His research areas are political and constitutional history of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the Thirty Years' War.
He studied history at the University of Vienna from 1974 to 1981, earning his doctorate Sub auspiciis Praesidentis (Promotion under the auspices of the President, the highest level of academic achievement in Austria).
He once sympathized with the Freedom Party of Austria, including contributing to their 1997 manifesto.
[1] In the 2000s he sympathized more with the Austrian People's Party under the chancellorship of Wolfgang Schüssel.
[2] He has received some criticism for his right wing views, in particular for choosing to contribute to a Festschrift book for Holocaust denier David Irving, whose works he has characteristed as "historical discussions".