The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) mourns Heidemarie Uhl.
The renowned Austrian contemporary historian Heidemarie Uhl died after a short illness on August 11, 2023 at the age of 66, as confirmed by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) of the APA. The scientist worked at the Institute for Cultural Studies and Theater History of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and taught at the Universities of Vienna and Graz.
In January 2023, the academy launched its new research focus “Contemporary anti-Semitism” under the coordination of the historian. For Uhl, the late founding was “an opportunity” in international comparison, as she said at the time. The OeAW commemorated Uhl in a broadcast on Monday late afternoon.
Focus on World War II
Heidemarie Uhl’s research has focused on the topics of memory culture and memory politics. The focus of her work was in particular on the Second World War. The Academy said that she made a significant contribution to critically reflecting on Austria’s role in National Socialism and keeping the memory of the crimes of the Holocaust alive in the public debate. Uhl has repeatedly devoted himself to aspects of the history of the “Shoah” that have so far received little attention in science and the public, most recently in the open-air exhibition “The Viennese Model of Radicalization. Austria and the Shoah” on Vienna’s Heldenplatz, near the Vienna as an experimental field for anti-Semitism from 1938.
OeAW researcher Uhl worked as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Stanford University in the USA, among others. She was a member of many bodies at home and abroad, including the “Austrian Delegation to the IHRA International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance” and the advisory board for the erection of commemorative monuments in the city of Vienna. According to the OeAW, the founding of the “House of Austrian History” was not least due to her commitment.
Appreciation from ex-minister Faßmann
OeAW President Heinz Faßmann remembered Uhl, who was born in Feldbach in Styria, as an “extraordinary researcher and highly valued colleague”. Her death leaves a painful void in the scientific community at the Academy and far beyond. “Everyone who knew Heidemarie Uhl appreciated her outstanding scientific competence as well as her positive charisma and her commitment to dialogue,” says Faßmann.
2023-08-14 15:08:09
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