Seite - 112 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

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).