Hans Widmann (historian)

Hans Widmann (born March 11, 1847 in Bozen , † October 25, 1928 in Salzburg ) was an Austrian historian whose three-volume history of Salzburg was a standard work of regional historiography for many years .

Life

Widmann spent his youth in Bozen, where he attended the Franciscan high school . In 1867 he began to study history, geography and German at the University of Innsbruck , where his teachers included Julius Ficker , Alfons Huber and Ignaz Zingerle . His first works on historical topics were published as early as 1868. In 1871 and 1872 he was qualified to teach history, geography and German, and in 1872 he received his doctorate in philosophy. In the same year Widmann got his first permanent position as a teacher, first in Görz ( Gorizia ), then from 1874 in Steyr . As he represented politically liberal views, controversies with clerical and conservative circles were a constant in his professional career. In 1882 he married Maria von Mathes, with whom he had two sons (Karl and Walter) and a daughter (Lilly). In 1887 he was transferred to Brno , in 1888 he was able to switch to the state high school in Salzburg at his own request.

In addition to his scientific articles, Widmann also published numerous newspaper articles on historical topics in Salzburg, which were aimed at a broad reading public. But he was also active as a literary critic, particularly advocating modern authors. His work, which he also presented in lectures, was often printed in the Salzburger Volksblatt . From 1902 to 1910 he edited the communications of the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies , of which he subsequently became an honorary member. In 1903 he was retired at his own request. As a result, after several preparatory work, he was able to tackle his most comprehensive work: the first volume of his history of Salzburg appeared in 1907 (up to 1270), the second in 1909 (up to 1519) and the third in 1914 (up to 1805). Widmann's books remained the standard work on Salzburg's regional history for the following decades . They were only replaced by the publication of the eight-volume history of Salzburg - city and country from 1981 to 1991 by Heinz Dopsch and Hans Spatzenegger . However, Dopsch noted in his foreword that Widmann's representations of the late Middle Ages , where he could rely on the preparatory work of his pupil Franz Martin , and the early modern times had hardly lost any of their value.

The period of the First World War was associated with personal blows of fate for Widmann: he lost his son Karl in one of the Isonzo battles in 1915 , and his daughter Lilly died in 1918. In 1921, problems with the food supply forced him to leave his library in Salzburg and move to Henndorf am Wallersee . In 1922 he was awarded the title of Government Councilor, and in 1926 he was able to return to Salzburg. His last, smaller work was published in the same year.

Widmann died of old age in 1928. Parts of his library were handed over to the Carolino Augusteum Museum, on whose board of directors he had been active for a while, and parts of the Imperial and Royal Study Library , which has merged into the Salzburg University Library .

Publications (selection)

• History of Salzburg - first volume (until 1270) , Gotha 1907
• History of Salzburg - Volume Two (From 1270 to 1519) , Gotha 1909
• History of Salzburg - Third Volume (From 1519 to 1805) , Gotha 1914

literature

• Christoph Mayrhofer (ed.): Hans Widmann (1847–1928): the historian of Salzburg. Historical, regional and biographical texts selected and introduced by Christoph Mayrhofer . Salzburg Archive 31, Salzburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-902582-00-3 .