Zbornik Znanstvenih Razprav (Dec 2020)
Josip Žontar and Eberhard von Künßberg (Josip Žontar in Eberhard von Künßberg)
Abstract
Dr Josip Žontar was one of the leading Slovenian historians. His research activity fo-cussed on four topics: local history, economic and social history, history of Southeast Europe, and legal history. Žontar especially marked the field of local history with his extensive monograph on the history of the city of Kranj (1939). His research work on the subject of Slovene cities weaves in both economic and legal history. Žontar also engaged in essential issues of Slovene historiography, most notably in a paper entitled “Principles of Slovene History and the Problems of Archives” that he presented at a con-ference of Slovene historians in 1939. He advocated ambitious and responsible historical scientific research, and his work reflects rigorous use of archival sources. His cooperation with Professor Eberhard von Künßberg was connected with Žontar’s contribution to the Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (DRW) and particularly interesting. Professor Eberhard (Georg Otto) Freiherr von Künßberg (1881–1941) was one of the most authoritative German legal historians of the first half of the 20th century and one of the most import-ant contributors to the DRW. He started as an assistant, became editor and ended up leading the project for two and a half decades.
