FÜHRER, JOSEPH. - Archaeologist, b. in 1858, d. on 8 February 1903, professor of philology and history first at the lyceum of Dillingen, then at that of Bamberg, was a tireless explorer of the Christian necropolises of Sicily, of which he visited more than 130 among sub divo cemeteries, hypogea and underground cemeteries. He surveyed the plans of more than 50 burial areas and made drawings and photographs.
One of his most important works bears the title: Forschungen zur Sicilia sotterranea (Munich 1897, in vol. XX of the Abhandlungen der kgl. bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften). With rigorous method and great clarity it treats of the catacombs of Syracuse, with historical notes and an inventory of the paintings and inscriptions. The study on subterranean Sicily finds its complement in that of all the cemeteries of the island. Death overtook F. when only a part of this vast work of his was ready for the press: the rest, based on his notes, was published under the care of V. Schultze, who completed the research: Die altchristlichen Grabstätten Siciliens (Berlin 1907, in Jahrbuch des kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologisch Instituts).
Among F.'s lesser studies the following are remembered: Altschristliche Begräbnisanlagen bei Feola in Ostsitzilien (in Römische Mitteilungen, 17 [1902], pp. 110-21); Die Katabombe im Molinello-Tal bei Augusta in Ostsitzilien (in Römische Quartalschrift, 16 [1902], pp. 205-21); Ein altchristliches Hypogeum im Bericht der Vigna Cassia bei Syrakus (in Abhandlungen der kgl. bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 22 (Munich 1902), pp. 109-58).
Noteworthy for hagiography is his writing Ein Beitrag zur Loesung der Felicitas Frage (Freising 1890).