Ars: časopis Ústavu Dejín Umenia Slovenskej Akadémie Vied (44.2011)

here that Bode hrst announced his plans for the
DVfK; plans that called the international orienta-
tion of the congress of art history into question and
seemed to represent a genuine threat to its continued
existence.
This much was already intimated in the agenda.
As usual, the congress would begin with the routine
business of reports from its local and provisional
committees and the appointment of a new perma-
nent committee (items 1 -5). It would then consult on
4. the distribution of art historical literatuře for re-
view; 5. "/A^022272/22/2077 o/ 7777 777*/G't/07?7*77/roo/o/y"; 6. the
lack of an adéquate art history journal in Germany;
7. photographie reproductions of German monu-
ments; 8. Warburg's proposed international icono-
graphie society; followed by any other proposais and
motions. But it was item ten, in conjunction with item
hve, that caused the stir: "TGo^22/222*0 od /do ooTTgrorr o/' 727/
Gf/07y."' Early on in the congress at Darmstadt, after
the initial reports had been heard, the assembly was
duly asked to nommate a new permanent commit-
tee - an easy enough task, one would have thought.
But a certain nationalst element, námely Professors
Oechelhäuser (Karlsruhe) and Dehio (Straßburg),
argued that this would be impossible before item ten
had been discussed. How could they sensibly elect
a competent committee before they were clear as to
the future of the congress? As chair of the session
and représentative of the former provisional com-
mittee, Joseph Strzygowski conceded that there had
indeed been some doubts about the future, although
these had been dispelied. He nevertheless acceded
to Oechelhäuser's objection and agreed to shift the
élection of a permanent committee to the end of
the agenda. Clearly, item hve had set an implicit
question mark after item ten, which would thus have
to be treated before item three; item four was then
skipped because it and the remaining items could
for the most part be subsumed under item hve. Or
in other words, the DVfK was promoted to the top
of the agenda and Karl Koetschau (subsequently its
secretary) took the hoor.

2' DARMSTADT 1907 (see m note 25), p. 4.
Ibidem, p. 16. The Conference met at the recently completed
Kaiser Friedrich Museum on Museum Island, probably in the
summer of 1907.

Koetschau began by pointing out the major
weaknesses of the international congress: its infor-
mai, irregulär meetings were unable to provide the
continuity that art history as a discipline required
and, more importantly, it lacked the funding neces-
sary to implement any of its resolutions and plans.
The obvious solution would be a national society
with fee-paying membership and, eventually, state
subsidies. A working program could then be drawn
up to ensure efheient organisation, with working
groups, deadlines, and proper rémunération for
intellectual labour. As it happened, earlier that year
a small group of art historians had been called to a
meeting in Berlin with Bode and Friedrich von Alt-
hoff, a Prussian civil servant from the Ministry of
Education, to discuss an organisation alongprecisely
these lineš. This Conference had decided "/o oy/27/G'.G
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277 07*7/07*/^^
Sold on the prospect of a new German art histori-
cal society with the moral, if not hnancial backing
of the Prussian government, some of those present
at this preliminary meeting in Berlin had at hrst
considered giving up on the international congress
entirely. Koetschau had initially thought the new
society would render it superhuous, and Strzygowski
openly admitted that "27pÖTM 0/ 22t T72*/22T72p/ %W7/oE /o 2/22G
Go 2*077g7*on* 07*y22t/ E/ 2/ EZo oG'P^ Ultimately though,
they had decided that the congress should continue
to exist; as Koetschau said, it was to become a forum
2-' Ibidem, p. 26.

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