1919, he was officially appointed as the national correspondent and was tasked with making an inventory of all megalithic monuments in the Netherlands. In addition to research, he also restored collapsed and partially damaged dolmens. He worked with local authorities, expanded lots through buying them, made them accessible to the public, and planted trees and shrubs in the surrounding area, which he would sometimes personally tend with a saw and pruning knife.

A real passion

Van Giffen’s exceptional diligence was also something he expected of others. His successor, Tjalling Waterbolk, recalls: ‘He expected such a level of commitment from his staff that would be frowned upon today. He would leave before dawn, return late at night or stay in boarding houses, frequently work through weekends, and handle one urgent assignment after another, year after year. Yet, he had great personal charm; he placed a lot of trust in his staff and gave them a strong sense of involvement in a cause that was clearly important, as doors opened for him wherever he went. People could hardly say no to him.'*)

Military airport

His persuasive abilities also worked on wealthy individuals. Van Giffen was able to find various donors for his projects. For example, the Groningen industrialist Jan Evert Scholten purchased the Wierhuizen terp for Van Giffen’s research, and Anton Kröller (of the Kröller-Müller Museum) financed the excavation of the village green in Schipborg. Despite this, Van Giffen was also able to gain the cooperation of the authorities. The excavation of the Wierhuizen terp could begin during World War I due to the involvement of interned Belgian soldiers. In the 1930s, Van Giffen arranged for his excavations to be considered job creation projects. In 1945, he even managed to persuade the German occupiers not to completely destroy two dolmens near Havelte for the construction of a military airport. They were restored after the war.

Unique excavation in Ezinge

The role he played during the Ezinge excavation was legendary. Archaeological works at the wierde started back in 1918, but they were significantly expanded in the 1930s. Van Giffen supervised excavation crews of occasionally over 100 workers. The works uncovered the remains of large farmsteads, animal skeletons, and artefacts such as wagon wheels. Some of the materials turned out to originate from Southern Europe and North Africa. The conclusion had to be that a wealthy and anything but primitive farming population had once lived there. Nowhere in Europe had archaeologists ever uncovered a prehistoric settlement with such a wealth of well-preserved layers of human activity. Van Giffen later supervised the archaeological investigation of the former Walburg Church at the Martinikerkhof in Groningen. In addition, he was involved in excavations in other areas of the Netherlands, but also in Hungary, Ireland, and France. Van Giffen became internationally renowned, yet he continued to work from the institute he established on Poststraat in Groningen.

Van Giffen in Groningen today

The BAI has become part of the larger Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA), but Van Giffen’s direct successors still work in the building on Poststraat. Van Giffen’s legacy is visible in places such as the Ezinge wierde, which provides extensive details about his work. In addition, the many dolmens in Northern Netherlands that have been preserved are witness to his work.

• 14 March 1884: Born in Noordhorn as the son of a Dutch Reformed minister.

• 1912 Curator: at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden; married and moved to Oegstgeest

• 1930: PhD for his thesis on the remains of prehistoric livestock in wierden.

• 1916: Return to Groningen

• 1919: Establishment of the Biological-Archaeological Institute; royal visit by Prince Hendrik.

• 1954: Retirement

• 31 May 1973: Died in Zwolle (and burried in Diever)
  

*) G.A. van Gemert, J. Schuller tot Peursma-Meijer, A.J. Vanderjagt (ed.) Standing against ignorance and barbarism. Scholars of Groningen, 1614–1989. Hilversum: Verloren Publishers, 1989.

For more Colourful Characters, see the overview page.