Destroyed research in Nazi Vienna: The tragic fate of the Institute for Experimental Biology in Austria

Authors

  • Klaus Taschwer Der Standard  (Austria).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.10.14247

Keywords:

National Socialism, history of biology, Vienna, Hans Przibram, Holocaust

Abstract

Relative to its size, no scientific institute was hit harder by National Socialism than Vienna’s Institute for Experimental Biology (Biologische Versuchsanstalt, BVA). Of the 33 collaborators before March 1938, 18 were expelled immediately after the Anschluss for racist reasons. Among them were two of the three founders and sponsors, zoologist Hans Przibram and botanist Leopold von Portheim. Seven members of the BVA were killed in the Holocaust, including Przibram. The building was destroyed by fire during the last days of the war. Afterwards the Institute remained forgotten and suppressed. It took more than 75 years after Austria’s annexation, before the Academy of Sciences – from 1914 to 1945 owner of the BVA – acknowledged the tragic history of the Institute.

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Author Biography

Klaus Taschwer, Der Standard  (Austria).

K.T. is science editor of the Austrian daily Der Standard . He studied sociology (of science) and political science at the University of Vienna, founded the magazine heureka and was co-organizer of a post-gradual course on science communication. He is the author of many articles and a few books mainly on the history of science in Austria in the 20 th century.

References

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Published

2020-01-08

How to Cite

Taschwer, K. (2020). Destroyed research in Nazi Vienna: The tragic fate of the Institute for Experimental Biology in Austria. Metode Science Studies Journal, (10), 139–145. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.10.14247
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Issue

Shades of science (2020)

Section

Science and Nazism. The unconfessed collaboration of scientists with National Socialism

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