New Director of the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance

Andreas Kranebitter assumes directorship of the DÖW on April 1,2023

The Board of Trustees (“Stiftungsrat”) of the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance has named Dr. Andreas Kranebitter as the new Director of the DÖW.

Kranebitter, currently working in research in the United States, was chosen from among eighteen applicants. He assumes directorship in April 2023.

The change in leadership was prompted by the retirement of Gerhard Baumgartner, who successfully led the institution since 2014, and will now dedicate himself to his further studies in the history of the Roma in Austria.

Federal Minister for Education, Science, and Research Martin Polaschek: “The DÖW is a highly respected research institution on resistance, persecution, the Holocaust, Nazi- and postwar justice, as well as right wing extremism after 1945. It thus has central significance for Austrian society and research. I am delighted that with Andreas Kranebitter, a demonstrated expert is taking over the leadership of the DÖW, and I wish him good luck in the forthcoming challenges. At the same time, I would like to sincerely thank Gerhard Baumgartner for his professional work as director of the DÖW.”

Photo: Joel Mason-Gaines, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Dr. Kranebitter, born in 1982 in Vienna, studied sociology and political science. His theses were awarded the Herbert Steiner and the Irma Rosenberg prizes. He began his career in the Mauthausen concentration camp Memorial , where he rose to the directorship of research, and became responsible for essential parts of its new exhibit. Most recently he was director of the archive of the history of sociology at the University of Graz. In the past, Kranebitter and the DÖW worked often together on mutual projects.

Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig congratulated Andreas Kranebitter on his hiring: “With him, leadership is being transferred to a profound scientist with extensive experience in the long-standing debate regarding Austrian history, because sixty years after its founding, the DÖW is taking on a central role in the fight against right wing extremism, neofascism, and racism. The fact-based reappraisal of our history is essential to faithfully comply with the principle, ‘Study, Preserve, and Pass on to the next generation’. That has been a commitment to which the DÖW has subscribed, and which has been tirelessly furthered in past years under the leadership of Gerhard Baumgartner. I would like to express my great thanks to him for that.”

The Board of Trustees of the DÖW is convinced that Dr. Kranebitter on the one hand, will in loyal fashion continue the work of the DÖW, but on the other hand will set new momentum.

In a first statement Kranebitter expressed his pleasure: “The DÖW is a unique institution in Austria that combines the historical analysis of Nazism, with sociological research and documentation of current far right extremism and antisemitism. I am delighted to assume the leadership of this tradition-rich institution, and will dedicate myself to this task with great strength and long breath.”