Manfred Osman Korfmann was a German Archeologist. He excavated Hirsalik Hill which is now known as Troy, which he worked on and directed the excavations for a number of years. Korfmann is credited with increasing the interest in Troy considerably. He helped to make it a national park area and was instrumental in paving the way for UNESCO’s decision to declare the site a World Cultural Heritage site.
His valuable work led to him being offered Turkish citizenship by the Turkish government in 2004 in recognition of his efforts and contribution. Known locally as Osman Bey he officially took Osman as his middle name. Apart from his excavations at Troy he was also involded with historical sites along the Black Sea Coast.
Manfred Osman Korfmann died of lung cancer in 2005 at the age of 63. He had hoped that the Turkish government would build a world class museum near the site, which of course they have done, with the new Troy Museum. What a shame that he didn’t live long enough to see it. As head of the Troy historical
committee Korfmann was very respected as an authority on Troy and he bequeathed his entire collection of 6,000 books and 10,000 publications of archaelogy to the library that you see here in this film. Many of the books are in German although there are still a number printed in English. The Korfmann Library is located near the Tifli Mosque in a beautiful 19th century old school building.
Fevzipaşa, 17100 Çanakkale Merkez/Çanakkale.