Woytek, Bernhard

"Coins are among the most attractive sources of history and economics: due to their handy format and associated portability, their serial production in large quantities, their durable material, and, above all, their typical combination of images and text. Coins enable a direct engagement with the past and present and have therefore fascinated people for centuries.

The aim of my work is to raise awareness of the significance of ancient coins in the (related) sciences through basic research and interdisciplinary dialogue. However, I also particularly enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for the subject with a wider audience. It is a privilege to take up my position 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 ‘Alterthumskunde’ (classical studies)."

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

• From 1992/93 Studied ancient history, archaeology, and numismatics at the University of Vienna
• Since 2001 Employee at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), initially at the Numismatic Commission
• 2002 Doctorate in Ancient History sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae
• 2006–2009 APART scholarship holder at 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 Foreign Scholarship from the FWF at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Wolfson College
• Since 2013 Head of the Documenta Antiqua Department (working groups: Ancient Legal History and Papyrology, Epigraphy, Lexicography, Numismatics) at the Institute for Cultural History of Antiquity, Austrian Academy of Sciences, and corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
• Summer 2015 Université d'Orléans, Centre Ernest Babelon: Visiting Professor
• Spring 2016 Stanford University: Visiting Associate Professor of Classics
• Spring 2018 University of Warwick, Department of Classics and Ancient History: International Visiting Fellow
• Fall 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 Honor “Jeton de vermeil” from the Société française de numismatique (Paris), in recognition of scientific achievements in the field of numismatics
• 2021-2024 Deputy Head of the Department of Ancient Studies, Austrian Archaeological Institute, ÖAW
• Since September 2024 Professor of Numismatics and Monetary History (focus on antiquity) at the University of Vienna