Bernhard Woytek, Professorship of Numismatics and Monetary History (specialising in antiquity)

Contact Bernhard Woytek

"Coins are among the most attractive sources for history and economics of all: due to their handy format and the associated portability, their serial production in large numbers and the durable material and, above all, in view of the combination of image and text that is typical of them in many cases. Coins enable a direct dialogue with the past and present and have therefore fascinated people for centuries.
The primary aim of my work is to raise awareness of the importance of ancient coins in the (neighbouring) sciences through basic research and interdisciplinary dialogue. However, I also particularly enjoy communicating my enthusiasm for the subject to a wider public. It is a privilege to begin my work exactly 250 years after the first numismatic courses were held at the University of Vienna: in 1774, Joseph Eckhel, one of the founding fathers of scientific ancient numismatics, whose work I have been researching intensively for many years, was appointed professor of ‘Antiquity Studies’." (Bernhard Woytek) 

Research areas:

* Ancient numismatics and monetary history, with a focus on the Roman world
* Ancient economic history
* History of ancient studies in the early modern period

Curriculum Vitae:

from 1992/93 studied Ancient History and Classical Studies and Numismatics at the University of Vienna
From 2001 employee at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), initially at the Numismatic Commission
2002 Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae
2006-2009 APART Fellow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
2009 Habilitation in ‘Numismatics and Monetary History’ at the University of Vienna
Summer 2010 American Numismatic Society (New York): Visiting Scholar in Residence during the 56th Eric P. Newman Graduate Summer Seminar
2010-2011 University of Cambridge: Erwin Schrödinger Fellow of the FWF at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Wolfson College
from 2013 Head of the Documenta Antiqua department (working groups: Ancient Legal History and Papyrology, Epigraphy, Lexicography, Numismatics) at the Institute for the Cultural History of the Ancient World, ÖAW, and Corresponding Member of the ÖAW
Summer 2015 Université d'Orléans, Centre Ernest Babelon: Professeur étranger invité
Spring 2016 Stanford University: Visiting Associate Professor of Classics
Spring 2018 University of Warwick, Department of Classics and Ancient History: International Visiting Fellow
Autumn 2018 British Museum, London: E.S.G. Robinson Visiting Scholar at the Department of Coins and Medals
Summer 2019 University of Oxford: E.S.G. Robinson Visiting Scholar at the Ashmolean Museum (Heberden Coin Room) and C.M. Kraay Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College
2021 Medal of Honour ‘Jeton de vermeil’ of the Société française de numismatique (Paris), in recognition of scientific achievements in the field of numismatics
2021-2024 Deputy Head of the Department of Classical Studies, Austrian Archaeological Institute, ÖAW
Since September 2024 Professor of Numismatics and Monetary History (specialising in antiquity) at the University of Vienna