Richard Thurnwald
Life and Work
Stations
- 1869Birth
Born on 18 September 1869 in Vienna.
- 1888Military Service— inferred
Before his studies, Thurnwald performed military service.
- 1890–1895Studies in Law— inferred
After his military service he studied law, economics and Oriental languages, among others as a student of Carl Menger.
- 1895Doctorate in Law (Dr. jur.)— approximate
Doctorate in law (Dr. jur.) at the University of Vienna.
- 1895–1901Civil-Service Posts— approximate
After his doctorate he initially took up various civil-service posts.
- 1896Entry into the Civil Service
Entered the civil service in 1896, first in Bosnia, later at the Chamber of Commerce in Graz.[1]
- 1901Move to Berlin and Work at the Ethnological Museum
Moved to Berlin in 1901 and took up a post at the Ethnological Museum (then the Museum für Völkerkunde); pursued ethnological studies and undertook research expeditions.
- 1906–1909Research Expedition to the Solomon Islands / Micronesia
First major field-research expedition to the Solomon Islands and Micronesia.[4]
- 1912–1915Research Expedition to the New Guinea Highlands
Second major field-research expedition to the central New Guinea highlands; Thurnwald was the first European in this region.[5]
- 1917Habilitation
Habilitated at the University of Halle in 1917.
- 1924Teaching in Berlin
Began teaching in Berlin in 1924.
- 1925Founding of the <em>Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Soziologie</em>
Founded the <em>Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Soziologie</em> (Journal for Ethnopsychology and Sociology) in 1925, later renamed <em>Sociologus</em>.[4]
- 1931–1936Visiting Professorships in the USA (Harvard, Yale, Berkeley)
Guest lectures at US universities from 1931 to 1936 – Harvard, Yale and the University of California, Berkeley.
- 1937Professorship at the University of Berlin
Received a professorship at the University of Berlin (Friedrich Wilhelm University) in 1937.[1]
- 1945Professorship at Humboldt University— inferred
After the Second World War, professor at Humboldt University, later at the Free University of Berlin.
- 1948Founding of the Institute for Sociology and Ethnology— approximate
Founded the Institute for Sociology and Ethnology in Berlin.
- 1954Death
Died on 19 January 1954 in Berlin.
Influences
- 1890–1895
From 1890 studied history, law and economics at the University of Vienna and attended Carl Menger's lectures on economics; adopted his insistence on the exact definition of concepts and causal investigation.[6]
- 1932–1940Diedrich Westermann(1875–1956) · Berliner Afrikanistik
Co-author of “The Missionary and Anthropological Research” (1932) and of an ethnological work on Africa (1940) with the Berlin Africanist Diedrich Westermann.[3]
- —Hilde Thurnwald(1890–1979) · Berliner Ethnologie
His wife Hilde Thurnwald participated as an anthropologist in field research in Africa; shared research and publication practice.[7]
Richard Thurnwald in the context of the School as a whole: five generations, their teacher-student lineages, circles and collegial ties.
Show in the family tree →SOURCES ON STATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS9 citations · 2 sources
- [1]Klee, Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich (2005), S. 625 · 2×
- [2]Clark (Hg.), Encyclopedia of Law and Society (2007)
- [3]Thurnwald & Westermann (1932): The Missionary and Anthropological Research
- [4]German Anthropology Online: Richard Thurnwald – Short Portrait · 2×
- [5]Whitmore, N.: The Hindenburg Wall – A review of existing knowledge (zur Kaiserin-Augusta-Fluss-Expedition 1912/13)
- [6]de-academic: Richard Thurnwald
- [7]History of Anthropology Review — Changing Fields: Hilde and Richard Thurnwald's Ethnology
Places of Activity
The Books
Essays, Reviews, Lectures
- APA
- Richard Thurnwald. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 22, 2026, from https://mises.at/en/denker/richard-thurnwald
- Chicago
- “Richard Thurnwald.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://mises.at/en/denker/richard-thurnwald.
- German historical style
- Richard Thurnwald, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.at/en/denker/richard-thurnwald (accessed July 22, 2026).