Focus

Learning from the past

We've been here before. States collapse, democracies fall, people go to war. Eighty years after the end of World War II, one question presses itself upon us: Why does history repeat itself – and why do we so rarely learn from it?
23. April 2025
A look into the past

Can we learn from history?

Democracies are in crisis, wars are raging and the right-wing AfD party recently became the second-strongest party in Germany. Shouldn't we know better? We ask historian Walter Pohl why we hardly learn from history.
8. April 2025
Migration flows in the post-war period

Migration and new beginnings: The history of displaced persons in Austria

The decade following the end of the Second World War is characterised by major migration movements, both in Europe and worldwide. Contemporary historian Kerstin von Lingen uses methods of digital humanities to visualise these global migration flows and discover interesting patterns in the process.
26. March 2025
War against Ukraine

"Austria underestimates the danger if Ukraine loses the war"

What if there is dictated peace on Russia's terms? Historian Philipp Ther is worried about the parallels in history to the current situation in Ukraine and analyses the image of Russia in Austria and Eastern Europe.
10. April 2024
Holocaust

World War II refugees: Untold stories of flight

Literary scholar Paula Wojcik and her team collect and analyse little-known stories of flight from the Nazi era. How their research uncovers various escape routes, coping strategies and the many obstacles in beginning a new life.
24. October 2023
Guest article by
Linda Erker
Rudolphina Experts: History of the University

The University of Vienna in the period of Austrofascism

Historian Linda Erker is a researcher at the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Vienna. Her academic work focuses on the period of Austrofascism. In this guest article, she elaborates on the latest insights into the role of the University of Vienna in this significant stage of Austrian history.