He was chief scientist of the Bruno-Kreisky-Archives Foundation from 1985 to 2003 and has been scientific coordinator of the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue since 1992.
Rathkolb had been scientific employee of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for history and society from 1983 until 2005 and its co-director since 1994.
He had also taken over the office of director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute's European history and public department.
Furthermore, he recommended to relocate the memorial stone erected in 1989 by SPÖ Mayor Gerhard Skiba in the Vienna-based House of Austrian History .
[4] On 8 July 2020 the SPÖ spokeswoman for culture of remembrance, Sabine Schatz, submitted a motion to the National Council calling on Interior Minister Karl Nehammer to ensure that the memorial stone against war and fascism in front of Adolf Hitler's birthplace remains in place.