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112 ♦ Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918
the dominance of the ministry was still indubitable, the growing impor-
tance of nineteenth-century civil society, the press, and multiple political
parties in Parliament restrained active interventionism in the field of uni-
versity policy.
The autonomy of universities also changed their appointment proce-
dures, from being governed by the ministry to being influenced and guided
by it. Nominations were based on documents from the faculties or addi-
tional expertise (although private contact and audiences with the minister
or Sektionschef were not unusual). With the exception of relocations after
changes in the language of instruction at universities, the appointment of
scholars who were not included in the faculty proposals was rare; if this hap-
pened, it was for ideological reasons. In addition, appointments of scholars
who were not the first choice in the faculty proposal (terna) were mostly
linked to financial issues or the appointment of scholars from abroad. With
universities reclaiming their autonomy, appointments that the ministry made
in spite of the terna mostly led to conflict and, as the minister of education
Sigmund Eybesfeld put it regarding the University of Cracow in 1882, to the
degradation of university prestige as well.101
Even when the negotiations with all of the proposed scholars failed, or
the scholars proved unacceptable for some reason, the ministry asked for a
new proposal rather than making a decision on its own. Between 1861 and
1918, in 83 percent (418) of the appointments at the medical and philosoph-
ical faculties of German-language universities, a scholar proposed in the
first faculty proposal was appointed,102 and in 58 percent (295) of cases, the
scholar appointed was the faculty’s first choice. Cases in which the ministry
appointed scholars based on a second proposal made up only 6 percent (29).
Scholars not listed in the proposal were appointed without consultation with
a faculty or deliberately against a faculty’s recommendations in just 11
percent (54) of cases. While the latter were more frequent in the first years
of the new ministry—appointments of scholars not included in the faculty
proposal amounted to 17 percent under Stremayr (1870–79) and 14 percent
under his successor, Paul Gautsch (1879–93)—after 1893 the ministry’s
compliance with faculties’ recommendations increased considerably, and
most short-term ministers agreed with the universities’ proposals. This was
followed by a low rate of appointments from outside the faculty proposal
under Wilhelm von Hartel (7 percent; 1900–5) and Max Hussarek (10 per-
cent; 1911–17).
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book Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space"
Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918
A Social History of a Multilingual Space
- Title
- Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918
- Subtitle
- A Social History of a Multilingual Space
- Author
- Jan Surman
- Publisher
- Purdue University Press
- Location
- West Lafayette
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- ISBN
- 978-1-55753-861-1
- Size
- 16.5 x 25.0 cm
- Pages
- 474
- Keywords
- History, Austria, Eduction System, Learning
- Categories
- Geschichte Vor 1918
Table of contents
- List of Illustrations vi
- List of Tables vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Note on Language Use, Terminology, and Geography xi
- Abbreviations xiii
- Introduction A Biography of the Academic Space 1
- Chapter 1 Centralizing Science for the Empire 19
- Chapter 2 The Neoabsolutist Search for a Unified Space 49
- Chapterr 3 Living Out Academic Autonomy 89
- Chapter 4 German-Language Universities between Austrian and German Space 139
- Chapter 5 Habsburg Slavs and Their Spaces 175
- Chapter 6 Imperial Space and Its Identities 217
- Chapter 7 Habsburg Legacies 243
- Conclusion Paradoxes of the Central European Academic Space 267
- Appendix 1 Disciplines of Habilitation at Austrian Universities 281
- Appendix 2 Databases of Scholars at Cisleithanian Universities 285
- Notes 287
- Bibliography 383
- Index 445