Studied history and political science at the University of Vienna; since 2002 art restitution/provenance researcher in the Department of Restitution Affairs of the IKG [Jewish Community] Vienna; previously long-standing collaboration in research projects on approaches to Nazi crimes after 1945 and dealing with the past in Austria (FWF, Austrian National Bank Anniversary Fund, Investigation Office for Post-War Justice) and Wehrmacht crimes ("History in the Making", Ruth Wodak/Walter Manoschek); 2000–01 Austrian Historical Commission (Nazi asset expropriation and restitution in Austria).
Josef Morgenstern worked from the 1920s as a commercial agent and Prokurist (authorized signatory) for banks and the pipe industry in Vienna and Amsterdam. At the same time he studied political science at the University of Vienna, obtaining his doctorate in 1928.