Friedrich Heer (10 April 191618 September 1983) was an Austrian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

born in

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. ...

Early life

Heer received a PhD at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

in 1938. Even as a student, he came into conflict with pan-German historians as a staunch opponent of

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. He was arrested for the first time on 11 March 1938 by the Austrian Nazis. He founded a small Catholic resistance group and sought to amalgamate into one organised band the Christians, communists and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ists against the Nazis. As a soldier, he later came into contact with the resistance group "Soldatenrat".

Career

From 1946 to 1961, he was the editor of the weekly magazine ''Die Furche'' he Furrow and in 1961, he was appointed chief literacy to the Vienna Burgtheater. He taught at the University of Vienna. Most of his books have been translated into several languages. He contributed ''The Medieval World: 1100-1350'' (pub. 1962) to the

Weidenfeld and Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

History of Civilisation series.

Later life

In 1967, he became the first winner of the Martin Buber-Franz Rosenzweig Medal, awarded by a group of forty-four German societies for Christian and Jewish understanding, for his achievement with ''God's First Love''. He died in Vienna.

Decorations and awards

* 1949: City of Vienna Prize for Humanities * 1968: Award of the German Coordinating Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation first ever " Buber Rosenzweig Medal" (with the Protestant theologian Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt) (Presentation: March 17, 1968) * 1972: Grand Austrian State Prize (Presentation: 21 December 1972) * 1976: Medal of the capital Vienna in gold for important journalistic and academic achievements (council decision of 21 May 1976) * 1977:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

(awarded May 4, 1977) * 1981: Donauland Nonfiction Book Award

Publications

*1947: ''Die Stunde des Christen'' *1949: ''Gespräch der Feinde'' *1949: ''Aufgang Europas'' (2 Bände) *1950: ''Der achte Tag'' (Roman, erschienen unter dem Pseudonym „Hermann Gohde“) *1952: ''Die Tragödie des Heiligen Reiches'' *1953: ''Europäische Geistesgeschichte'' *1953: ''Grundlagen der europäischen Demokratie der Neuzeit'' *1960: ''Die dritte Kraft'' *1961: ''Mittelalter – von 1100 bis 1350'' (''The Medieval World: 1100-1350'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1962) *1964: ''Europa – Mutter der Revolutionen'' (''The Intellectual History of Europe'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1966) *1967: ''Das Heilige Römische Reich'' (''The Holy Roman Empire'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968). Abridged translation reprinted by Phoenix Press, 1995 *1967: ''Gottes erste Liebe. Die Juden im Spannungsfeld der Geschichte''. (''God's First Love: Christians and Jews Over Two Thousand Years'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1967). Reprinted by Phoenix Press, 1999 *1968: ''Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler. Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität.'' *1974-75: ''Kindlers Kulturgeschichte des Abendlandes'' *1975: ''Charlemagne and his World'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1975) *1978: ''Warum gibt es kein Geistesleben in Deutschland?'' *1981: ''Der König und die Kaiserin'' (Gegenüberstellung Friedrich II. und Maria Theresia) *1981: ''Der Kampf um die österreichische Identität''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heer, Friedrich 1916 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Austrian historians Writers from Vienna Academic staff of the University of Vienna University of Vienna alumni Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class