Subject areas

Since Ancient History and Classical Antiquities are organised independently and do not belong directly to the Institute of History, the Middle Ages represent the oldest epoch taught at the institute.

In research and teaching, our work spans the vast period from c. 500 to 1500, primarily covering the history of Latin European Christianity as well as the history of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This study illuminates a world that, in many respects, has lain recognizable foundations for modern European culture, though it also appears fundamentally distinct and even strange from a modern perspective. Research in medieval history entails working to understand premodern cultures that are not immediately accessible to modern people, thus requiring a particular variety of approaches. Through careful study of the medieval past, we also have the potential to improve our understanding of the present.

Medieval history has been an integral part of the Institute for History in Graz since 1891. From its beginnings, our attention has focused on comprehensive training for students and support for innovative research. In teaching, we offer students the experience of working hands-on with a variety of primary sources. Our research, meanwhile, focuses in particular on institutional history, women's and gender history, comparative religious and monastic history, cultural contacts between Europe and Asia, and the national and regional history of the Danube-Alps-Adriatic region. Traditional strengths of the department also include the fields of material culture and historical auxiliary sciences, which represent the historian's tools of the trade and enable an indispensable critical assessment of written and material sources from premodern and modern eras alike. This broad group of skills and subjects may be understood as individual disciplines with their own methods and with broad applicability across periods. They include: paleography, diplomatics, epigraphy, material culture and objects, chronology, heraldry, sigillography, numismatics, genealogy, codicology and historical geography. Our teaching staff at Graz also take a great interest in pedagogical approaches to medieval history in multiple contexts, from primary school classrooms to university seminars to continuing education courses. Further information on medieval research and teaching in Graz can be found on the homepage of the Department of Medieval History. homepage of the Department of Medieval History.

In research and teaching, the section primarily focuses on the history of the early modern political culture of Europe, with special attention to legal, media and communication history aspects, as well as to the field of knowledge cultures of the 18th century and historical museology. Ao. Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Marlies Raffler, the only historian at our university whose habilitation dealt with the field of historical museology, teaches in this section. For more than two decades, the section has been organising and administering the certified subject focus “Culture Management – Applied Cultural Studies”, which allows students of all disciplines in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities to acquire a practical additional qualification. The Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda & Security Studies, headed by Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Siegfried Beer, garners not only scientific but also great public attention. Further information on research and teaching of the History of the Early Modern Period can be found on the section's homepage.

The Chair of Contemporary History with Special Consideration of Non-European Countries and Cultures, established in Graz in 1984, is devoted to researching and teaching the history of the 20th century including the pre- and post-history from primarily social and cultural-scientific perspectives. It emphasises a global perspective without neglecting the questions that arise from the history of the region. A further subject focus is on gender history, embedded into regional, national, and international networks. Further information can be found on the section's homepage. 

The History of Austria and Central Europe section at the Graz Institute of History sees itself as a historical longitudinal research subject. Research and teaching here focus on the investigation of historical phenomena in the entire region of Central Europe and in individual sub-regions, primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries. Central Europe is examined not only from a structural-historical perspective, but considerably more as a cultural-historical category (M. Csàky). Thus, the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, pluricultural and multilingual Habsburg realm during the saddle period of the modern era, the imperial character of Central Europe and the resulting asymmetrical (power) relationships between different nations, ethnic groups and their respective cultures form the starting point for theoretically and methodologically productive analyses of the (late) Habsburg monarchy as well as its successor states after 1918.

From this point of view, the research carried out here deals with cultural symbols, normative discourses, social institutions, and groups as well as with individual historical actors. The focus is on questions of political culture, affiliations, concepts of identity/alterity, relationships of remembrance, gender, materiality, knowledge transfer processes or broad social movements.

Southeastern European History and Anthropology at the University of Graz is the only scientific institution in Austria that focuses on the history and anthropology of Southeastern Europe in research and teaching. This orientation makes sense for two reasons: First, the University of Graz has had a significant impact on Southeastern Europe due to its geographical location both in the past and present. This was also one of the arguments that led to the founding of the Chair of Southeast European History in 1970 – in addition to the Graz Institute of Slavic Studies, which has strong traditions in Balkan studies. Secondly, the university’s core focus on “Southeastern Europe” means that we have a duty to go beyond the immediate academic field: Establishing contacts and networks, organising scholarships for students from Southeastern Europe and designing and supporting research projects. Further information on research and teaching of Southeastern European History and Anthropology can be found on the section's homepage.

The General Economic and Social History section, as a longitudinal subject, primarily focuses on the broad subject area of ​​human action in its respective political, social, economic and cultural contexts, both in terms of its historical meaning and of its current relevance. In research and teaching, the subject matter temporally and spatially encompasses the time from the late Middle Ages to the present, with particular emphasis on local, regional (Central) European, Atlantic and transatlantic communities (especially Latin America) as well as their networking in various areas. Regarding the thematic focus, the section addresses questions concerning markets, trade, mining, transport and technology; merchant networks between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; the transfer of goods, culture and technology; and credit and money supply. These topics are particularly scrutinised against the background of a cultural-scientific approach.