Abstract

The paper examines more broadly the intellectual formation, early carreer and research activity of Franz Dölger with the aim to elucidate, on the one hand, the shift that took place in Byzantine Studies in Munich during the Thirties of the previous century from a philological to a historical direction. On the other hand, the paper offers a detailed analysis of Dölger’s concept of Byzantine literature and its history, the development of this concept and its immediate impact on Byzantine Philology as a separate field within Byzantine Studies. Pivotal in understanding Dölger’s concept are his connection with and use of the Nazi regime and its ideology, as well as a latent but visible antagonism to Karl Krumbacher. The paper includes an analysis of hitherto unknown publications of Dölger from the Nazi era and a number of unpublished documents pertaining to the Athos Expedition of July 1941 and its aftermath.