2010 to 2017 NACHHUGOT
The Virtual Reconstruction of the Estate of Leo Hugot
Leo Hugot, born in 1925 and died in 1982, was an architect, municipal engineer, municipal conservator, responsible master builder of Aachen Cathedral, was active as an archaeologist and initiated the recognition of Aachen's cathedral as the first UNESCO World Heritage Site of Germany. The significance of his extensive architectural, conservational and scientific work therefore reaches out far beyond local references. His estate of documents and artefacts remained unexamined and has been merely glanced over despite the fact of growing scientific interest in the person and in his work.
The Estate
It is a collection of his complete and coherent estate, which has only been accessible for a couple of years and before that was property of Leo Hugots' heirs. With the owners' permission and intensive preliminary work by the RWTH Aachen's Department of Historic Building Conservation and Research the collection was transferred into the newly set up municipal archive. Many of the very large-sized drawings were illustrated on transparent paper in the post-war period and are therefore very difficult to handle and require digitalization.
Hugot’s reports and discoveries are an important link and source of information about the region's history. Indeed, the finds have remained in various proprietorships making the examination of the research context as a whole almost impossible. It is the work on the estate that gradually makes these artefacts accessible and enables their contextualization. Special emphasis needs to be put on Hugot’s publications regarding archaeologic and building research themes.
Relevance
Hugot, as an archaeological reporter in the service of the Department of archaeological Monument Conservation in the Rhineland and as a municipal conservator, implemented extensive excavations and emergency documentations, which is why his estate contains both two- and three-dimensional objects. This forms a major challenge to the entire digitalization of the collection. The concept to be created should therefore be an exemplary model for future projects.
Team and Funding
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF