von Le Coq, Albert
type: Entity
ksamsok version: 1.3.0
service name: name
service organization: SMVK-EM
service organization full: Statens museer för världskultur - Etnografiska museet
build date: 2026-08-24
url: https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-em/web/object/3213078
subject: culturalHistory
data quality: raw
item super type: agent
item type: person
item key word: von Le Coq, Albert
item title: professor
item title: arkeolog
first name: Albert
surname: Le Coq
item label: Le Coq, Albert von
is described by: Albert von Le Coq
item description: ItemDescription
  type: Beskrivning
  desc: Albert von Le Coq, tysk arkeolog, verksam i Asien.
item description: ItemDescription
  type: Tidpunkt / födelse
  desc: 1860
item description: ItemDescription
  type: Tidpunkt / död
  desc: 1930
item description: ItemDescription
  type: Beskrivning / engelska
  desc: Albert von Le Coq (1860–1930) was a German archaeologist and explorer of Central Asia. He was heir to a sizable fortune derived from breweries and wineries scattered throughout Central and Eastern Europe, thus allowing him the luxury of travel and study at the - no longer existing - Ethnology Museum (German: Museum für Völkerkunde) in Berlin. Serving as assistant to the head of the Museum, Professor Albert Grünwedel, Le Coq helped plan and organize expeditions into the regions of western Asia, specifically areas near the Silk Road such as Gaochang. When Grünwedel fell ill before the departure of the second expedition, Le Coq was assigned to lead it. His account of the second and third German Turpan expeditions was published in English in 1928 as "Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan". The expeditions found extensive networks of Buddhist and Manichaean cave temples in the Xinjiang region of Northwest China. Although many of the manuscripts found in the cave were destroyed during the excavation, von Le Coq speculated that he had discovered a major Manichaean library. Some of the paintings also led him to believe that he had found evidence of an "Aryan" culture, related to the Franks. With the help of his assistant Bartus, Le Coq carved and sawed away over 360 kilograms (or 305 cases) of artifacts, wall-carvings, and precious icons, which were subsequently shipped to the museum. In Buried Treasures ..., Le Coq defends these "borrowings" as a matter of necessity, citing the turbulent nature of Chinese Turkestan at the time of the expeditions. Chinese consider this seizure a "colonial rapacity" comparable to the taking of the Elgin Marbles or the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The artifacts were put on display at the museum and were open to the public until 1944 when the relics were destroyed in a British bombing raid during World War II. Le Coq said that the depictions of figures with apparently blue eyes, red hair and cruciform swords resembled Frankish art: "Such more striking … @en
item name: ItemName
  type: Visat namn
  name: Le Coq, Albert von
item number: ItemNumber
  type: Libris-id / samma som
  number: - id -
context: Context
  context type: start
  context super type: create
  country: de
  country name: Tyskland
  from time: 1860
  to time: 1860
context: Context
  context type: act
  context super type: interact
  country name: Kina
context: Context
  context type: stop
  context super type: cease
  from time: 1930
  to time: 1930
item license: cc0
item license url: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
presentation: 1.3.0 2026-08-24 Le Coq, Albert von Rådata 3213078 name Statens museer för världskultur - Etnografiska museet SMVK-EM Namn http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-EM/name/3213078 - id - Albert von Le Coq, tysk arkeolog, verksam i Asien. 1860, 1930, Albert von Le Coq (1860–1930) was a German archaeologist and explorer of Central Asia. He was heir to a sizable fortune derived from breweries and wineries scattered throughout Central and Eastern Europe, thus allowing him the luxury of travel and study at the - no longer existing - Ethnology Museum (German: Museum für Völkerkunde) in Berlin. Serving as assistant to the head of the Museum, Professor Albert Grünwedel, Le Coq helped plan and organize expeditions into the regions of western Asia, specifically areas near the Silk Road such as Gaochang. When Grünwedel fell ill before the departure of the second expedition, Le Coq was assigned to lead it. His account of the second and third German Turpan expeditions was published in English in 1928 as "Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan". The expeditions found extensive networks of Buddhist and Manichaean cave temples in the Xinjiang region of Northwest China. Although many of the manuscripts found in the cave were destroyed during the excavation, von Le Coq speculated that he had discovered a major Manichaean library. Some of the paintings also led him to believe that he had found evidence of an "Aryan" culture, related to the Franks. With the help of his assistant Bartus, Le Coq carved and sawed away over 360 kilograms (or 305 cases) of artifacts, wall-carvings, and precious icons, which were subsequently shipped to the museum. In Buried Treasures ..., Le Coq defends these "borrowings" as a matter of necessity, citing the turbulent nature of Chinese Turkestan at the time of the expeditions. Chinese consider this seizure a "colonial rapacity" comparable to the taking of the Elgin Marbles or the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The artifacts were put on display at the museum and were open to the p…