Page - 118 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

118 ♦  Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 pointing out that the medical faculty of the University of Vienna had recently appointed another anatomist, Ferdinand Hochstetter, using an unico loco proposal; that is, they had only been able to find one suitable candidate. The ministry, however, rejected the proposal from Prague, stating that the University of Vienna had proposed only Hochstetter because he was “im- portant” for them but that there were many candidates other than Gaupp. In the correspondence that followed, the Prague faculty accused the University of Vienna of using the unico loco too often, and the ministry fiercely de- fended its position that it was used rarely and only when there were no other qualified candidates in the empire. The ministry inadvertently confirmed the imbalance between the capital city and Bohemia, however, by finally appointing a young scholar from Vienna instead of Gaupp to the medical faculty in Prague.126 Nevertheless, in most controversial situations, the min- istry corresponded with the faculty and either asked for a new proposal, accompanied by a comment explaining why the appointment of a scholar from the previous proposal could not be realized, or asked the faculty to vote on the inclusion of other scholars in the proposal.127 A number of private individuals, networks, and institutions might also have influenced appointments in various ways. Chairs connected with other institutions were especially crucial. This was the case for meteorology in Vienna, since the chair was linked to the directorship of the Central Bureau of Meteorology and Terrestrial Magnetism, where the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Arts asserted its rights.128 The academy’s voice was seldom authoritative—it usually only confirmed the faculty’s choices—but it still gave the candidates a better standing with respect to the ministry. The final step in the appointment process remained the privilege of Emperor Franz Joseph, who took advantage of his legal right to refuse his signature on only a few occasions. In most cases when he refused his sig- nature, the emperor asked for all the documents needed and granted his signature afterward. The emperor did not sign the minister’s proposal twice in 1872, following the appointment of Stremayr, a member of the German Liberal Party (Deutschliberale Partei), as the minister of religion and ed- ucation.129 Both of the rejected nominees were Prussian, and in one of the rejection notices, Franz Joseph criticized the number of professors from Prussia who had recently been appointed, a clear signal for the minister to limit this practice.130 However, since the universities were increasing in size in this period, appointments from abroad were the only means of ensuring the quality of universities, and Stremayr could not and did not abandon them.