Gunther Barth

Who was Gunther Barth?

Gunther Paul Barth was an American historian. Barth joined the University of California, Berkeley faculty in 1962, and taught Western American and urban history until his retirement in 1995. During his career he had reached the position of Professor of History.

Barth came to the United States and to the study of American history on an unusual path. Barth attended local schools in Düsseldorf until he was 16 years of age, after which World War II was well under way, and he was drafted into the military. He fought on several fronts, was wounded twice, and captured by British forces.

After the war, and out of the army, he worked as a journalist in Düsseldorf until 1951. During two of those years he studied literature and art history at the University of Cologne; he also won a year-long fellowship, awarded by the U.S. State Department, which enabled him to study at the University of Oregon. After another year in Cologne, he returned to the United States, worked in New York City in construction and, for a short time, as a nightclub bouncer.

By 1957, armed with an A.B. and an M.A. from the University of Oregon, he felt ready for doctoral work in history and entered Harvard University. Studying for five years, Barth was awarded a Ph.D. for his work in 1962.