Erich Zöllner

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Erich Zöllner (born June 25, 1916 in Vienna ; † December 11, 1996 there ) was an Austrian historian . Zöllner was one of the most influential and important historians in Austria in the 20th century. His most famous work is the history of Austria. From the beginning to the present . In terms of editing , he emerged primarily through the Babenberg document book .

Live and act

The family came from Hammern in the central Bohemian Forest . Zöllner was born in 1916 as the older of two sons. The father was a teacher and later director of a secondary school. Zöllner lost his father at the age of twelve. In 1934 he passed the Matura at the Gymnasium Stubenbastei . From the winter semester of 1934/35 he studied history, German studies, philosophy and art history at the University of Vienna . His main academic teachers were Hans Hirsch , Otto Brunner and Heinrich von Srbik . Since 1937 he was an extraordinary member and scholarship holder of the 41st training course of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research . He received his doctorate under Hirsch in December 1938 with a thesis on Count Otto Wilhelm of Burgundy and Macon (974-1026). Zöllner was drafted into the German Air Force for a few months. In March 1940 he passed the state examination while on vacation. In 1941 he was released from military service. During the war years he worked on the Burgenland document book.

He completed his habilitation in 1947 for the history of the Middle Ages and Austrian history with the thesis The political position of the peoples in the Franconian Empire . From August 1945 he was an assistant at the Institute for Historical Research. In April 1953 Zöllner became an associate professor. With the help of a grant from the British Council , he was able to study in England. There he searched the manuscript department of the British Museum and the Public Record Office for Austriaca . Zöllner married Maria Flamm in 1956, the daughter of the physicist Ludwig Flamm and a granddaughter of the physicist Ludwig Boltzmann . With her he had two sons. Zöllner taught from 1962 until his retirement in 1986 as a professor of Austrian history with special emphasis on modern times and auxiliary historical sciences at the University of Vienna. From June 1962 he was a member and from 1967 to 1984 he was Hugo Hantsch's successor as chairman of the Commission for Modern History of Austria . In 1969 he became head of the working group for history at the Institute for Austrian Studies and from 1974 took over the chairmanship for ten years. In a fall in the Vienna Woods , he sustained a knee injury. The accident also affected his scientific productivity. Zöllner died at the age of 81 two days after another hip joint operation. He is buried in the Neustift cemetery .

One of his main research areas was the Babenbergs . With Heinrich Fichtenau he edited the document book on the history of the Babenbergs in Austria , an edition of the Babenbergs' seal certificates. The two volumes could be published in 1950 and 1955 with a total of 547 seal certificates. In 1976, together with Karl Gutkas, Zöllner took over the scientific management of the Lower Austrian provincial exhibition "1000 Years of Babenberger in Austria", which took place in Stift Lilienfeld . His history of Austria , published in eight editions between 1961 and 1990 , had a decisive influence on the history of several generations. The illustration was published in 1961 and saw eight editions with more than 35,000 copies sold. The book has been translated into French (1965), Chinese (1987) and Romanian (1997). Another focus was work on family records from the 16th and 17th centuries. His last book was a collection of historians anecdotes.

Zöllner received numerous scientific honors and memberships for his research. He became a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1967 and a full member in 1972 . In 1971 he became a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . He was awarded the Cardinal Innitzer Prize for History (1978), the Gold Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital Vienna (1981), the Wilhelm Hartel Prize (1983), the Lower Austria Prize for Science in 1986, and the State's Great Golden Decoration Carinthia (1987) and the City of Vienna Prize for the Humanities in 1991. In addition, his doctorate was renewed by the University of Vienna (1989). He was elected honorary chairman of the Institute for Austrian Studies in 1985 and an honorary member of the Association of Austrian History Societies in 1993. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, a symposium was held at the Institute for Austrian Historical Research in June 2016. In 2018, Gerald Stourzh emphasized that Zöllner was a staunch anti-Nazi scientist.

Fonts

Source edition

  • with Heinrich Fichtenau: Document book on the history of the Babenbergs in Austria.
    • Vol. 1: The seal certificates of the Babenbergs up to 1215. Vienna 1950.
    • Vol. 2: The seal certificates of the Babenbergs and their descendants from 1216 to 1279. Vienna 1955.

Monographs

  • History of the Franks up to the middle of the 6th century , 1970
  • History of Austria , 1961
  • The becoming of Austria , 1964
  • Problems and tasks of Austrian historical research , edited by Heide Dienst and Gernot Heiß , 1984
  • Waves of persecution in Austrian history (= writings of the Institute for Austrian Studies. Volume 48). Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-215-06294-1 .
  • The term Austria. Forms and changes. Oldenbourg, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-486-54671-6 .

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Othmar Hageneder: Erich Zöllner. In: Almanach der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1996/97, vol. 147 (1998), pp. 565–579, here: p. 575.
  2. ^ Heide Dienst: Erich Zöllner †. In: Communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Vol. 105 (1997), pp. 533-542, here: p. 533.
  3. ↑ See for example Erich Zöllner: The Austrian family record of the denominational age and its importance as a historical source. In: Mitteilungen des Österreichische Staatsarchivs 25 (1972), pp. 151–168.
  4. ^ Heide Dienst: Erich Zöllner †. In: Communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Vol. 105 (1997), pp. 533-542, here: p. 538.
  5. ↑ Erich Zöllner (1916–1996). Contributions on the occasion of his 100th birthday. In: Mitteilungen des Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 125 (2017), pp. 130–164.
  6. ↑ Gerald Stourzh: 1968s: Don't forget the 1945s! In: Der Standard , Vienna, 30./31. May 2018, p. 34.
personal data
SURNAME Customs officer, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian historian
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1996
Place of death Vienna