The predominantly archival research project is concerned with the history of the Prehistoric Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) during the Nazi era, when Oswald Menghin held its presidency and considered it the task of prehistoric research to provide »essential contributions to the national socialist worldview«. The aim of the work is therefore to examine the structure and activity of the Prehistoric Commission for changes resulting from ideological influence, the instrumentalisation of its research for national socialist purposes, and the possible lasting effects and consequences for modern prehistoric archeology.

Principal Investigator