Michael John (historian)


Michael John is an Austrian historian and exhibitions-curator, internationally known for his research on European and Jewish migration, and on Nazism.

Biography

Michael John finished his high school education 1971 with the Matura at the so-called "Academic" Gymnasium in Linz, and studied from 1972 to 1980 History und Political science at the University of Vienna. During his studies he turned to Social and Economic history, and graduated 1980 as Ph.D. with a thesis on housing of the working and lower classes in Vienna around 1900.
He started his scientific career 1985 at the Institute for Social and Economic History, and continued it 1986 at the Institute for Social and Economic History at the University of Linz. There he advanced from Assistant professor to Associate professor.
He was deputy head and head of the Institute of Social and Economic History at the University of Linz.
Michael John 2011 – 2019 was also head of the Institute of Cultural Economics and Cultural Research.
He was also guest professor at the University of Salzburg, at the Central European University Budapest, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Ljubljana, and the University of Nova Gorica .

Research focuses

Michael John concentrated his historical research on several focuses, which he treated not only by scientific research, but also by Applied history, curating exhibitions on relevant themes. See here the main focuses:
Michael John has conducted intensive research on Nazism, especially on the history of Aryanization, on aspects of Nazi plunder, with focus on plundered/ looted art and its restitution from the property of Austrian museums. Here he also studied aspects of forced labour under Nazi rule. He curated an exhibition on the topic of forced labor.
In the context of Nazism-research in Austria Michael John did studies on Jewish persecution and the History of Jews in Germany and in Austria 1933 - 1945. He did also investigations on general Jewish migration in the Austro-Hungarian Empire before 1918. Additionally he studied the emigration of Jewish people after the Holocaust and World War II to Israel, the United States and other areas. Here he curated an exhibition on the Righteous Among the Nations of Austria, exhibition 2015–2021.
Michael John did several studies on aspects of migration within and from Europe. He researched aspects of immigration to Vienna and to Linz in the 19th and 20th century. Later he concentrated on Labour migration to Central Europe from a European "fringe". Here he also curated exhibitions, like „Gekommen und Geblieben: 50 Jahre Arbeitsmigration in OÖ. “, "Crossing Borders", or Migration - eine Zeitreise nach Europa
Here Michael John did research on the housing of lower/ working classes in Vienna around 1900, and studied the Demographic history of Linz as immigration city. This focus on Urban history was also the center of curating the 2021 Upper Austrian Federal State Exhibition in Steyr co-curated by Michael John.
Michael John worked here in several studies and publications primarily on the history and social meaning of Soccer in Austria and Germany. He additionally did research on the history of Consumerism and on the history of Mobilities. Here he curated an exhibition „Fussball: Geschichten & Geschichte “.
  • History of Abuse in Youth Welfare, Childcare and Children's/ Youth homes in Austria
Michael John was member of several Austrian commissions of historians to examine child and youth abuse in Austrian children's and youth homes . Here extensive and severe abuse of children and youngsters was proved. He also organized an exhibition in this context = Exhibition on the History of the Upper Austrian Youth Home in Linz-Wegscheid

Curated Exhibitions (a selection)

  • 2021: „Arbeit - Wohlstand - Macht “, Oö. Landesausstellung 2021.
  • 2015 – 2021: „Die Gerechten“. Courage ist eine Frage der Entscheidung ; at several locations: Vienna, Linz, Steyr.
  • 2014 – 2018: „Gekommen und Geblieben“. 50 Jahre Arbeitsmigration in Österreich ; at several locations in Upper Austria: Linz, Ried, Steyr and others.
  • since 2014 : „Gegen den Willen und fern der Heimat“. Zeitgeschichteausstellung 1938–1945 , permanent exhibition, Linz: Corporate Headquarters of the VOEST Linz
  • 2009: Stadt im Glück , Exhibition in the Linz City Museum Nordico], as part of the European Capital of Culture Linz 2009.
  • 2008: „Fussball: Geschichten & Geschichte “, Exhibition in the Schlossmuseum Linz
  • 2006: „WEGSCHEID - Von der Korrektionsbaracke zum sozialpädagogischen Jugendwohnheim“. Eine Ausstellung , at several locations: Linz-Wegscheid and Hartheim.
  • 2004: „Crossing Borders“, Exhibition in the Museum Arbeitswelt Steyr
  • 2003: Migration - eine Zeitreise nach Europa , Exhibition in the Museum Arbeitswelt Steyr
  • 1998: „Tradition - Innovation. Industrie im Wandel. Vergangenheit, Gegenwart, Zukunft“ , Part of the Upper Austrian Provincial Exhibition 1998 “, in the former Reithoffer Factory, Steyr

Publications (a selection)

Up to now Michael John has published 20 books as author, co-author, editor or co-editor, and more than 180 journal-articles/ book-contributions as author or co-author in German and English. Here a selection of 35 publications is noted:
  • 2021b: Arbeit - Wohlstand - Macht. Oberösterreichische Landesausstellung Steyr 2021 , Trauner Editors, Linz/A 2021,.
  • 2021a: „A Great Foundation with Unimaginable Development Opportunities“. The Rothschild Foundation for Nervous Patients in Vienna, in: Gabriele Kothbauer-Fritz and Tom Juncker : The Vienna Rothschilds. A Thriller, Amalthea Editors, Vienna 2021,, pp. 188–199.
  • 2019b: : Verantwortung und Aufarbeitung. Untersuchung über Gründe und Bedingungen von Gewalt in Einrichtungen der Caritas der Diözese Linz nach 1945 , Caritas of the Diocese of Linz, Linz/A 2019,.
  • 2019a: Zur Migration nach Wien in der Habsburgermonarchie. Nostalgie und Realität , in: Senol Grasl-Akkilic, Marcus Schober and Regina Schober : Aspekte der österreichischen Migrationsgeschichte, Edition Atelier, Vienna 2019,, pp. 60–97.
  • 2018: Heimerziehung in Oberösterreich , Upper Austrian Federal Archive, Linz/A 2018,.
  • 2015: Vom nationalen Hort zur postmodernen City. Zur Migrations- und Identitätsgeschichte der Stadt Linz im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert , Archive of the city of Linz, Linz/A 2015,.
  • 2014b: Migration in Austria, an Overview 1920s to 2000s, in: Johannes Feichtinger and Gary Cohen : Understanding Multiculturalism and the Habsburg Central European Experience, Berghahn Books, New York etc.,, pp. 122–157.
  • 2014a: Dislocation, Trauma and Selective Memory. Recollections of Jewish Displaced Persons, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies. A Journal of Culture and History, ISSN, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 73–104.
  • 2012b: Die „Connection“ Bad Aussee - Berlin - Linz. Kunsthandel mit Folgen , in: Eva Blimlinger and Monika Mayr : Kunst Sammeln, Kunst Handeln, Böhlau Editors, Vienna etc. 2012,, pp. 101–118.
  • 2012a: Repression. Reconciliation. Removal? On the Past of the „Führer City Linz“, in: Andrea Bina and Lorenz Potocnik : Architecture in Linz 1900–2011, Ambra Editors, Vienna and New York 2012,, pp. 113–116.
  • 2011: Galician Jews in Austria in the 18th to the Early 20th Century, in: Klaus Bade, Pieter Emmer, Leo Lucassen and Jochen Oltmer : The Encyclopedia of Migration and Minorities in Europe. From the 17th Century to the Present, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/UK 2011,, pp. 400–402.
  • 2010: Jews as Consumers and Providers in Provincial Towns: The Example of Linz and Salzburg, Austria, 1900-1938, in: Gideon Reuveni and Nils Roemer : Longing, Belonging, and the Making of Jewish Consumer Culture, Brill Publ., Leiden/NL & Boston/USA 2010,, pp. 141–164.
  • 2008: „... wenn der Rasen brennt...“ : 100 Jahre Fußball in Oberösterreich , Steinmassl Editors, Gruenbach 2008,.
  • 2006: Ein „kultureller Code “? Antisemitismus im österreichischen Sport der Ersten Republik , in: Michael Brenner and Gideon Reuveni : Emanzipation durch Muskelkraft. Juden und Sport in Europa, Brill Europe, Goettingen/BRD etc. 2006,, pp. 121–142.
  • 2004b: Von Wien nach Hollywood - Erich von Stroheim und Josef von Sternberg , Oldenbourg, Vienna etc. 2004,.
  • 2003b: National Movements and Imperial Ethnic Hegemonies in Austria 1867-1918, in: Dirk Hoerder, Christiane Harzig and Adrian Shubert : The Historical Practice of Diversity: Transcultural Interactions from the Early Modern Mediterranean to the Postcolonial World, Berghahn Books, New York etc. 2003,, pp. 87–108.
  • 2003a „Migration - eine Zeitreise nach Europa“ , Exhibition catalogue = kursiv. eine kunst zeitschrift aus oberösterreich, vol. 10, no. 1/2, no ISBN or ISSN.
  • 2002b: Upper Austria, Intermediate Stop: Reception Camps and Housing Schemes for Jewish DPs and Refugees in Transit, in: Thomas Albrich and Ronald W. Zweig : Escape through Austria. Jewish Refugees and the Austrian Route to Palestine, Routledge, London etc. 2002,, pp. 21–46.
  • 2002a: The Synagogues in Linz and Salzburg, in: Jewish Central Europe - Past. Presence, Institut für Geschichte der Juden in Ôsterreich, Ausgabe 2002, Sankt Pölten 2002, pp. 70ff.
  • 2001: Warenhaus und Massenkonsum. Zur Etablierung moderner Konsumkultur in der oberösterreichischen Landeshauptstadt im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert , in: Herbert Kalb and Roman Sandgruber : Festschrift Rudolf Zinnhobler zum 70. Geburtstag, Trauner Editors, Linz 2001,, pp. 97–120.
  • 1999a: : Jewries in Galicia and Bukovina, in Lemberg and Czernovitz. Two Divergent Examples of Jewish Communities in the Far East of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, in: Sander Gilman and Milton Shain : Jewries at the Frontiers, University of Illinois Press, Urbana & Chicago 1999,, pp. 29–66.
  • 1999b: „We Do Not Even Possess Our Selves“: On Identity and Ethnicity in Austria 1880 – 1937, in: Austrian History Yearbook, ISSN, Vol. 30, pp. 17–64.
  • 1997: Österreich. Zur Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte des Fußballsports in Österreich , in: Christiane Eisenberg : Fußball, Soccer, Calcio. Ein englischer Sport auf seinem Weg um die Welt Soccer and Calcio. An English Sport Spreads around the World], dtb Publishers, Munich 1997,, pp. 65–93.
  • 1996b: „Straßenkrawalle und Exzesse“. Formen des sozialen Protests der Unterschichten in Wien 1880 – 1918 , in: Gerhard Melinz and Susan Zimmermann : Wien, Prag, Budapest. Blütezeit der Habsburgmetropolen: Urbanisierung, Kommunalpolitik, gesellschaftliche Konflikte , Promedia Edition, Vienna 1996,, pp. 230–244.
  • 1996a: Push and Pull Factors for Oversea Migrants from Austria-Hungary in the 19th and 20th Centuries, in: Franz Szabo : Austrian Immigration to Canada. Selected Essays, McGill-Queen's University Press, Ottawa 1996,, pp. 55–82.
  • 1995: Displaced Persons in Linz. 'Versetzte Personen' und Flüchtlinge der Nachkriegszeit , in: Willibald Katzinger and Fritz Mayrhofer : Prinzip Hoffnung - Linz zwischen Befreiung und Freiheit, Linz City Museum „Nordico“ Catalogues, Linz/A 1995, pp. 213–230.
  • 1994: The Austrian Labor Movement 1867 - 1914: Plebeian protest, Working-Class Struggles and the Nationality Question, in: Dirk Hoerder and Horst Roessler : Roots of the Transplanted, vol. 2: Plebians Culture, Class and Politics in the Life of Labor Migrants, Columbia Univ. Press, New York etc. 1994,, pp. 100–132.
  • 1990: Schmelztiegel Wien - einst und jetzt. Geschichte und Gegenwart der Zuwanderung nach Wien , Böhlau Editors, Vienna etc. 1990,.
  • 1989: Angst, Kooperation und Widerstand. Die autochthonen Minderheiten Österreichs 1938-1945 , in: Zeitgeschichte, ISSN, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 66–89.
  • 1988: Zuwanderung in Österreich 1848-1914. Zu ökonomisch und psychologisch bedingten Faktoren der Zuwanderung , in: Archiv. Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, Vienna 1988, pp. 102–132.
  • 1986: Obdachlosigkeit - Massenerscheinung und Unruheherd im Wien der Spätgründerzeit Homelessness - Mass Phenomenon and Trouble Spot in the Viennese Late Gründerzeit], in: Hubert Ch. Ehalt, Gernot Heiß and Hannes Stekl : Glücklich ist, wer vergisst...? Das andere Wien um 1900, Böhlau Editors, Vienna etc. 1986,, pp. 173–195.
  • 1984: Wohnverhältnisse sozialer Unterschichten im Wien Kaiser Franz Josephs , Europa Publishers, Vienna 1984,.
  • 1982: Hausherrenmacht und Mieterelend. Wohnverhältnisse und Wohnerfahrung der Unterschichten in Wien 1890 - 1923 Landlord Power and Tenant's Hardships. Housing Situation and Experiences of Lower Classes in Vienna 1890 - 1923], Gesellschaftskritik Publishers, Vienna 1982,.