Eberhard Kolb

Eberhard Kolb was born in Stuttgart, Germany. He passed his Arbitur in 1953 and studied at the universities of Tübingen and Bonn. In 1960, he earned a doctorate in history at the University of Göttingen. He finished his habilitation in 1969 and became a professor of modern history at the University of Würzburg. There he also served as dean of the philosophy faculty. He was a professor of medieval and modern history at the University of Cologne from 1979 until his retirement in 1998. In 1981, he spent a year as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prof. Kolb has published numerous critically-acclaimed works on Imperial Germany, the Weimar era, and Nazi Germany. His book Die Weimarer Republik (The Weimar Republic) is mandatory reading for all students of modern German history. It has been frequently reissued since its publication in 1984, and was translated into English in 1988. His book Bergen-Belsen: Geschichte des "Aufenthaltslager," 1943-1945 (English title: Bergen Belsen: History of the "Residence Camp" 1943-1945), was first published in 1962 in an abbreviated form; it has since gone through at least six editions. Prof. Kolb also was involved in the development of the German National Memorial at Buchenwald and the redevelopment of the concentration camp memorial at Neuengamme. In 2004, he received the Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany.