Friedrich Klingner served as rector of Munich University during the 1957/58 academic year. He was a full member of the "Philosophical Historical Class" at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities between 1935 and 1947, and retained his connection as a corresponding member between 1947 and 1968 despite the political and physical division of Germany which became increasingly stark between 1945 and 1961. He was a corresponding member of the Vienna-based Austrian Academy of Sciences and Humanities between 1956 and 1968. He belonged to the Swedish Academy between 1957 and 1968 and, closer to home, was a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities between 1947 and 1968.