Dr Rudolf Mileker, sin Feliksa Milekera Dr. Rudolf Milleker, Felix Millekers Sohn   Dr Eleonora Čordaš (Cordiescu), supruga Rudolfa Milekera, 1915. god. Dr. Eleonora (Nora) Csordás (Cordiescu), Ehefrau von Rudolf Milleker, 1915

Felix Milleker and Anna Gettmann

The Town Museum in Vrsac

The Town Museum in Vrsac celebrates 120 years of the museum activity in the region of south-east Banat as well as 60 years of Felix Milleker s death (1858 –1942), the very first and long standing custodian of this respectable cultural institution.

These two important moments were crucial on the meeting of the Museum Board so that they made a decision to organize the exhibition in the year of an anniversary in order to remind both professional and wider public of the great merits of a man whose life and work had been interleaved in the foundations of the museum activities in this region.

Through his lifetime (85 years) and his work in the museum (61) Milleker gave immeasurable contribution to the gathering, protection, presentation and publication of cultural heritage. These results are fascinating, even nowadays.

Since Milleker's first book “WERSCHETZ IN LETYEN TURKEN KRIEGE UND JAKOB HENNEMANN” (Vrsac during the last Turkish war and Jakob Heneman), which was published in 1878 to the last issues of little monographs “BANATER BUCHEREI”, there is a great number of work both from recent and further cultural history of Banat, the background of settlements which were the integral parts of Tamis and Torontal regions, the research work from the archeological sites and so many other things.

He ran the official correspondence in German, Hungarian and Serbian language, and the interesting thing about Milleker's written approach lies in the fact that he signed his letters with Felix - Bodog - Srecko, depending on the language he used.

The affection towards the work and the versatility in that work he did enabled him the communication with the experts from the other museums as well as the collaboration with numerous scientific institutions: Patzner Istvan, Bella Lajos, Nagy Geza, Torma Karoly, Rethy Laszlo and many other famous people.

Besides the enthusiasm in his custodian work, he was the one who founded all the collections in the museum (the archeological, the numismatic, the historical, the naturalistic, the ethnological and the art collection) Milleker was also the founder of the library and merit belongs to him for he was the one who purchased some extraordinary valuable books in German, Hungarian and Serbian language from the first half of 19th century.

1910

Felix Milleker was not only the scientific worker, but he was also the one who was very active in the social life  and who also took part in the work of some professional associations. In 1880 he was chosen for a full formal  member of South-Hungarian History and Archeology Society in Timisoara. In 1901 he was chosen for a full formal member of Hungarian Numismatic Association.

The Literary Association from Timisoara "ARANY JANOS TARSASAG" chose him for his member because of his work in toponomastics. He was also the member of The Naturalistic Society of Banat in Timisoara. He was also the member of Hungarian Society for Anthropology and Archeology. At the same time he was the assistant founder of German Society for Prehistory in Berlin, and The German Teachers' Association in Timisoara. He became the member of The Scientific Department of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad in l914.

Milleker's interests were at first focused towards archeology and terrain work. In the following years,  somewhere around 1915 Milleker concentrated onto historical and cultural history of Banat.

         

He recorded the history of all nations that used to live in this region with great enthusiasm, paying a lot of attention to culture, tradition and ethnical variegation that connected these nations in their diversity. This  positive heritage, the atmosphere of understanding and tolerance is still present here beside numerous nations who live in this region.

There were some things that were characteristic for Felix Milleker both as a man and a worker, those were his precision in his work, his enthusiasm for his work, his fondness for his work and devotion to his work in the Museum.

Feeling the burden of the years, overrun with sorrow and sadness, which can be found in his notes, this man was deeply unhappy, for the nation he belonged to was in war with the country he was born in, he worked in as a custodian and a teacher.

On 26th of April, when the vortex of the war had already been blazing over his native city, Milleker had died and the Museum had been closed. After World War II, in 1945, the political, economic, educational and cultural life revived in the region of Banat. The museum as an important cultural institution has been reopened for citizens, and Rastko Rasajski became its first manager.

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Source: ANICA MEDAKOVIĆ - Felix Milleker (1858-1942) (PDF)