In early 2016, the second partner institution joined the Consortium: the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Salzburg (Fachbereich Slawistik der Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg).
Although the University of Salzburg was originally founded in 1622 by Count Paris of Lodron, it was re-established only in 1962. From the very beginning, the foundation of an independent Department of Slavonic Studies was seen as essential. The Institute was established in the late 1960s, with early leadership by Bulgarian Slavicist and archaeologist Ivan Galabov. Language programmes were soon offered in South Slavonic languages (Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian), Polish, and Russian, while Czech was initially offered to a limited extent. One of the most lasting contributions of the Salzburg department to European Slavonic studies was the series of regular linguistic colloquia organised by Otto Kronsteiner. These events were documented in the journal Die slawischen Sprachen, which published both conference contributions and general articles on Slavonic themes. The journal ceased publication following Kronsteiner’s retirement.
A 2005 structural reorganisation brought a new focus on West Slavonic languages (Polish and Czech), alongside Russian. Students now choose one of the three as their main foreign language and a second Slavonic language from the remaining two. Since 2013 – after Professor Anja Tippner’s departure to Hamburg – the Czech studies programme at Salzburg has been led by Professor Peter Deutschmann, who also serves as deputy head of the Department of Slavonic Studies. He represented the Austrian Czech studies community at the 5th Congress of World Czech Literary Studies and had a key role in the founding of the Consortium, which he continues to coordinate at Salzburg. Among the Salzburg Czech studies graduates is our colleague Marie Brunová, who defended her dissertation Faktualität und Fiktionalität im Werk von Jiří Weil in 2020.
The Department of Slavonic Studies remains a dynamic academic environment, which you can follow via its social media (Fachbereich Slawistik Uni Salzburg), official website, and annual reports.
A selection of publications by researchers from the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Salzburg is available here. Their academic output is also recorded in our databases.
Contributions to the history of Slavonic Studies at the University of Salzburg (and in Austria):
This series of posts marks the 10th anniversary of the Consortium of Czech Literary Studies, founded in 2015 and active under the Czech Literary Bibliography and the Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences. We will continue to highlight key moments and future developments throughout the year.
