Biography of Dr. Dr. h.c. Friedrich Morton (1890-1969)

Friedrich Morton, born in Görz in 1890, studied natural sciences in Vienna and initially worked as a teacher. His scientific work on botanical issues in cave exploration qualified him for the position of administrator of the state-run Dachstein Cave Company, which he took up in 1921. He founded the botanical and meteorological station in Hallstatt. In addition to natural history, Morton was also interested in the history of the Salzkammergut, in particular archaeological research into the Hallstatt period. In 1925, he took over the management of the museum in Hallstatt. In the following decades, he devoted himself to excavations on and around the Hallstatt salt mountain and the processing of prehistoric finds. The documentation of folkloristic aspects of this region and historical topics were also important to him.

He also pursued his botanical interests as a world traveler, whereby his view increasingly expanded to include the “entirety of the countries he visited”. For example, he visited North Africa (1913), the Swiss Alps (1923), Central and South America (Trinidad, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela, 1929) as well as Abyssinia and Egypt (1931).

Friedrich Morton was a member of the National Socialist Party. Rudolf Gamsjäger explained the motivation for this in a biographical outline, stating that Morton wanted to use “the ‘ideological interest’ of the National Socialists in ancient Germanic tradition”, in the knowledge that only “with their goodwill could his archaeological research work” be continued. However, he is likely to have turned down offers of career advancement in the NSDAP: “But when he had to choose between the NSDAP's Office for Pre- and Early History and the ‘ancestral heritage’ of the Reichsführer of the SS Himmler, he opted for HALLSTATT. He prevented the valuable excavation pieces from being deported to the Old Reich or Vienna and only the end of the war may have saved him from major problems with the Nazis.” (Gamsjäger 1990, 11). In 1945, Morton was suspended from his posts as a member of the NSDAP, followed by his retirement in 1948.

He published over 600 articles and several dozen books. Until his death in 1969, he published botanical, prehistoric, art-historical and ethnological studies. He received numerous honors over the course of his life, and in 1966 he was awarded the Decoration of Honor for Art and Science of the Republic of Austria, first class.

Morton's estate in the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum

Just a few years after his death, the first parts of the collection and natural history objects were handed over to the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum. In the summer of 1997, the scientific estate was viewed at Dr. Friedrich Morton's home in Hallstatt and incorporated into the holdings of the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum. Provincial Museum. The collection includes bird and mammal specimens, ethnological and archaeological objects, souvenirs and photographs from Morton's travels as well as his extensive library.

Individual items from Morton's extensive collection have already been scientifically catalogued and inventoried. To date, around 800 natural history specimens (plants and molluscs) have been recorded by the Botany and Evertebrata Varia departments. In the vertebrate collection, 126 objects have been recorded, in the geosciences department 93 items with the provenance “Morton Collection”. The majority of these holdings are still awaiting processing.

The interdisciplinary nature of the material left behind by Morton represents the orientation of the Upper Austrian State Museum as a universal museum and calls for almost the entire range of disciplines represented at the museum. Now, with the cataloging of Morton's photographs, the systematic processing of his scientific legacy can begin. The photographic documentation represents an ideal starting point for this: They provide an insight into the very diverse scientific interests of this researcher and thus also facilitate the processing of his estate.

→ Here you can browse through Morton's digitized photographic estate.

Funding from the “Kulturerbe Digital” program

The digitization was made possible by the Kulturerbe Digital funding program. OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH was awarded a grant of € 300,000 for the “Digitization of cultural and natural assets of the province of Upper Austria”. With additional own funds from the institution, more than half a million euros were available for these projects. 

Funded by Sektion für Kunst und Kultur des Bundesministeriums Kunst, Kultur, öffentlicher Dienst und Sport.

Literature:

Gerhard Aubrecht, Bericht über die Sammlung Wirbeltiere am Biologiezentrum Linz von 1993 bis 2002, in: Beiträge zur Naturkunde Oberösterreichs 12, 2003, 135–162 (online abrufbar unter https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/BNO_0012_0135-0162.pdf).

Rudolf Gamsjäger, Regierungsrat Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Friedrich Morton, in: Musealverein Hallstatt (Hrsg.), Friedrich Morton 1. 11. 1890 bis 10. 7. 1969 Gedenkschrift zum 100. Geburtstag, Hallstatt 1990, 7–12.

Franz Lipp, Nachruf Friedrich Morton, in: Jahrbuch des OÖ. Musealvereins Bd. 114b, 9–14 (online abrufbar unter https://www.zobodat.at/biografien/JOOM_114b_1968_0009-0014_Morton_Friedrich.pdf).

Friedrich Morton, Ergebnisse einer Reise nach Abessynien, Ägypten und nach den Quarneroinseln 1931 bis 1932 (Akademischer Anzeiger, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften/Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse Nr. 16), Wien 1934.

Friedrich Morton, Xelahuh: Abenteuer im Urwald von Guatemala, Salzburg 1950.

Otto H. Urban, „Morton, Friedrich“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 18, 1997, 161 (Online-Version, abrufbar unter https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd129095907.html#ndbcontent).