Walter Iber
Building bridges
The historian Walter Iber conducts research into business history, economic and social history with a focus on global economic developments in the 20th century and the economic history of sport.
With his professorship, the Professor of Economic and Social History combines research in the field of modern economic and business history at the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences. A subject area that represents a unique selling point in the Austrian research landscape.
New to the Faculty?
Admittedly, "new" in Walter Iber's case refers more to his new professorship in 2023 than to his affiliation with the Faculty of Humanities, as he already studied at the Department of History, wrote his dissertation here and also submitted his habilitation thesis on "National Debt, Budget and Fiscal Policy in Austria, 1918-1995: Economic and Sociopolitical Aspects" here in 2017. Iber is also no stranger to attentive recipients of newspapers or radio reports, as he is often asked for commentary or interviews: Be it on his "hobbyhorse" of the economic and social history of sport or on Russian-Austrian economic relations.
Learning from the past
In both his research and teaching, Iber is dedicated to major contexts, because you can only learn from the past if you know it. His interest in Soviet-Austrian economic relations - on which he has already written a dissertation (Die Sowjetische Mineralölverwaltung in Österreich. Zur Vorgeschichte der OMV 1945-1955) - continues in current third-party funded projects that the researcher has acquired (Soviet-Austrian Trade and Economic Relations 1955-64).
Iber also explains how Austria became dependent on Russian gas, for example, or how the economic relations between the two countries developed, particularly after the Second World War, in interviews with experts, such as in the ORF III documentaries "zeit.geschichte. Dokumentation: Schwarzes Gold - Geschichte der Ölindustrie in Österreich" and "zeit.geschichte. Dokumentation: Gute Geschäfte - Geschichte der Gasversorgung in Österreich".
Understanding the big picture is something Iber wants to pass on to his students. Alongside practical relevance, an understanding of a plurality of opinions and the ability to present complex content in an understandable way, this is one of the cornerstones of his teaching. In this way, Iber aims to promote excellent young talent.
Fruitful collaborations
One particularly exciting cooperation in which Walter Iber plays a key role is the collaboration with the magazine Business Monat. Now in its seventh edition, special issues are published under the title "Business HISTORY Monat". These issues are dedicated to Styrian economic history. Which companies have shaped it? How did they develop and how do they fit into the economic and industrial landscape? These and other questions are addressed by students on the "Business History" course, who are able to present their work to a wide audience in this way.
Building bridges
Iber not only succeeds in building a bridge between research and communication, but also connects two departments at the University of Graz that conduct research into economic and business history: The Department of Economic and Social History at the Institute of History (GEWI Faculty) and the Institute of Economic, Social and Business History (SOWI Faculty; Institute Director: Thomas Krautzer). He is also Chairman of the Board of the Austrian Society for Business History (ÖGU), which moved its headquarters from WU Vienna to Graz in 2022
Walter Iber has been Professor of Economic and Social History at the Institute of History since September 2023. He habilitated at the University of Graz in 2018 with his thesis on the economic and socio-political aspects of Austrian national debt and has been Chairman of the Board of the Austrian Society for Business History since 2022.