Page - 150 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

150 ♦  Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 were evident early on. At the philosophical and medical faculties, those who changed university during their careers made up 45 percent and slightly fewer than 30 percent of scholars, respectively. These figures are biased by the number of immobile Privatdozenten, in particular in the Viennese medi- cal faculty. In 1910 around 50 percent of the full professors at the University of Vienna were products of that university and had spent their whole career in Vienna, while at Graz and the German University in Prague, more than 80 percent of professors had come from a different institution. Crucially, it was the University of Vienna that imported and exported the majority of staff working at medical and philosophical faculties (see table 6). While the absolute number was high, however, the imported scholars constituted only around 10 percent of the teaching scholars and around 50 percent of the full professors at Vienna between 1848 and 1918, although the latter were largely Viennese offspring returning from other Austrian universi- ties. With a few exceptions, scholars who left Vienna and pursued careers at other universities were Viennese products, having studied, graduated, and habilitated there. While the movement of scholars was determined by a variety of personal, cultural, and scientific factors, the system remained largely centered on Vienna: other universities profited from graduates from Vienna, and Vienna could choose the best scholars from across the empire in its appointments. Transfers between Habsburg universities were, in most cases, career advancements. Most scholars were promoted (by one rank or two) during the change of university or were moved to universities higher in the hierar- chy, with higher salaries. The increase in salary was either obligatory (by law) or individually negotiated. Even if salaries were subject to negotia- tion during the appointment procedure, the legally codified differences in regular salaries were partially responsible for the Vienna-centric nature of transfers throughout the nineteenth century. Throughout this period the min- istry opposed appointments of scholars from universities with higher regular salaries for scholars of the same rank, as this would burden the budget and create legal precedents.9 The salary discrepancies also made the Ministry of Finance one of the most important agencies controlling appointments. With the regulations of 1849, the salary structure was built around Vienna as the center: professors in Vienna not only earned more (see table 1 in chapter 1) but also received additional money for housing. (New regulations lessened this discrepancy in 1870, and egalitarian salaries were finally introduced in 1898; Viennese professors retained, however, most of their additional