Exploration of historic investigations in the region, focusing on dissertation projects undertaken from 2013 onwards.
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The University of Innsbruck, a major Austrian institution, has been a hub for numerous research projects in history and other fields since its foundation. Here, we highlight some of the significant historical research projects currently being undertaken or recently completed by researchers at the university.
Gerda Hofreiter is working on a study titled "The Expelled Jewish Children and Youth in the Gau Tirol-Vorarlberg. A Prosopography", delving into the experiences of Jewish children and youth during a tumultuous period in Austria's history.
Sarah Oberbichler completed a study in 2019 titled "South Tyrol and its New Minorities. The Discourse on Migration in the South Tyrolean Daily Newspapers Alto Adige and Dolomiten from 1990 to 2015", which she undertook under the supervision of Dirk Rupnow and Eva Pfanzelter.
Christian Mathies' 2017 study, "In the Sign of 'God and Fatherland'. The Tyrolean School in the 'Corporate State' 1933-1938", explores the history of the Tyrolean School during the Nazi era, supervised by Horst Schreiber.
Dominik Ender is working on a study titled "The Riding Tyrolean Landesschuetzen/Kaiserschuetzen. The History of the 'Gletscher-Husaren'", focusing on the history of a Tyrolean military unit.
Andrea Urthaler is working on a study titled "The New Women's Movement in South Tyrol. A Feminist Movement", shedding light on the women's rights movement in South Tyrol.
Karlheinz Bachmann is working on a study titled "Fire Department History and Memory. The Development of the South Tyrolean Fire Service from World War I to the Founding of the Association of Volunteer Firefighters in South Tyrol in 1955".
Marcel Amoser completed a study in 2024 titled "A Different Urban History. Social Movements in Innsbruck 1968-1989", under the supervision of Dirk Rupnow.
Dieter Petras completed a study in 2015 titled "Emigration in the Walgau 1700 to 1914. Documentation and Analysis", supervised by Thomas Albrich.
Magdalena Pernold completed a study in 2015 titled "From the 'Dream Road of the Alps' to the 'Transit Hub Tirol'. The Change in Discourse on the Brenner Motorway from 1950 to 1980 in Tyrol and South Tyrol", supervised by Hans Heiss, Hans and Dirk Rupnow.
Manuel Raffin is working on a study titled "The Brunecker Soldiers in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during World War II".
Veronika Schaffer is working on a study titled "The Establishment of Counseling Facilities for Migrants in Austria in the 1980s Based on the Counseling Facility 'ZeMiT' in the Federal State of Tyrol".
Claudia Rauchegger-Fischer completed a study in 2017 titled "Life Stories of Tyrolean Women of the Bund-Deutscher-Mädel Generation", supervised by Horst Schreiber.
Anita Konrad is working on a study titled "Pizza Tirolese - Food and Eating Culture from a Migration History Perspective", supervised by Dirk Rupnow, Silke Meyer.
Martina Rabensteiner is working on a study titled "Contergan - An Untold Story. The Scandal and Its Consequences in Italy and South Tyrol".
Andreas Romen is working on a study titled "The Iconography of Soldiers' Cemeteries in the Italian/Austrian Alpine Region".
Rainer Maximilian Hofmann is working on a study titled "The Gestapo Office in Innsbruck. The Secret State Police in the Gau Tirol. History, Structure, Fields of Activity, Personnel and (After) Effects".
Irmgard Bibermann completed a study in 2017 titled "Videographed Time Witness Interviews in History Class: The 'Old Homeland/Cut/New Homeland' Project", supervised by Horst Schreiber.
Johann Georg Telfser completed a study in 2018 titled "Industrial Debates in South Tyrol from 1920 to 2000 with a Special Focus on the Case Study of Laas/Prad in the Vinschgau", supervised by Hans Heiss and Patrick Kupper Büchel.
Verena Sauermann completed a study in 2017 titled "Migration to Hall. A Search for Migration Stories in an Austrian Small Town", supervised by Dirk Rupnow.
Nikolaus Hagen completed a study in 2018 titled "Culture and Identity Politics in the Gau Tirol-Vorarlberg 1938-1945", supervised by Thomas Albrich and Dirk Rupnow.
Peter Johannes Andorfer completed a study in 2015 titled "The World Description of Leonhard Millinger. A Key to the Worldview of a Farmer Around 1800", supervised by Brigitte Mazohl and Thomas Albrich.
Severin Ismael Holzknecht completed a study in 2017 titled "Today Against Probst, Tomorrow Against Ruethi! The Vorarlberg Citizen Initiatives Against the Heizöl Power Plant Ruethi and for the Bodenseeschiff 'Vorarlberg' Compared", supervised by Thomas Albrich and Dirk Rupnow.
Thomas Michael Lintner completed a study in 2016 titled "The Tyrolean Question 1918/19 Between Armistice 1918 and Peace Treaty of St. Germain 1919, with Special Consideration of the Memory Culture from 1920 to 2010", supervised by Wolfgang Weber and Rolf Steininger.
Christian Lechner is working on a study titled "The History of the Innsbruck Anatomical Institute".
For comprehensive and detailed information about prominent historical research projects and their supervisors at the University of Innsbruck since 1968, it is recommended to consult the official University of Innsbruck website or archives, publications or reports from the university’s history department, academic bibliographies and databases with research outputs from the university, or by contacting the university’s faculty or department of history directly.
The university's numerous historical research projects not only delve into the past but also contribute to education-and-self-development, providing valuable insights into various aspects of Austria's history. For instance, Sarah Oberbichler's study on South Tyrol and its New Minorities offers a detailed analysis of migration discourse in the South Tyrolean daily newspapers.
Furthermore, the history department at the University of Innsbruck encourages interdisciplinary studies, as evident in Anita Konrad's exploration of pizza in Tirolese culture from a migration history perspective, which provides a unique perspective on the intersection of food culture and history.
