Wolfgang Maderthaner

Wolfgang Maderthaner (*19 Mai 1954) studied history and English and completed his doctorate in economic and social history with a thesis on the modern industrial workforce in southern Lower Austria. His academic career led him to his habilitation at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz, where he published his habilitation thesis ‘Die unvollendete Metropole. Kultur und Gesellschaft in Wien 1860 bis 1945’ (published as ’Kultur Macht Geschichte. Studies on Viennese urban culture in the 19th and 20th centuries”).

Maderthaner was a civil servant at the Vienna City and Provincial Archives (MA 8) and held the professional title of Hofrat. From 1983 to 2012, he was scientific director and managing director of the Association for the History of the Labour Movement (VGA) in Vienna, which he developed into an internationally networked research institute. From 2012 to 2019, he was Director General of the Austrian State Archives. He has been President of the VGA – Association for the History of the Labour Movement since 2022.

He has received numerous awards, including the Victor Adler State Prize (1985), the Bruno Kreisky Prize for the Political Book (2004, 2008), the Cross of Honour for Science and Art I Class (2011), the Photo Book Prize of the German Book Trade (2014) and honours from the Czech Republic and Lower Austria. Maderthaner has curated numerous historical exhibitions and has been active as a speaker and organiser at international conferences.