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| Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung | |
|---|---|
| Name | Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung |
| Native name | Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung |
| Established | 1854 |
| Type | Research institute |
| Location | Vienna, Austria |
| Parent | University of Vienna |
Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung is an Austrian research institute specializing in historical studies, paleography, archival science, and source criticism. Founded in the mid-19th century in Vienna, the institute has been connected with the University of Vienna, the Austrian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and successor states, serving as a center for scholars working on medieval, early modern, and modern European history. Its work interfaces with major European institutions and figures in historiography, archival practice, and diplomatic studies.
The institute originated in the context of reforms following the Revolutions of 1848, aligning with initiatives by the Austrian State Archives and figures from the Habsburg Monarchy who sought to professionalize historical research. Early directors and affiliates included scholars from institutions like the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Imperial Library (Vienna), linking to projects on the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), and the Congress of Vienna. During the late 19th century the institute participated in editorial ventures similar to those of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica and collaborated with historians involved in the study of the Thirty Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Reformation. In the 20th century its staff navigated the periods of the First Austrian Republic, the Austrofascism, the Anschluss, and the Second Austrian Republic, with continuity and disruptions in personnel drawn from networks including the Austrian Historical Commission, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Institut für Geschichtswissenschaft traditions. Postwar reconstruction saw renewed engagement with projects tied to the European Science Foundation, the International Commission for Historical Sciences, and cross-border archives in Prague, Kraków, Budapest, and Zagreb.
The institute's mission emphasizes training in source criticism and the editing of primary documents related to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Holy Roman Empire, the Balkan Peninsula, and Central European polities such as the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the Austrian Netherlands. It organizes seminars and workshops that connect specialists from the National Archives of Austria, the Imperial War Archives, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and international partners like the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Vatican Secret Archives, and the State Archives of Venice. The institute hosts lecture series named after eminent historians associated with the Viennese tradition and liaises with editorial projects for corpora such as the Regesta Imperii, the Codex Diplomaticus, and diplomatic editions concerned with the Peace of Westphalia and the Prussian reforms.
The institute offers advanced courses and certificate programs connected to the University of Vienna and collaborates with doctoral supervisors from departments including medieval history linked to scholars of the Medieval Academy of America and early modern specialists associated with the Hercules Project. Its publications include monograph series, critical editions, and the long-running journal historically akin to periodicals from the Historische Kommission für Schlesien and the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. It produces edited volumes on topics from the Hussite Wars to the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire and contributes to international bibliographies such as those maintained by the International Bibliography of Historical Sciences (IBHS). Collaborative publishing partners have included the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, the German Historical Institute, and the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Research emphasizes paleography, diplomatics, and codicology with methods tracing to editors and scholars who worked on the Monumenta Germaniae Historica and the Regesta Imperii. Methodological training engages with source criticism practiced by historians from the 19th-century German historiographical school and incorporates contemporary approaches influenced by researchers at the École des Chartes, the Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives, and the International Council on Archives. Projects use comparative studies involving the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), and the Kingdom of Prussia, integrating prosopographical databases and codicological analyses of manuscripts held in collections like the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
The institute maintains specialized collections of facsimiles, diplomatic transcriptions, and reference materials relating to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Burgundian Netherlands, and Central European principalities such as the Archduchy of Austria, the Margraviate of Moravia, and the Duchy of Carinthia. It collaborates with the Austrian State Archives, the Prussian Privy State Archives, the National Széchényi Library, and municipal archives in Vienna, Graz, Linz, and Salzburg. Holdings support editorial projects for sources including imperial charters, papal bulls preserved in the Vatican Archives, and legal codices housed in the Kraków Jagiellonian Library and the Leipzig University Library.
Alumni and associates have included prominent historians and archivists who worked on topics related to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Holy Roman Empire, and Central European studies — figures connected with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Graz, the Charles University in Prague, the Jagiellonian University, the University of Heidelberg, the Sorbonne, and the University of Oxford. Many have gone on to roles at institutions such as the National Archives (UK), the Bundesarchiv, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the Max Planck Society, contributing to scholarship on the Peace of Westphalia, the Congress of Vienna, the Napoleonic Wars, and regional histories like the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement (1868).
Administratively the institute is structured as an academic institute affiliated with the University of Vienna and maintains governance links with the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and European funding bodies including the European Research Council and the Horizon 2020 framework. Funding sources combine state allocations, grants from organizations such as the Fonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, project funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), and collaborative grants from the European Commission and private foundations like the Hertz Foundation and regional cultural funds in Lower Austria and Styria.
Category:Historical research institutes in Austria