Eberhard Wächtler (10 May 1929 – 22 September 2010) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

. He was particularly notable for research in coal and steel sciences in postwar Germany. Wächtler was born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, in 1929. After graduating from high school in 1947, he studied history, literature, philosophy and political economy at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. In 1953 he graduated with a degree in history. He first worked as a research assistant in Leipzig, after which he worked as a research associate at the Institute of History of the

German Academy of Sciences at Berlin The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent Research institute, research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Repub ...

until 1962. He received his doctorate in 1957 on the subject of the history of the condition miners in the coal district of Saxony-Lugau Ölsnitz from 1889 to 1914. He completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1968 at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

, with work on historical traditions in the German mining industry from 1807 to 1871. From 1962 to 1990, Wächtler was Chair of the History of Technology department at the

Freiberg Mining Academy The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The university's focuses are exploration, mining ...

(). He was considered an expert in mining history. He wrote, often jointly with Otfried Wagenbreth, a wide range of books on the history of technology, such as mining and metallurgy in the city of Freiberg. After

German Reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990, Wächtler became a member of the Board of the Hessian Coal Mining Museum and was instrumental in the development of Borken mining museum. He was a member of the

Leibniz Society The Leibniz Society of North America is a philosophical society whose purpose is to promote the study of the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The society publishes The Leibniz Review, organizes an annual conference, sponsors group sessions ...

in Berlin.Mitglieder der Leibniz-Sozietät.

Works

* Eberhard Wächtler: ''Bibliographie 1952-2004''. TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 2004 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waechtler. Eberhard 1929 births 2010 deaths 20th-century German historians Economic historians People from Freiberg German male non-fiction writers