Othmar Kühn (5 November 1892 – 26 March 1969) was an Austrian geologist and paleontologist at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

who was a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, serving in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

as a military geologist during World War II. He worked mainly on Cretaceous stratigraphy and began a catalogue of the fossils of Austria, ''Fossilium catalogus Austriae''.

Life and work

Kühn was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in a business family. After schooling, he joined a business school and worked at a brewery from 1914 before joining the

. He served in Italy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was wounded, receiving a medal for bravery. He studied botany under Richard Wettstein and Carl Diener, receiving a doctorate in 1919. He then worked as a school teacher while also spending time at the Natural History Museum in Vienna. He became a member of the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and served as a military geologist in eastern Europe. At the end of the War, he had been found to be uninvolved and rehabilitated. He became a rector of the University of Vienna. He died at Vienna and is buried at the Döblinger Friedhof.

References

External links

University of Vienna (biography in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kühn, Othmar 1892 births 1969 deaths Austrian paleontologists Austrian Nazis Scientists from Vienna Nazi Party members German Army personnel of World War II Austrian military personnel of World War II People from Austria-Hungary