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"In the autumn of 1943, I was drafted straight from the 6th grade into military service. As an artillery radio operator, I experienced the final year of the war on the Eastern Front. On 1 May 1945, south of Wittenberge, I was taken into American captivity as a prisoner of war and returned home in December." When I read these lines by Oberhauser in his handwritten curriculum vitae from 7 September 1954, a shiver ran down my spine. That was no easy youth!
Andreas, the youngest of his three sons, tells me that he hardly ever spoke about it. "The war, the flight from the Russians on the Eastern Front, swimming across the Elbe from east to west, and the American captivity had left a deep mark on him."
I can still remember "Oberrudi" well; that is what we called him, and still call him today, in geological circles. He was born on 14 September 1926 in Götzis (Vorarlberg) and was throughout his life a quiet, knowledgeable, and modest colleague. When I joined the Geological Survey of Austria (GBA; since 2023 GeoSphere Austria) in May 1991, he retired in December of that year. Yet, like many of his colleagues, he continued his research as a retiree and was frequently to be found at the GBA until shortly before his death on 5 August 2008.
"The Oberhauser" was already familiar to me – when it came to the geology of Austria – as a student at the University of Vienna. It stood for the 699-page opus "Der geologische Aufbau Österreichs", which he had produced in 1980 as scientific editor together with colleagues from the GBA. Counterposed to "the Oberhauser" was the three-volume "Tollmann", sometimes referred to simply as "Toll". At the same time as Oberhauser, the then head of the institute Alexander Tollmann (1928–2007) at the Institute of Geology had single-handedly published his "Geologie von Österreich" in the years 1977, 1985, and 1986.
After returning from captivity as a prisoner of war, the priority from 1946 onward was finishing school. "Upon his return from the war, his eldest sister, who was the first to meet him on the train in Feldkirch, hardly recognised him because his head was swollen from hunger. His mother simply left customers standing at the open cash register in the family cheese shop in Götzis when the son, believed to be dead, suddenly stood in front of the family home. The first meal he asked for was simple 'Pellkartoffeln', one of his favourite dishes."
On 25 June 1947, Oberhauser passed his Matura at the Bundesgymnasium in Feldkirch. In the autumn, he began studying geology at the University of Innsbruck, although he had originally planned to train as a biology teacher. Andreas has details: "He had to finance his student room in Innsbruck through a student job. He had to stoke the oven of a bakery, which meant getting up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Getting up early obviously didn't bother him."
Four years later, on 14 July 1951, he completed his studies with distinction as a "Dr. phil." with the dissertation "Zur Geologie des Gebietes zwischen Canisfluh und Hohem Ifen (Bregenzerwald)". Before he took up his post as a geologist at the GBA on 1 August 1955, there followed years of training and wandering with stops in Vienna, Innsbruck, Germany, and Turkey. It was during this period that his training as a micropalaeontologist took place. "I used the following year for an intensive study of micropalaeontology at the GBA in Vienna," he wrote in retrospect.
The research branch in question deals with microscopically small organisms, mostly single-celled organisms (foraminifera), but also seed shrimp (ostracods) or other animal and plant remains. Because microorganisms exhibit a great diversity of forms and can be obtained even from tiny sample quantities of aquatic sediments, they are ideal for dating (stratigraphy) and reconstructing former habitats (palaeoecology). He quickly familiarised himself with this subject thanks to his Viennese teachers Rudolf Noth and Rudolf Grill, whom he consulted at the GBA for this purpose.
While micropalaeontological investigations are usually conducted on laboratory-prepared samples under a microscope, there is another way. In the summer of 1952, during a field trip with Swiss colleagues in the Hohe Kugel area (Vorarlberg), he learned how – without laboratory preparation – to arrive quickly at an initial result right on site using a hand lens (20x magnification). Oberhauser practised identification and in 1953 wrote a short report on "Lupenarbeit im Gelände". "For this method, rocks that are ringing hard and strikeable, yielding as smooth a fracture as possible, are primarily to be used."
Of course, this is no miracle method, but with extensive expertise, certain rocks from the Upper Cretaceous period (100 to 66 million years ago) can be differentiated by age. Armed with this knowledge, he joined the Turkish Geological Survey in Ankara (MTA, Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlüğü) as a micropalaeontologist in mid-August 1953. He was not the only Austrian there; back then, the MTA was a career springboard for Austrian geologists such as Felix Ronner, Herwig Holzer, and Traugott E. Gattinger. None of them suspected that all four would later work at the Geological Survey of Austria. Ronner and Gattinger each became directors and thus "Oberrudi's" superiors. Holzer's career led from the GBA in Vienna to Leoben, where he was initially a full professor and, from 1981 to 1985, rector of the Montanuniversität.
Back when regional responsibilities and working areas still existed at the GBA, Oberhauser was appointed district geologist for the federal provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. His home province of Vorarlberg, at the intersection between the Eastern and Western Alps, remained close to his heart until his death. For his geological work, whether at home or abroad, his wife Luise, whom he had married in 1959, always had his back. She took care of the household, the family, and the upbringing of Berndt, Gerold, and Andreas, all of whom pursued academic careers.
Accordingly, Austria's westernmost federal province is well covered with geological maps, with Oberhauser applying his own standards in the truest sense of the word. While maps were usually published at a scale of 1:50,000, he wanted to present his precise mappings in every detail and chose 1:25,000. His geological maps of the Walgau, the Rätikon, as well as St. Gallen and Dornbirn, each with northern and southern sheets, bear witness to this.
He was bound to the doyen of Swiss geology, Rudolf Trümpy, by a lifelong friendship based on mutual professional esteem. Trümpy's view on this: "Rudolf Oberhauser was an ideal mediator, a passionate border crosser. His Vorarlberg lies on the boundary between the Eastern and Western Alps, on the borders of four states, between Alemannic, Tyrolean, Bavarian, and Rhaeto-Romanic populations. We, too, benefited greatly from his versatile knowledge. He was the authority on the geology of Vorarlberg."
Oberhauser was an undisputed scientific authority, as confirmed by all who knew him. When Felix Ronner, the director of the GBA at the time, proposed writing a geology of Austria, Oberhauser made a persuasive case: "whose submitted concept met with all of our approval," as he noted in the introduction. For "Oberrudi", it was clear: "apart from Julius Drimmel of the Central Institute for Meteorology [and Geodynamics, ZAMG; since 2023 GeoSphere Austria], to ask only geologists from within the institution to collaborate, following a consistent concept. Pushing this through against resistance fostered cohesion and motivation within the institution."
Team building, as it would be called today. Indeed, it was no easy feat to win over 29 colleagues, including two retirees and five female colleagues, for the big picture, especially since the regular work could not be neglected either. "Thus, as a scientific editor, for months one could do nothing more than 'tend the fire' and motivate the authors to make use of any leeway that arose so that progress could be made on one chapter or another." Just in time for the 26th International Geological Congress, which took place in Paris in August 1980, "Der geologische Aufbau Österreichs" was completed.
Wolfgang Frisch, a profound expert on the Eastern Alps and plate tectonics, reviewed the book favourably: "Overall, the work at hand can be described as successful and as a valuable enrichment, […]. The opportunity to present an alternative to TOLLMANN's 'Geologie von Österreich', of which only the first part has appeared so far, lies in its compact form and imaginative presentation, in the fact that the 'specialists' each have their say, and in that a diversity of opinions is permitted." The fact that there was already a dedicated chapter on geothermal energy by Felix Ronner must be regarded as innovative today. With a price of 1,980 schillings, roughly equivalent to 470 euros, the magnum opus was not exactly a bargain in 1980.
When the GBA began publishing overview geological maps for the individual federal provinces at a scale of 1:200,000, Oberhauser, by then already retired, stood ready with his expertise for the 'Ländle'. To give away the result: the geological map in question was produced – who would be surprised? – not at 1:200,000, but at a scale of 1:100,000. First came the "Geologisch-tektonische Übersichtskarte von Vorarlberg" (1:200,000) in 1998, with 59 different rock units and a geological cross-section.
Here, he drew his view of the subsurface structure of the westernmost parts of the Alps down to ten kilometres below sea level. Trümpy again on this: "The only thing one could reproach his profiles, drawn in an unmistakable style, for is that at great depths they depict perhaps a few too many details." For Oberhauser, who loved precision in detail, this map was only an initial compromise. He demonstrated perseverance and stuck with it. In December 2007, the time had come: the "Geologische Karte von Vorarlberg 1:100.000" was printed in full detail, differentiated into 241 rock units. In a retrospective that was rather unusually emotional for him, he also showed his relief: "Despite preposterous computer-compliant [sic!] legend programs and failing eyesight, it was possible in 2007, with the very active assistance of Gerhard PESTAL, to present the map, brief explanatory notes, and a cross-section. The accompanying Vorarlberg volume was prepared by J. Georg FRIEBE and collaborators. He deserves every praise for this!"
Shortly before Oberhauser retired at the end of 1991, a series of scientific honours began. On 5 December, an internationally well-attended lecture and poster event was held in his honour at Palais Rasumofsky, the former seat of the GBA, under the motto "Die Geologie von Vorarlberg – Beispiel einer internationalen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich der westlichen Ostalpen".
On that occasion, Tomáš Koráb from Bratislava presented him with the Gold Medal of the Slovak Geological Survey. For the Alpine geologist, this was equivalent to a scientific accolade for the geology of the Carpathians. In 1993, the highest award of the Austrian Geological Society (ÖGG), of which he had been president in the mid-1980s, followed: the Eduard Suess Medal, which had also been awarded to Rudolf Trümpy and Wolfgang Frisch.
Yet his home province also remembered its great son. On 19 March 2007, he received the Grand Decoration of Merit of the Province of Vorarlberg from Governor Herbert Sausgruber. Oberhauser thanked Sausgruber in writing on 28 March and shared his visions for the future: "Allow me to offer a few pointers." His message was centred on renewable energy, which from a geologist's perspective is called geothermal energy. "If the geology meets expectations and the cost-benefit calculation proves positive, I could imagine geothermally heated greenhouses in the Kummenberg region on both sides of the Rhine supplying the surrounding area with vegetables!"
Oberhauser thought visionarily and across borders: "A new borehole positioned perhaps there on the state border off Diepoldsau, funded by Austria and Switzerland and supervised by specialists from both countries, would yield a great deal in terms of natural and cultural history! This applies to geothermal energy as well."
Georg Friebe, a geologist at Inatura in Dornbirn, and Rufus J. Bertle, a geologist from Schruns, cultivate his geological legacy in Vorarlberg today. Rufus J. Bertle, who followed in the footsteps of his father Heiner at the geological consultancy GEOGNOS Bertle ZT GmbH – both also contributed to the Vorarlberg map – visited him the day before his death at Donauspital in Vienna, where his second-eldest son Gerold works as a doctor: "We were still talking about the geology of the Rhine Valley. He was always generous when it came to sharing and passing on his knowledge."
The next day, he died of leukaemia. Andreas Oberhauser remembers his father of wide-ranging interests: "He certainly retained the passion for passing on knowledge, not only in the field of geology, but equally in botany and zoology. Many family outings in the countryside turned into botanical excursions with an integrated test (and frustration on the lecturer's part over the child's ignorance). The same went for animal sightings."
He left behind not only "the Oberhauser", the thick book on the geology of Austria; 33 newly discovered and described species of foraminifera by him should also be mentioned. On the other hand, his achievements were likewise honoured by his peers. The foraminiferal genera Oberhauserella and Oberhauserina named after him bear witness to this. Several species also bear his name (Oberhauseri).
Oberhauser is buried in Vienna at Hietzing Cemetery. The simple headstone comes from his homeland, a dark grey block of rock made of Cretaceous Schrattenkalk (approx. 125 million years old). The polished surface shows white veins formed during the Alpine orogeny. Bernhard Grasemann (Department of Geology at the University of Vienna) has not only personal memories: "Oberhauser was very helpful to me when I was a young diploma student in the Rätikon and gave me the geological map of the Rätikon back then," but can also explain the veins: "Extensional fractures. What is exciting is that there are two generations. The sub-vertical ones are older, while the sub-horizontal ones are younger and terminate at the older ones, or partially reactivate them."
These reflections would likely have pleased him. Sadly, he did not live to hear them. Nor was he, who liked the occasional glass of red wine, granted the opportunity to witness the birth of his youngest grandchild or the career of his daughter-in-law, Sabine Oberhauser, who became Minister of Health and later also Minister for Women in September 2014, and who – after an unsuccessful battle with cancer – followed him to Hietzing Cemetery in February 2017. (Thomas Hofmann, 11 September 2026)