The subject of this dissertation is the role of Josip Brunšmid (1958-1929), the first professional archaeologist and first university professor of archaeology at the University of Zagreb, in the foundation of archaeology as a scientific discipline in continental Croatia. An analysis of Brunšmid's scientific career by linking education, institutional structures, scientific relations and socio-political processes is essential to fathom the changing relationships between these factors and to highlight the dynamics of the factors that interact in the construction of archaeological knowledge. By analysing the work of J. Brunšmid, this dissertation explores the professional and social dynamics that influenced the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline in continental Croatia, as well as his influence on the development of archaeology through the work of later archaeologists. This dissertation traces the work and life of Josip Brunšmid in the circle of Central European archaeology. By analysing the scientific career of J. Brunšmid, I have tried to demonstrate that the archaeological work of an individual is influenced by external factors that must be considered through the connection of education, institutional structures, scientific networks and socio-political processes to obtain a complex and complete picture of the history of archaeology. At the end of the 19th century, archaeology in Europe, and thus also in Croatia, was strongly influenced by social, political and economic factors, but it also exerted a strong influence on these factors. The appearance of the first professional archaeologists led to the strengthening of archaeological institutions, the establishment of university chairs and the professionalisation of the archaeological profession. In the archaeological academic community of South-Eastern Europe, which consisted of only a few scientists, professional archaeologists worked in many different positions, from universities and museums to conservators and art historians. Trained archaeologists from South-Eastern Europe had to seek their education in the second half of the 19th century at newly founded departments in large centres such as Vienna, Prague or Berlin. Josip Brunšmid was trained in Vienna at one of the strongest European archaeological departments, where he had the opportunity to listen to the lectures of the founders of European archaeology, Professors Benndof, Hirschfeld and Hoernes. Around the turn of the century, all Croatian archaeologists Frane Bulić, Josip Brunšmid and Viktor Hoffiller were trained in Vienna under the strong influence of the traditional Central European archaeology of the University of Vienna. Croatia, under Hungarian rule and Dalmatia, under Austrian rule could not act unanimously within the archaeological profession. There was an initiative to unite them in a joint Croatian Archaeological Society, but this could not be implemented for political reasons. However, the boundaries within which Croatian archaeology operates are exclusively political and do not lie in the approach to archaeological research. Bulić and Brunšmid, both strongly influenced by the Viennese School and indirectly by Theodor Mommsen, worked in the direction of a combined historical-archaeological study of the past in the sense of Altertumswissenschaft. Brunšmid was mainly concerned with the archaeology of the ancient provinces, epigraphy and numismatics. However, he also wrote about mediaeval and prehistoric archaeology. He did not deal with classical archaeology, despite his education in Vienna. There were no large collections of antique sculptures in Croatia, so he was not interested in monuments for their artistic value. Brunšmid's goal was primarily the discovery, collection, protection and publication of archaeological material from Croatia that was part of museum collection in order to arouse patriotic zeal and promote the National Museum. Brunšmid came to Zagreb as a trained scientist in his mid-thirties. He published his first archaeological works as a high school teacher in Vinkovci, where he conducted archaeological research and collected materials as a museum administrator. As there were few professional archaeologists in Croatia, Brunšmid proved to be the only suitable successor after the retirement of the director of the National Museum, Šime Ljubić. Iso Kršnjavi, head of the Department of Culture and Education, aspired to a modern museum under the direction of a faculty-trained archaeologist, who would also take over the direction of the Department of Classical Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts. In order to take the chair, Brunšmid was forced to study in Vienna at his own expense. During his doctoral studies, Brunšmid came into conflict with Professor Benndorf, whom he suspected of having been instigated by Kršnjavi. Brunšmid and Kršnjavi disagreed on the way the museum should be run, on the method of collecting material - it seems that Kršnjavi tends towards the old method of buying large foreign collections, while Brunšmid prefers excavations and in-country purchases - and on the understanding of archaeology. As an art historian, Kršnjavi prefers classical archaeology, while Brunšmid is concerned with archaeology in Croatia. In general, archaeology in Croatia at the Faculty of Philosophy, was viewed exclusively through the prism of classical archaeology. Brunšmid, who dealt with provincial archaeology, Latin epigraphy and prehistoric topics, was not an ideal choice for the chair. In order to prove himself to the faculty, he wrote a dissertation on Greek epigraphy and numismatics in the Adriatic at the urging of Isa Kršnjavog, which obviously corresponded more to the understanding of classical archaeology at the time. Brunšmid was certainly bothered by Kršnjavi's pro-Hungarian politics, as well as his temperament. Brunšmid was a sympathiser of the People's Party and an opponent of proHungarian politics, but he was never a member of any political party. He often said that he was not Hungarian and that this cost him influence in society and various financial aids. First and foremost, he saw himself as a patriot and considered his work a patriotic duty. For this reason, he wrote almost exclusively in Croatian to educate the public, but also to strengthen the Croatian language in academia. He was a supporter of the Yugoslav idea, which he showed through his participation in the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition, whose aim was the cultural unification of the South Slavs. He fought against Hungarian politics when he supported Milivoj Šrepel, the most politically hated among the professors of the Faculty of Arts, for the rectorate of the university. As for Brunšmid's nature, persons who knew him describe him as a quiet and gentle man. However, the discourse of the scientific community at the turn of the century was direct and fomented tensions. Verbal disputes were the order of the day, in which Brunšmid did not hesitate and knew how to be one of the main players, and in public. In 1901, on the occasion of the intention to demolish the walls in front of the Zagreb Cathedral, he launched a largescale organised action to protect the cultural heritage, during which a heated debate developed between Brunšmid and Kršnjavog in the daily newspapers. This polemic was the driving force behind the creation of institutionally organised protection of antiquities in 1910. The museum headed by Brunšmid was for a long time the only system for the protection of movable and immovable cultural property, and Brunšmid's actions initiated a whole series of new laws and regulations for the protection of cultural property. Most new material entered the museum through the network of trusees. Museum trustees were the official representatives of the museum in a region, town or village who had permission to acquire archaeological material and excavate archaeological sites on their own, but they also reported any new object found and were the link between the museum and the local administration. They came from different professions, but they were all educated people. Brunšmid encouraged amateur excavations and trade for the benefit of the museum, usually through trustees. He systematised and inventoried most of the archaeological objects that came into the museum, and it can be concluded that the present state of the collections of the Archaeological Museum is largely due to Josip Brunšmid. Josip Brunšmid's fieldwork was primarily based on visits to and mapping of sites on the Croatian mainland. For almost twenty years he tirelessly visited the fields, met people, collected finds, corresponded with clients and thus contributed to the first institutionalised accumulation of archaeological knowledge and collection of field data. Archaeological objects entered the museum in large quantities, mostly through purchases and gifts, less so through excavations. He also placed great emphasis on archaeological excavations, which he considered the best, or at least the most financially lucrative, way to obtain material for the museum. However, he never carried out long-term systematic research, mainly for lack of funds. Brunšmid carried out archaeological excavations mainly at prehistoric and mediaeval sites, although Croatian historiography considers him mainly an antiquarian and numismatist. Although ancient topics and numismatics dominate in scholarly publications, Brunšmid also writes about prehistory and the Middle Ages. He publishes large amounts of diverse archaeological museum material, along with relevant contemporary European literature. He is the first in Croatia to write about many archaeological periods. Josip Brunšmid was director of the archaeological museum and professor at the university for 28 years. He lectured on epigraphy, classical archaeology and numismatics. This was not enough to train archaeologists in Zagreb. On several occasions he suggested the establishment of a new chair within the studies, which would cover both prehistory and regional archaeology according to the principle of the University of Vienna.