Hans Bobek

Who was Hans Bobek?

Hans Bobek was an Austrian geographer. After his studies in geography at the University of Innsbruck he became professor of geography at the University of Vienna. Bobek is noted for his works on cultural and social geography, settlement and urban geography as well as on the regional geography of the Near and Middle East, then primarily known as the "Orient". He was, among others, the author of Iran: Probleme eines unterentwickelten Landes alter Kultur. His theory about rural and urban interactions was called Rentenkapitalismus; another important output was the theory of cultural steps.

Bobek was elected a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1953 and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1968. In 1978, he received an honoraray doctorate from the Ruhr University Bochum.