Carl Junker (historian)

Carl Junker (born August 10, 1864 in Vienna ; † March 29, 1928 there ) was an Austrian journalist and syndic of the Association of Austro-Hungarian Booksellers and Historians (publishing history, book trade, related areas).

Life

Carl Junker came from the educated and wealthy Austrian bourgeoisie in the 19th century; socially it is to be located in the border zone to the so-called “ second society ”. These were people who neither belonged to the nobility (the “First Society”) nor to the “people” in the common sense. There were ennobled business people, civil servants, artists, officers and members of the professions, which in spite of a ennoblement mostly remained commoners in their mentality and in their social behavior: The Austrian Second Company was formed mainly from the mid-19th century, the elite of the rising, partly liberal bourgeoisie.

Up to the age of 14, Carl Junker was brought up in a Protestant German school in a German-national spirit that rejected Catholicism (especially Jesuitism) and the Habsburg-Baroque state tradition. Nonetheless, Junker passed his Matura in Austria and began studying law at the University of Vienna at the age of 20, following the advice of his legal guardian . Nonetheless, Junker was more interested in philosophy, literature, history and art history than in law. Junker enrolled lectures with this content at the philosophical faculty. It is unclear whether Junker has made the formal graduation of a degree.

Junker could easily have lived as a not rich, but wealthy “private” in the imperial capital and royal seat of Vienna. Sources show that around 1890 he had around 1,800 florins ( guilders ) in annual income (for comparison: a large skilled worker family had to make do with around 400 to 500 florins annually around 1890).

Junker was appointed Austrian (honorary) secretary of the Institut International de Bibliographie . Publication soon followed publication. In 1897 he also took up his position as in-house counsel for the Association of Austro-Hungarian Booksellers, which he held until 1921, apart from an interruption in the years 1902–1904. Today this position could be called "General Secretary of the Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade". This association represented the interests of the Austro-Hungarian booksellers and publishers based on voluntary membership; it can be compared functionally - admittedly not in terms of its impact - with the industrial association, for example. Junker had to manage the day-to-day business, to act politically and economically and certainly also to lobby (since he had good contacts in Viennese society, this was easier for him than others). He had to edit a weekly magazine of the association and be available to support the association's board. His daily office hours were from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Junker still found time to devote himself to the following tasks and topics: reorganization of the archive and library of the association, decimal classification , creation of bibliographies , book trade, publishing and media stories. In addition, he wrote a number of other papers (current problems in the industry, militaria, city histories: Wiener Neustadt and Wels ). Junker was able to fully devote himself to this work after 1921, when he retired from professional life. He worked for a dozen magazines and newspapers until his death. It is regrettably noted in some obituaries that Junker could have achieved more important positions if he had only wanted to. His non-conformism was also expressed in the fact that Junker decided to cremate his body. This type of burial, which was not yet widespread at the time, shocked many people in his social reference groups. In addition, Junker implicitly renounced the real chance of receiving an honorary grave.

Works

• Carl Junker: The Gerold House in Vienna 1775–1925. Gerold, Vienna 1925 ( digitized on uni-duesseldorf.de; also PDF, pp. 203–236 on fwf.ac.at).
• Murray G. Hall (Ed.): Carl Junker. About the book industry in Austria. Collected writings (1896–1927) (= book research. Contributions to the book industry in Austria. Volume 2). Edition Praesens , Vienna 2001 ( PDF on fwf.ac.at).

literature

• Helmut Dolezal:  Junker, Carl. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 693 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Salomon Frankfurter : Carl Junker in memory. In: Central Journal for Libraries. 1928, pp. 371-373.
• Karl Megner: Carl Junker (1864-1928). Biographical and bibliographical matters. Typed homework for the service examination of the library, documentation and information service, Vienna 1980.

Web links

• Literature by and about Carl Junker in the catalog of the German National Library