Brigitte Hamann
Encyclopedia
Brigitte Hamann Ph.D.
, (born July 26, 1940) is a German
-Austria
n author
and historian
based in Vienna
.
Born Brigitte Deitert in Essen
, Germany
, she studied history in Münster
and Vienna and for a time worked as a journalist
in her native Essen. In 1965 she married the historian and university professor Günther Hamann (1924–1994), moved to Vienna and obtained the Austrian in addition to the German citizenship. The couple had three children. She worked with her husband at the University of Vienna
and in 1978 obtained her doctor's degree on the basis of a thesis on the life of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
, which was published in book form that same year. She described her working method as follows: "(Coming from Germany) I had a different view of Austria, and I began to write with a certain detachment".
The success of this first book led to others, notably on Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Adolf Hitler
, and Winifred Wagner
.
Hamann's 1999 book, Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship, examined how societal attitudes at the time shaped Hitler's anti-Semitic views during his time in Vienna between 1908 and 1913, and the effects of his inordinate fear of both infection and women. Following the publication of The Hidden Hitler
by the historian and University of Bremen
professor Lothar Machtan
, Hamann investigated claims about Hitler's homosexuality and appears in the 2004 HBO documentary film
, Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality
, by the American documentarians Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
In 2005 Hamann released Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth, a biography of Winifred Wagner
, the British
-born woman who became a founding member of the Nazi Party and a close friend of Hitler. The publication earned her "Book of the Year" honors and Opernwelt (Operaworld) magazine and "Historical Book of the Year" honors from DAMALS history magazine. That same year she received the Presseclub Concordia "Concordia-Preis" in recognition of her work.
Honors:
Books translated into English:
An English translation auf the rororo-monography “Die Familie Wagner” will be coming out soon
Books in German:
Numerous editions, paperbacks, and translations
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, (born July 26, 1940) is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
based in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Born Brigitte Deitert in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, she studied history in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
and Vienna and for a time worked as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
in her native Essen. In 1965 she married the historian and university professor Günther Hamann (1924–1994), moved to Vienna and obtained the Austrian in addition to the German citizenship. The couple had three children. She worked with her husband at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and in 1978 obtained her doctor's degree on the basis of a thesis on the life of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Rudolf , archduke of Austria and crown prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, was the son and heir of Franz Joseph I, emperor of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, and his wife and empress, Elisabeth...
, which was published in book form that same year. She described her working method as follows: "(Coming from Germany) I had a different view of Austria, and I began to write with a certain detachment".
The success of this first book led to others, notably on Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, and Winifred Wagner
Winifred Wagner
Winifred Wagner was an English woman married to Siegfried Wagner, Richard Wagner's son. She was the effective head of the Wagner family from 1930 to 1945, and a close friend of German dictator Adolf Hitler....
.
Hamann's 1999 book, Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship, examined how societal attitudes at the time shaped Hitler's anti-Semitic views during his time in Vienna between 1908 and 1913, and the effects of his inordinate fear of both infection and women. Following the publication of The Hidden Hitler
The Hidden Hitler
The Hidden Hitler is the English-language version of the 2001 book Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators by German-Jewish professor and historian Dr. Lothar Machtan. The original book was published in Germany by Alexander Fest Verlag, while the English-translated version was published...
by the historian and University of Bremen
University of Bremen
The University of Bremen is a university of approximately 23,500 people from 126 countries that are studying, teaching, researching, and working in Bremen, Germany...
professor Lothar Machtan
Lothar Machtan
Lothar Machtan, Ph.D is a German historian, writer, as well as Professor of Modern and Current History at the University of Bremen.-Early life:...
, Hamann investigated claims about Hitler's homosexuality and appears in the 2004 HBO documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality
Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality
Hidden Führer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality is a documentary film based on the research of German Professor Lothar Machtan for his 2001 book The Hidden Hitler that claimed Adolf Hitler was a homosexual...
, by the American documentarians Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
In 2005 Hamann released Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth, a biography of Winifred Wagner
Winifred Wagner
Winifred Wagner was an English woman married to Siegfried Wagner, Richard Wagner's son. She was the effective head of the Wagner family from 1930 to 1945, and a close friend of German dictator Adolf Hitler....
, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born woman who became a founding member of the Nazi Party and a close friend of Hitler. The publication earned her "Book of the Year" honors and Opernwelt (Operaworld) magazine and "Historical Book of the Year" honors from DAMALS history magazine. That same year she received the Presseclub Concordia "Concordia-Preis" in recognition of her work.
Honors:
- Heinrich Drimmel Preis (1978)
- Premio Comisso (1982)
- Donauland Sachbuchpreis (1986)
- Wildgans Preis (1995)
- Kreisky Preis (1998)
- Bad Wurzacher Literaturpreis (1998)
- Ehrenmedaille der Bundeshauptstadt Wien in Silber (2006)
Books translated into English:
- The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Knopf: 1986) (ISBN 0-394-53717-3)
- The Reluctant Empress, Ullstein Berlin 1982, 6th ed. 2000
- Bertha von Suttner: A Life for Peace (Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution) (Syracuse University PressSyracuse University PressSyracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. The areas of focus for the Press include Middle East Studies, Native American Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Irish Studies and Jewish Studies, among others. The Press has an international...
: 1986) ISBN 0-8156-0387-8 - Rudolf. The Road to Mayerling (German and English, picture book) München 1988
- Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria (Taschen America: 1997) (ISBN 3-8228-7865-0)
- Hitler's Vienna : A Dictator's Apprenticeship. (1999: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
) ISBN 0-19-514053-2 - Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth. (2005: Granta publications, England) ISBN 1-86207-671-5
- Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth, Harcourt Books, Orlando USA 2006
An English translation auf the rororo-monography “Die Familie Wagner” will be coming out soon
Books in German:
- Rudolf, Kronprinz und Rebell, Wien 1978
- Elisabeth, Kaiserin wider Willen, Wien 1981
- Mit Kaiser Max in Mexiko, Wien 1983
- Kaiserin Elisabeth. Das poetische Tagebuch, Verlag der Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1984
- Bertha von SuttnerBertha von SuttnerBertha Felicitas Sophie Freifrau von Suttner was an Austrian novelist, radical pacifist, and the first woman to be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.-Biography:Suttner was born in Prague, Bohemia, the daughter of an impoverished Austrian Field Marshal,...
. Ein Leben für den Frieden, München 1986 - Die Habsburger. Ein biographisches Lexikon, München 1988
- Nichts als Musik im Kopf. Das Leben von Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Wien 1990 (Kinderbuch) - Elisabeth. Bilder einer Kaiserin, Wien 1995
- Meine liebe, gute Freundin! Die Briefe Kaiser Franz Josephs an Katharina SchrattKatharina SchrattKatharina Schratt was an Austrian actress who became "the uncrowned Empress of Austria" as the mistress and confidante of Emperor Franz Joseph....
, München 1992 - HitlersAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
Wien. Lehrjahre eines Diktators, München 1996 - Kronprinz Rudolf: 'Majestät, ich warne Sie..., München 2002
- Winifred WagnerWinifred WagnerWinifred Wagner was an English woman married to Siegfried Wagner, Richard Wagner's son. She was the effective head of the Wagner family from 1930 to 1945, and a close friend of German dictator Adolf Hitler....
oder Hitlers Bayreuth, München 2002 - Der erste Weltkrieg. Wahrheit und Lüge in Bildern und Texten, München 2004
- Ein Herz und viele Kronen. Das Leben der Kaiserin Maria Theresia. Illustriert von Rolf Rettich, Wien 2004 (Kinderbuch)
- Die Familie WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2005 - Kronprinz Rudolf. Ein Leben, Wien 2005
- Mozart. Sein Leben und seine Zeit, Wien 2006
- Hitlers Edeljude. Das Leben des Armenarztes Eduard BlochEduard BlochDr. Eduard Bloch was a Jewish-Austrian doctor practicing in Linz . Until 1907 Bloch was the doctor of Adolf Hitler's family...
, München 2008
Numerous editions, paperbacks, and translations