Oliver Rathkolb (born 3 November 1955 in Vienna) is an Austrian historian and professor for contemporary history 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 hist ...

Career

Rathkolb studied history and law at the University of Vienna and achieved his doctorate in 1982 at the same university. He was chief scientist of the Bruno-Kreisky-Archives Foundation from 1985 to 2003 and has been scientific coordinator of the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue since 1992. Rathkolb had been scientific employee of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for history and society from 1983 until 2005 and its co-director since 1994. He had also taken over the office of director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute's European history and public department. Rathkolb received his authorization to teach as a lecturer of contemporary history at the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna in 1993 and became a university professor and director of the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna in 2008. Rathkolb has been a member of the advisory board of the

House of European History The House of European History (HEH) is a history museum and cultural institution in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the history of Europe. It is an initiative by the European Parliament, and was proposed in 2007 by the Parliament's then-presid ...

since 2009 and chairman of the scientific advisory panel of the

Theodor Körner Prize The Theodor Körner Prize ( German: ''Theodor-Körner-Preis'') is a set of annual Austrian awards bestowed by the Theodor Körner Fund in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The prize is awarded at the University of Vienna. The pri ...

since 2006. In 2000 and 2001 he had a research-professorship at

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 high ...

and was guest professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 2003. He also lectured at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (german: Universität Salzburg), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg municipality, Salzburg state, named af ...

, at Duke University and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. He has been the managing editor of the magazine ''zeitgeschichte'' since 2002.

Controversies

Rathkolb has been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (''SPÖ'') since 1985. His closeness to the SPÖ is regularly cause for criticism of his positions and caused astonishment when he suggested the

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

-led

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

the so-called concept of "neutralization" for Hitler's birthplace. Furthermore, he recommended to relocate the memorial stone erected in 1989 by SPÖ Mayor Gerhard Skiba in the

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

-based ''House of Austrian History'' . On July 4, 2020, the SPÖ demonstrated in Braunau for the retention of the memorial stone. On July 8, 2020, the SPÖ spokeswoman for culture of remembrance, Sabine Schatz, submitted a motion to the National Council calling on Interior Minister

Karl Nehammer Karl Nehammer (; born 18 October 1972) is an Austrian politician who is the 32nd and current Chancellor of Austria since 6 December 2021. A member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 202 ...

to ensure that the memorial stone against war and fascism in front of Adolf Hitler's birthplace remains in place.

External links

Heidrun Huber, "Oliver Rathkolb: 'Musste mir alles erkämpfen'"
Vienna University
Website of the Department of Contemporary History
of the University of Vienna

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathkolb, Oliver 1955 births Living people 20th-century Austrian historians Academic staff of the University of Vienna 21st-century Austrian historians