Franz Heritsch (26 December 1882 in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

– 17 April 1945 in Graz) was an Austrian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

, known for his studies of the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

of the

Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...

. From 1902 to 1906 he studied at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

, and following graduation, worked as a middle school teacher in Graz. In 1909 he obtained 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 ...

, and later on, served as an associate (1921–24), and full professor (1924–45) of geology and paleontology at the University of Graz. He was a member of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

Published works

His book, ''Die Deckentheorie in den Alpen'' (1927–28), was translated into English and published with the title "The nappe theory in the Alps (Alpine tectonics, 1905-1928)". Other noted works by Heritsch are: * ''Druckschriften von Dr. Rudolf Hoernes : 1872-1905'', (1906) – Pamphlets by Dr. Rudolf Hoernes from 1872 to 1905. * ''Beiträge zur Geologie der Grauwackenzone des Paltentales (Obersteiermark)'', 1912 – Contributions to the geology of the

Greywacke zone The greywacke zone is a band of Paleozoic metamorphosed sedimentary rocks that forms an east-west band through the Austrian Alps. The greywacke zone crops out between the Mesozoic rocks of the Northern Calcareous Alps and the Austroalpine and P ...

of the Paltentales (

Upper Styria Upper Styria (), in the Austrian usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the federal state of Styria. The southeastern half of the state around the capital of Graz is known as Cent ...

). * ''Die österreichischen und deutschen Alpen bis zur alpino-dinarischen grenze (Ostalpen)'', 1915 – The Austrian and German Alps to the Alpino-Dinaric border (

). * ''Geologie von Steiermark'', 1921 – Geology of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. * ''Die grundlagen der alpinen tektonik'', 1923 – The basis of Alpine

tectonics Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

. * ''Die Entstehung der Hochgebirgsformen'', 1927 – The emergence of high mountain forms. * ''Faunen aus dem Silur der Ostalpen'', 1929 – Fauna from the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

of the Eastern Alps.Faunen aus dem Silur der Ostalpen
Google Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heritsch, Franz 1882 births 1945 deaths Scientists from Graz University of Graz alumni Academic staff of the University of Graz 20th-century Austrian geologists Austrian paleontologists Geologists from Austria-Hungary Paleontologists from Austria-Hungary