Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, and in Berlin from 1906 to 1927. There he was also the director of the Institute and Museum for Oceanography by 1918. He dedicated himself to geomorphology and climatology, and he raised the international profile of the Vienna school of physical geography.[2]
With Eduard Brückner, he coauthored Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter, a work in which the two scientists identified the four ice ages of the European Pleistocene (Gunz, Mindel, Riss, Würm); these being named after the river valleys that were the first indication of each glaciation.[3]
Penck arranged for the posthumous publication of his son's work Der Morphologische Analyse in 1924.[5] However he did not take any stance for or against his son's theories on geomorphology.[5]
While Penck's physical geography is highly regarded, his forays into political geography after 1914 have been criticized. During World War I he supported German expansionism, helping to develop the existing concept of Lebensraum (living space: territory necessary for a nation state, specifically for its prosperity and security).[11] This led the American geographer Davis to write: "He used to be liked as much as admired, but during the war some of his statements have lessened the esteem formerly felt for him: into that matter we do not enter farther here".[12] After World War I Penck continued to develop and promote Lebensraum concepts. This thinking was seized upon by German nationalism of the period. For instance, the annexation by Germany of the Reichsgau Wartheland after the 1939 invasion of Poland was justified using Penck's concept of kulturboden (or "German soil").[13]
Hanna Bremer: Albrecht Penck (1858–1945) and Walther Penck (1888–1923), two German Geomorphologists. In: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Vol. 27, 1983, pp. 129–138.
Richard J. Chorley, Robert P. Beckinsale & Antony J. Dunn: The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology, Vol. 2., The Life and Work of William Morris Davis, London 1973.
Nicolas Ginsburger: "La guerre, la plus terribles des érosions". Cultures de guerre et géographes universitaires. France, Allemagne, Etats-Unis (1914-1921)" [archive], unpublished PhD, Université de Paris-Ouest-Nanterre-La Défense, 2010, 1682 p.
Nicolas Ginsburger: "Der Berliner Geograph Albrecht Penck im Ersten Weltkrieg: Die Mobilmachungen eines Akademikers (1914-1920)". In: Acta Historica Leopoldina,75, 2019, pp. 151–163.
Michael Heffernan: Professor Penck's Bluff: Geography, Espionage and Hysteria in World War I. In: Scottish Geographical Journal, Vol. 116, no. 4, 2000, pp. 267–282.
Norman Henniges: "Sehen lernen": Die Exkursionen des Wiener Geographischen Instituts und die Formierung der Praxiskultur der geographischen (Feld-)Beobachtung in der Ära Albrecht Penck (1885-1906).] In: Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 156, Wien 2014, pp. 141–170. (online)
Norman Henniges: Die Spur des Eises: eine praxeologische Studie über die wissenschaftlichen Anfänge des Geologen und Geographen Albrecht Penck (1858-1945). (= Beiträge zur regionalen Geographie. Vol. 69), Leibniz-Institut f. Länderkunde, Leipzig 2017, ISBN978-3-86082-097-1, 556 p. (online)
Norman Henniges: Albrecht Penck. In: Ingo Haar, Michael Fahlbusch (eds.): Handbuch der völkischen Wissenschaften, 2nd ed., Berlin 2017, pp. 570–577.
Alexander Pinwinkler: „Hier war die große Kulturgrenze, die die deutschen Soldaten nur zu deutlich fühlten …“ Albrecht Penck (1858–1945) und die deutsche „Volks- und Kulturbodenforschung“. In: Österreich in Geschichte und Literatur. Vol. 55, 2011, pp. 180–191.
Ingo Schaefer: Der Weg Albrecht Pencks nach München, zur Geographie und zur alpinen Eiszeitforschung. In: Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft in München. Vol 74, 1989, pp. 5–25.
Hans-Dietrich Schultz: „Ein wachsendes Volk braucht Raum.“ Albrecht Penck als politischer Geograph. In: Bernhard Nitz, Hans-Dietrich Schultz, Marlies Schulz (eds.): 1810–2010: 200 Jahre Geographie in Berlin (= Berliner Geographische Arbeiten. Vol. 115). Berlin 2010, pp. 91–135. [2nd ed. 2011, pp. 99–153.]
^Penck, A.『Über politische Grenzen. Rede zum Antritt des Rektorates der Königlichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin gehalten』(Dr. d. Norddeutschen Buchdr. u. Verlagsanst., 1917) pp. 32
^Davis, W. M. "The Penck Festband: a review" (Geographical Review 10 (4): 249-261, 1920)
^Driever, S. L. "Review of: Hitler's Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich ed. by Paolo Giaccaria and Claudio Minca" (Historical Geography, 46(1), 319-321, 2018)
Chorley, Richard J.; Beckinsale, Robert P.; Dunn, Antony J. (2005) [1973]. "Chapter Twenty-Two". The History of the Study of Landforms. Vol. Two. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
