Herwig Wolfram

Herwig Wolfram (14 February 1934, Vienna) is an Austrian historian. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vienna,[1] and the former Director of the Austrian Institute for Historical Research He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History. Wolfram is considered one of the foremost experts on the history of the Germanic tribes and his works on the Goths and the Germanic peoples are widely cited by historians across the globe.

Biography

Born in 1934 in Vienna, Herwig Wolfram remained intimately connected to the city of his birth. Between 1952–1957, he studied history and Latin at the University of Vienna, obtaining his doctorate there in 1957. Just two years later, in 1959, he was commissioned Assistant Professor at the Historical Institute of the University of Vienna. Then in 1966 he passed his Habilitation at the University of Vienna and in 1971 was tenured as a full professor there.[2] The Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna named him as a member in 1976 and between 1981–1983, Professor Wolfram was the Dean of Humanities at the University of Vienna. He has been the author of numerous books, including the ten-volume acclaimed series on the history of Austria (Österreichische Geschichte).[2]

Theories

Wolfram a leading figure in the Vienna School of History.[3] His book History of the Goths (1979) has been translated into a number of languages and been published in several completely revised editions. It is considered the standard work on the Goths, and a work of large importance to the study of Germanic peoples in general.[3][4][5][6][7] In the more recent editions of this work, Wolfram has however come under criticism from a wide group of scholars, including Peter Heather, for his adoption of some of the controversial theories of Walter Goffart.[6][8] Wolfram and Heather's books on the Goths are considered the foremost studies on the subject.[9]

Honours and awards

Select bibliography

Works in English translation. For a complete list see the German National Library

  • History of the Goths, University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 0-520-06983-8
  • The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples, University of California Press, 1997. ISBN 0-520-08511-6
  • Conrad II, 990-1039: Emperor of Three Kingdoms, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-271-02738-X

References
  1. Profile at the University of Vienna website
  2. Kunsthausmuerz.at, Herwig Wolfram.
  3. Goffart 2006, p. 58. "Herwig Wolfram, whose writings and teaching in Vienna have dominated Gothic history since the 1970s..."
  4. Brown 1990, p. 82. "[I]t has established itself since its publication in 1979 as the standard survey..."
  5. Fanning 1990, pp. 104-106. "[T]his is a major work... among the most significant recent contributions to the history of the early Middle Ages... [T]he weight of Wolfram's scholarship makes it mandatory to consult this brilliant study for virtually any matter of Gothic or Gotho-Roman history."
  6. Croke 1991, pp. 183-184. "By now Wolfram's History of the Goths requires no explanation or comment. It has already established itself as a classic... Wolfram has [however] absorbed, perhaps too uncritically, the controversial thesis of Walter Goffart..."
  7. Schutz 1990, p. 1174. "This detailed history of the Goths establishes itself as the definitive treatment of the subject..."
  8. Heather 1989, p. 256. "One major change between the second German edition and this translation is W.'s adoption... after previous resistance... of W. Goffart's theories concerning the economic integration of 'barbarians' into the Roman Empire. This is a controversial question, and in coming down heavily on one side of the debate without further argument, W. leaves himself open to criticism from the wide group of scholars who remain unconvinced.
  9. Murdoch 2004, p. 166. "The best modern general history in English is Peter Heather’s The Goths... The standard German text is Herwig Wolfram’s Die Goten..."
  10. "Reply to a parliamentary question" (pdf) (in German). p. 1374. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  11. "Novi člani Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti" [The New Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts]. June 2015.

Sources

Online
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