In Memoriam
Hon.-Prof. Marie-Luise Kiefer
* 1934
† 17. March 2025
With Dr. Marie Luise Kiefer, the Department of Communication has lost a dedicated teacher and outstanding scholar who made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of communication economics in both research and teaching. From 1994 to 2001, Marie Luise Kiefer served as an Honorary Professor of Communication Economics and Media Research at the Department. During this time, she introduced many students to economic perspectives on media and communication, making an important contribution to the interdisciplinary grounding of communication science. After her retirement as editor-in-chief of the renowned journal Media Perspektiven, she was invited by the then head of department, Prof. emer. Dr. Wolfgang R. Langenbucher, to continue teaching at the Department.
Her textbook Medienökonomik, first published in 2001 and released in a third, revised edition in 2014 in collaboration with Christian Steininger, is considered a pioneering work. It was the first attempt to develop a genuinely European approach to media economics as a sub-discipline of communication science. In this work, Kiefer linked issues of media economics with normative reflections on the media system and drew on concepts from new political economy and institutional economics – thereby enriching the discipline in a lasting way.
Univ.-Prof. i.R. Dr. Peter Vitouch
* 3. May 1947 in Vienna
† 01. July 2023 in Vienna
Peter Vitouch was a Professor at the University of Vienna's Department of Communication from 1987-2012. He habilitated at the University of Vienna in 1986. As a psychologist, he played a key role in shaping the field of media psychology and advancing it both in teaching and research. He was a co-founder of the journal Medienpsychologie: Zeitschrift für Individual- und Massenkommunikation and director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für empirische Medienforschung.
Peter Vitouch was heavily involved in public life and media. He wrote columns in the daily Austrian newspapers Die Presse and Kurier and inspired numerous readers for the topics of media psychology. From 2010-2014, he was a member of the ORF-Publikumsrat (audience council of the Austrian public broadcaster ORF). He received both the Golden Decoration of Honor ("Goldenes Ehrenzeichen") for his services to the City of Vienna as well as the Grand Silver Decoration of Honor ("Silbernes Ehrenzeichen") of the Republic of Austria.
emer. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marianne Lunzer
* 22. July 1919 in Vienna
† 29. July 2021 in Vienna
Marianne Lunzer entered the history of the Institut as a pioneer and trailblazer of modern media history in Austria. Her career began in the winter semester of 1942/43, when she served as Verwalterin einer Assistentenstelle (“administrator of an assistant position”) at the newly founded Institut für Zeitungswissenschaft of the University of Vienna. In 1944, the head of the department, Karl O. Kurth, appointed her as his deputy.
After the liberation , she was the only member allowed to remain at the department, as she was not implicated in the regime. Thanks to her initiative, the first lectures and seminars were able to resume as early as March 1946.
In 1954, she received the venia legendi in newspaper studies, and in 1973 she was appointed ao. Univ.-Prof. neuen Typs (Associate Professor under the new system). Following the death of the head of the department, Kurt Paupié, in December 1981, she got head of the department, a position she held until her retirement at the end of 1985.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hannes Haas
* 21. July 1957 in Leonding, OÖ
† 20. March 2014 in Vienna
In Professor Hannes Haas the Department has lost a high-profile researcher and colleague, but more importantly, a great friend and mentor for many students.
Hannes Haas was born in Leonding/Upper Austria in 1957. He joined the University in 1984 and became a research assistant in 1985. He was Assistant Professor since 1997, Associate Professor since 1998, Vice-Director of the Department of Communication 2000-2006. Deputy Director of Doctoral Programmes at the Faculty of Social Sciences from 2004-2010, Director of the Department 2006-2010. Full Professor for Communication Science since 2010, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences (responsible for internal and external communication) from 2010-2012.
