Brigitte Hamann

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Brigitte Hamann (born 26 July 1940) is a German-Austrian[1] 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 Austrian in addition to German citizenship.[2] The couple have 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".[2]

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[3] "Concordia-Preis" in recognition of her work.

Honors:

Presentation of the Honorary Prize of the Austrian Booksellers to Brigitte Hamann in the Vienna City Hall on 22 November 2012. To the left: the eulogist, Prof. Gerald Stourzh, to the right city councillor Michael Ludwig
  • 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)
  • Honorary prize of the Austrian Booksellers for tolerance in thought and deed (2012)

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 Press: 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 Press) ISBN 0-19-514053-2
  • Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth. (2005: Granta publications, England[4]) 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 Suttner. Ein Leben für den Frieden, München 1986
  • Die Habsburger. Ein biographisches Lexikon, München 1988
  • Nichts als Musik im Kopf. Das Leben von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wien 1990 (Kinderbuch)
  • Elisabeth. Bilder einer Kaiserin, Wien 1995
  • Meine liebe, gute Freundin! Die Briefe Kaiser Franz Josephs an Katharina Schratt, München 1992
  • Hitlers Wien. Lehrjahre eines Diktators, München 1996
  • Kronprinz Rudolf: 'Majestät, ich warne Sie...', München 2002
  • Winifred Wagner 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 Wagner, 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 Bloch, München 2008

Numerous editions, paperbacks, and translations

References

  1. ↑ In an email to HPaul on 28 May 2009, B. Hamann wrote: "Since I have lived for more than forty years in Vienna, I naturally consider myself an Austrian, even though I don't talk like one"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 ORF-Seite
  3. ↑ http://www.concordia.at/content.php?cid=preis&sp=
  4. ↑ http://www.granta.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=2400

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