Gunther Paul Barth (1925 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

– January 7, 2004 in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

) was an American historian. Barth joined the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

faculty in 1962, and taught Western American and urban history until his retirement in 1995. During his career, he reached the position of professor of history.

Early life

Gunther Barth was born in 1925 in

, Germany. He attended local schools in Düsseldorf until he was 16 years of age, after which World War II was well underway, and he was drafted into the military. He fought on several fronts, was wounded twice, and captured by British forces. After the war, and out of the army, he worked as a journalist in Düsseldorf until 1951. During two of those years he studied literature and art history at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

; he also won a year-long fellowship, awarded by the U.S. State Department, which enabled him to study at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. After another year in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, he returned to the United States, worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in construction and, for a short time, as a nightclub bouncer. By 1957, armed with an A.B. and an M.A. from the University of Oregon, he felt ready for doctoral work in history and entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Studying for five years, Barth was awarded a Ph.D. for his work in 1962.

Career

Barth not only won acclaim for his books but he also became famous as an academic teacher who impressed his students with his stupendous memory and his dry humor. Twice he was a Fulbright professor at the

and once at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

in Germany.

Death

Barth died on January 7, 2004, in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

Works

* ''Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States'', 1964 * ''Instant Cities'', 1975 * ''City People'', 1980 * ''Fleeting Moments'', 1990

External links

Biography at UC Berkeley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barth, Gunther 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers University of Oregon alumni Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty 2004 deaths 1925 births Writers from Düsseldorf German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male writers Historians from California