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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.
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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