Friedrich was the son of Prussian general
Moritz Ferdinand von Bissing (1844–1917) and his first wife Myrrha, née Wesendonck (1851–1888). He studied
classical philology,
archaeology, Egyptology and
art history in
Bonn and
Berlin, obtaining his doctorate in 1896 with the thesis "
De tabula quam dicunt statistica Tuthmosis III commentatio(Commentary on the record of the statistics of Tuthmosis III)". After graduation, he spent considerable time in
Egypt, performing museum and excavatory work. He was instrumental towards the development of the "General catalog" of the
Cairo Museum (
Catalogue général des antiquités Egyptiennes du Musée du Caire), and with
Ludwig Borchardt, conducted an archaeological excavation of the Sun Temple of
Nyuserre Ini at
Abu Gurab. In 1900 he received his
habilitation at the
University of Munich, where he later attained the posts of associate professor (1905) and full professor (1906). From 1922 until his retirement in 1926, he served as a professor at the
University of Utrecht.
Political views and personal life Bissing was considered politically reactionary, he was accused of ethnic, anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic attitudes. He joined the
NSDAP on September 16, 1925 (membership number 18,729) and was a friend of
Rudolf Hess. He wore the
Golden Party Badge. He remained a devout Protestant and was even a member of the state synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. He failed in his efforts to remain loyal to the party and the church at the same time. In 1937, despite an appeal for clemency to the Fuhrer, he was expelled from the party. Before 1945, however, he did not turn away from Nazism. However, he could not come to terms with individual excesses of the Nazis. After the so-called "
Reichspogromnacht" in 1938, he visited his Jewish colleague
Georg Steindorff to express his regret about what had happened. Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing had been married to Elisabeth "Elsa" Margarethe Karoline Freifrau von Carlowitz (1875–1961) since 6 October 1904. Their daughter and only child was Myrrha Margarethe Irma Alice (1908–2002). == Selected works ==