Erwin Oberländer (born 19 March 1937) is a German historian and expert on Eastern European history. He is Professor Emeritus of Eastern European History at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. He is also a former President of the German Association of Historians of Eastern Europe, and was appointed by the Latvian government as a foreign member of the Commission of the Historians of Latvia, which was tasked with studying crimes against humanity in Latvia during the Soviet and Nazi occupations.

Biography

He studied history at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

from 1956, and earned a doctorate in 1963. He was employed at the Federal Institute for Eastern and International Studies 1963-1974, and earned 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 1972. He was appointed as Professor at the University of Cologne in 1973, and was a senior adviser in the culture department of the Federal Ministry of the Interior 1974-1975, where he was responsible for research on Eastern European affairs. From 1975 to 1985 he was Professor of Modern Eastern European History at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

and served as Dean at the Faculty of History 1976-1977. Subsequently, he was Professor of Eastern European History and head of the Institute for Eastern European History at the

from 1985 to 2002. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of History 1990-1992.

Personal

He is the son of

Theodor Oberländer Theodor Oberländer (1 May 1905 – 4 May 1998) was an Ostforschung scientist and German Nazi official and politician, who after the Second World War served as Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Victims of War in West German ...

, a Nazi party member and alleged war criminal. Theodor Oberländer was a German CDU politician and former Federal Minister until he was pushed out of the party for advocating far-right causes. Theodor was also a leader of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, a political party that resisted denazification. Theodor advocated for the ethnic cleansing of Poland and participated in the organization of anti-partisan actions, for which he was investigated by German prosecutors as late as 1996.

Honours

* 1993: Honorary doctor of the

University of Riga University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public university, public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia ( ...

(Latvia) * 2008: Elected member of the

Latvian Academy of Sciences The Latvian Academy of Sciences (, ) is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' (). It is located in Riga. The curren ...

* 2017: Cross of Recognition (IV Class)

Bibliography

* 1965: ''Tolstoj und die revolutionäre Bewegung.'' Pustet, München/Salzburg/Wien. * 1967: ''Sowjetpatriotismus und Geschichte. Dokumentation'' (= ''Dokumente zum Studium des Kommunismus.'' Vol. 4). Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Köln. * 1967: with Frits Kool: ''Arbeiterdemokratie oder Parteidiktatur'' (= ''Dokumente der Weltrevolution.'' Vol. 2). Walter, Olten/Freiburg im Breisgau. * 1971: ''Zur Antizionismuskampagne in der UdSSR.'' Bundesinstitut für Ostforschung und Internationale Studien, Köln. * 1972: ''Der Anarchismus. Zur Theorie und Praxis der herrschaftslosen Gesellschaft'' (= ''Dokumente der Weltrevolution.'' Vol. 4). Walter, Olten/Freiburg im Breisgau, . * 1976: ''Die Ukrainische Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik 1969''. Bundesinstitut für Ostforschung und Internationale Studien, Köln. * 1989: ''Hitler-Stalin-Pakt 1939. Das Ende Ostmitteleuropas?'' Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, . * 1991: ''Geschichte Osteuropas. Zur Entwicklung einer historischen Disziplin in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1945–1990'' (= ''Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des östlichen Europa.'' Vol. 35). Steiner, Stuttgart, . * 1993: ''Genossenschaften in Osteuropa – Alternative zur Planwirtschaft?'' Deutscher Genossenschafts-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1993. * 1993: ''Polen nach dem Kommunismus.'' Steiner, Stuttgart, . * 1993/2001: ''Das Herzogtum Kurland 1561–1795. Verfassung, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft.'' 2 vols. Verlag Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk, Lüneburg, , . * 2001: ''Autoritäre Regime in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa 1919–1944.'' Schöningh, Paderborn, . * 2004: with Kristine Wohlfahrt: ''Riga. Porträt einer Vielvölkerstadt am Rande des Zarenreichs 1857–1914.'' Schöningh, Paderborn, . * 2008: with Volker Keller: ''Kurland. Vom polnisch-litauischen Lehnsherzogtum zur Russischen Provinz. Dokumente zur Verfassungsgeschichte 1561–1795.'' Schöningh, Paderborn, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberlander, Erwin 20th-century German historians 1937 births Living people German male non-fiction writers 21st-century German historians