Page - 31 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 1 ♦  31 universities traditionally had a strong corporate character, the government was trying to limit them, although, ironically, with much less success than in the Habsburg Empire or Bavaria.49 Similarly, in the Habsburg Empire the imperial administration closely scrutinized the universities. Universities were defined primarily as places of education and discipline, not as places where the artes liberales should thrive. Joseph II wrote in his resolution of 25 November 1782 that the youth must not be taught things they would use in a strange way or in a way that does not serve the well-being of the state, since the essen- tial studies at the university serve the education of state functionaries, and are not dedicated to breeding scholars. They [scholars] should ac- quire scholarly qualifications by themselves, once they acquire the first principles. One should not believe that one can find a single example of someone becoming [a scholar] merely through a lectern.50 Four decades later, Francis II formulated similar ideas, reasserting uni- versities’ role as educational institutions: “I will have my subjects learn all those things that are useful in common life, and likely to keep them attached to our persons and their religion. I do not want teachers who fill the heads of my students with that nonsense which turns out the brains of so many youths in our days.”51 The above-mentioned dualism between education and scholarship was pivotal for the imperial/statist understanding. Through their corporate char- acter, Habsburg universities also had a firm link with the city where they were located and the regional public. Doktoren­ Collegien, the colleges of doctors52 and professors (both active and retired), were part of the university and had the crucial right to award doctorates (Promotionsrecht); they also had members in the academic bodies (faculties, academic senates, etc.). At the same time, they were compulsory representatives of all graduates, similar to the Chamber of Labor, controlling accreditation for practice, es- pecially for jurists and medical students.53 From 1818 the office of the dean was also under the control of the Doktoren-Collegien, and professors were not permitted to hold this position as it would keep them from teaching.54 The corporate character of the universities did not mean that there was no place for science within the university walls. A glance at the names of, for example, the physicists or chemists, especially in Vienna, reveals modern and well-acknowledged scholars, who were also well linked internationally.