Page - 167 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 4 ♦  167 Appointments to the German Empire had a similar configuration. Of the 109 Habsburg scholars appointed to universities in the German Empire, approximately two-thirds were German speakers, almost evenly split be- tween the medical and philosophical faculties. However, while members of the medical faculty were appointed via promotions, especially from Vienna, the majority of appointees from the philosophical faculties were already full professors, with fewer appointed to full professorships from positions as Privatdozenten or associate professors. In contrast to the strong relationships with the universities of the German Empire, transfers to and from other countries were limited, primarily owing to language issues. While seventeen scholars were appointed from other countries (including eight from Switzerland and six from Italy), they had mostly been born in the Habsburg Empire and had simply worked abroad for a time, or they had necessary skills, as was the case with professors of Italian and Romance languages. Here, personal connections and traditions were also influential. For example, Habsburg surgeons had three consecutive full professorships in surgery in Utrecht thanks to the private connections of the Viennese surgeon Theodor Billroth.54 One can also find rare instances of transfers resulting from ideological issues. For example, the professor of botany in Belgrade, Lujo Adamović (also Лујо Адамовић), moved to Vienna in 1906 owing to the problems he encountered in Serbia as a foreigner of a different confession from the majority of the intellectuals in the city.55 Overseas appointments did not play a large role for Habsburg scholars. However, in 1914 the University of Vienna initiated an exchange program with the United States, with the philosopher and psychologist George Stewart Fullerton being the first visiting scholar in Vienna,56 but the program did not continue because of the outbreak of war. Fullerton himself was imprisoned when the war broke out and released only in 1918, in poor health, which certainly did not help with reestablishing the program thereafter.57 Habsburg ministers of education almost unanimously supported re- appointing Habsburg scholars who had been working at foreign (mostly German) universities, seeing it as a positive cultural advantage and the con- tinuation of certain research traditions. The minister of education Sigmund Eybesfeld, for instance, wrote in 1885 that nominating a former Viennese Privatdozent who was working in Liège was “a duty of the administration of education, in consideration of the splendid tradition of [Friedrich] Arlt’s school, which [we] should also find in the future representation at . . . the University of Vienna.”58 In even more enthusiastic tones, the minister of