Mattias Legnér

Professor at Department of Archaeology, Ancient History and Conservation; Kulturvård

Telephone:
+46 18 471 83 31, +46 498 10 83 31
Mobile phone:
+46 70 568 91 83
E-mail:
mattias.legner@uu.se
Visiting address:
Campus Gotland, Cramérgatan 3
621 57 Visby
Postal address:
Uppsala universitet, Campus Gotland
621 67 Visby

Download contact information

ORCID:
0000-0003-0870-390X

Short presentation

Mattias Legnér is Full Professor in Conservation at the Department of Art History, Uppsala Universitet – Campus Gotland, and Docent in History. In recent years he has published widely on matters of cultural heritage in armed conflicts, including legal aspects and the organisation for protecting heritage. His research also deals with uses of the past for ideological and political purposes, and the management of heritage.

Film clip: "Cultural heritage – a target in armed conflict" (in Swedish only

Keywords

  • kulturvård
  • väpnade konflikter
  • cultural heritage
  • museer
  • war
  • conservation
  • international humanitarian law
  • conflict
  • post-conflict reconstruction
  • beredskap
  • cultural property
  • kulturegendom
  • history of collections
  • krig
  • contingency
  • preparedness
  • museum history
  • cultural heritage law

Biography

Mattias Legnér took his PhD at Department of History, Stockholm University in 2004. He subsequently taught History at Gotland University (2003-06) and was a researcher at Culture and Society, Linköping University (2006-08). Legnér has also been a visiting scholar in the USA, first at Institute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University (2007-08), and then as a STINT scholar at Department of History, Oberlin College (2010). From 2008 to 2013 he was Senior Lecturer in Conservation at Gotland University. Full Professor in Conservation at Uppsala University since 2013, he has led 15 research projects with funding from the Swedish Research Council, the National Heritage Board, the Swedish Energy Agency, the Church of Sweden among other funders.

Legnér is a member of the board of Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish National Heritage Board), and member of the advisory board of Centre for Critical Heritage Studies.

Research

Mattias Legnér's research focuses the history of conservation and heritage management (both architectural and object-based heritage). Earlier projects include studies of how museums, archives, libraries and historic monuments were restored and managed and the politics of energy use in residential architecture in 19th and 20th century Sweden. He has researched the political uses of heritage following the Kosovo War in 1999, and how heritage was engaged for political and ideological purposes in Scandinavia around the time of the Second World War.

In 2022 he published a monograph on cultural property protection, heritage destruction and cultural propaganda in the Nordic region before and during the Second World War: Värden att värna. Kulturminnesvård som statsintresse i Norden vid tiden för andra världskriget (Values to safeguard. Conservation as a state interest in Norden around the time of the Second World War), Makadam Förlag. The book compares cultural property protection and uses of cultural heritage in the different Nordic states, with a focus on the development in Sweden. A review in English is published in Ethnologia Fennica 49:2, and one in German in Nordeuropaforum - Zeitschrift für Kulturstudien. Since 2022 Legnér continues this line of research by studying contemporary developments in contingency, civil defence and heritage protection in conflicts.

Museum history is another research interest. In 2024 he published the book Forntid till framtid (From ancient past to future) which is a study of the society Gotlands Fornvänner, founded in 1874. Today the society runs the Gotland Museum in Visby.

Mattias Legnér's research also deals with how heritage buildings and collections have been valued, managed and cared for historically. This includes studies of legislation and the implementation of policies. In the book Kulturarvet och komforten. Inomhusklimatet och förvaltningen av kulturhistoriska byggnader och samlingar 1850-1985 (Heritage and comfort. Indoor climate and the management of historic buildings and collections, 1850-1995) from 2015 he studied how architects, engineers and custodians of heritage have approached the challenges of maintaining and heating built heritage while preserving objects and documents kept in the same buildings.

Since 2010 he has led six large research projects funded by the Swedish Research Council, Swedish Energy Agency and Uppsala Universitet. In 2015-18 he led the "Research Node Cultural Heritage", which is a network of scholars and master students interested in heritage studies at Uppsala University.

Current research

Preparedness for the cultural heritage sector during alert and armed conflict. Funding from the National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet), 2023-25, together with the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI).The purpose is to reach a deeper understanding of the conditions for protecting cultural heritage in the event of war, and to suggest improvements in contingency planning. The timing is critical for this project since some acto rs have initiated work to improve their preparedness. Today’s contingency planning is only partially adapted to function during war. How can planning for protecting cultural heritage in war be adapted to today’s heritage sector and a broader contingency planning? The project is divided into three parts that each covers an important area in the planning: 1) contextualization, 2) threat analysis and contingency planning, and 3) prioritization of protection.

Protection of religious heritage in Sweden in the event of armed conflict. Funding from Church of Sweden, 2023-24. The Church of Sweden and its organizational parts must, in accordance with the requirements of the Cultural Environment Act, make plans on how to manage and maintain the ecclesiastical heritage in the event of heightened preparedness and war. In this event the removal of valuable objects from the churches may also be relevant. According to Swedish regulations, the authorities have a key role to play in planning of these efforts. The purpose is to provide a current picture from a local perspective of how religious cultural heritage can be affected by armed conflicts. The study will result in recommendations on how a shared responsibility between the authorities and the Church of Sweden can and should look like, with clear roles and responsibilities. The recommendations should point to local measures that the parishes themselves can take to minimize the risks.

The problematic legacy of Nazi German cultural research in 1930s Sweden: Herman Wirth's casts of rock art. Funding from Åke Wibergs stiftelse, Magnus Bergvalls stiftelse, Letterstedtska föreningen, and Lars Hiertas Minne. The project studies two Nazi German expeditions in Sweden in 1935-36. They were the first two expeditions initiated by the Nazi research institute Ahnenerbe. During the expeditions a large number of casts of Bronze age rock art was produced, and this collection has in recent years been moved to Sweden. The purpose of the project is to obtain knowledge on why these casts were made, how they subsequently became museum objects, and how they have been used for scientific and educational purposes.

Energy efficiency and cultural values in housing. How well do the policies function on the local level? Funding from the Swedish Energy Agency, 2020-24, in cooperation with Chalmers Institute of Technology.This project studies how policies for increased energy efficiency are implemented on a local level, and how they influence the decisions of actors in renovation processes. The purpose is to give valuable knowledge on how the building process, advice on energy use and renovation work in four municipalities, two of which are metropolitan areas. The objective is to contribute to a more systematic use of policies in order to increase the potential for saving energy while simultaneously preserving cultural values. The potential is to contribute to more renovation projects being carried out in a careful manner as a consequence of a more systematic application of policies.

Finished projects (as project leader)

The history of Gotland Museum. An anniversary book for the 150 years jubilee. Funded by Wilhelmina von Hallwyls Gotlandsfond among others.

Protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict. Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the National Heritage Board 2021-22.

Energy efficiency and cultural values in housing. How well do the policies function on the local level? Funding from the Swedish Energy Agency, 2020-24, in cooperation with Chalmers Institute of Technology.

Renovation practices in abandoned homes: Improved conditions for careful energy efficiency measures. Swedish Energy Agency, 2022-24, in cooperation with Chalmers Institute of Technology.

Monumentskydd i Norden under andra världskriget. Carl Göran Adelswärds stiftelse, Magnus Bergvalls stiftelse, Brusewitz donationsfond, Wilhelmina von Hallwyls Gotlandsfond, 2018-21.

"An evaluation of previous policies on energy efficiency in buildings and their effects on energy use and historical values, Sweden 1974-2014." Funded by the Swedish Energy Agency 2015–2019.

"Attacks on cultural heritage: causes and consequences" Cooperative project with the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Uppsala University. Internal grant 2016.

"Research Node Cultural Heritage" Internal grant 2016-18.

"An historical perspective of energy efficiency in buildings." Funded by the Swedish Energy Agency 2011-15.

Management plans for historically valuable buildings (pilot). Swedish National Heritage Board 2014.

"Cultural heritage and comfort. The issue of suitable indoor climate in historic buildings in the 20th century". Funded by the Swedish Research Council 2010-15.

Industrial heritage and historic environment policies in urban regeneration. Tema Q, Linköping University, post doc 2006-2008.

Media

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Filmer

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Bloggar m.m.

Mattias Legnér

Publications

Selection of publications

Recent publications

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Articles in journal

Articles, review/survey

Books

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Collections (editor)

Conference papers

Monograph doctoral thesis

Reports

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