Rakúska historiografia a slovenské dejiny
Austrian Historiography and Slovak History

Summary/Abstract: Slovak history and the history of the territory of Slovakia are not frequent themes in Austrian historiography. They have appeared only marginally and especially as part of the history of the Kingdom of Hungary up to 1918 or as part of the history of Czechoslovakia after 1918. This was a result of various factors. One of them was the fact that the destiny of the Slovaks and Austria were connected only with mediation. They were rarely directly connected. Only a few Austrian historians were concerned with the history of Slovakia before Slovakia became independent in 1993. In spite of this, we can say that notable authors such as Kurt Wessely, Helmut Slapnicka and Ludwig von Gogolák have written about the Slovaks, while Richard G. Plaschka and Horst Haselsteiner have not avoided them. The formation of a new state close to Austria reminded the Austrian public that Slovaks as well as Czechs lived in former Czechoslovakia. This was reflected not only in writing about current issues, but also in Austrian historiography. Slovakia and its history became more frequent subjects in Austria at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. Cooperation between the academic institutions of the two countries also supported this. Thanks to this, various Austrian – Slovak projects have started. The Österreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa- Institut in Vienna and its director Arnold Suppen have played an important role in this. Other Austrian researchers, such as Karl Schwarz, Valeria Heuberger, Friedrich Gottas, Valter Lukan, Thoma Kletečka, Martin Seger, Helmut Rumpler and Peter Jordan, began to research the history of Slovakia. Arnold Suppan, Karl Schwarz, Harald Heppner and others stood at the birth of Slovak – Austrian academic publications, which brought the great university centres: Vienna University, Karl Franz University in Graz, Klagenfurt University and others into research and promotion of Slovak history. At the beginning of the 21st century, Slovakia and its history has already become a lively part of Austrian historiography.

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