Seite - 115 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 3 ♦  115 these experts normally included professors from Vienna and Habsburg scholars teaching in the German Empire. In particular, smaller universities resorted to these means; not only did they generally lack specialists who could reliably judge the abilities of candidates, but outside opinions also offered symbolic support for the candidates they were proposing.110 Finally, the faculty could vote either on the proposal or, in just a few cases, on each of the proposed scholars, which gave all its members the ability to alter the shape of the proposal. A majority opinion or possibly a minority opinion (Minoritätsvotum) could include completely different scholars, or the same scholars in a different order; in one case, a scholar proposed primo loco (in the first place) was even proposed by the minority to be the only scholar included (a so-called unico loco proposal).111 Each professor, whether on the commission or not, could also propose his own votum separatum (separate opinion), which the dean had to forward to the ministry with his comments on the division of the votes in the faculty. Deans also had the freedom to include their own opinions, presented in the form of recommendations, although they rarely used this option.112 Before the proposal reached the minister of education, the provincial government also weighed in, in most cases simply by forwarding the pro- posal with additional reports on the moral behavior of the candidates but, on occasion, providing decisive judgments. In some cases in the German- language universities—especially if the chair was linked to a function in which the provincial government was included, mostly in medicine (e.g., the directorship of the psychiatric hospital)—the governor’s opinion on the proposed appointment was also included. The provincial government thus influenced various appointments, such as that for a professor of psychiatry in Graz,113 or the establishment of a chair in the history and theory of music in Prague, where the provincial government argued that the records of the Prague Conservatory needed supervision.114 The dual function of professors as academic and provincial officials could also be detrimental. For example, Ludwig Kleinwächter’s conflict with the provincial government following a scandal over the Tyrolean Provincial Birth and Foundlings Institute (Tiroler Landes Gebär- und Findelanstalt) in Innsbruck caused his dismissal from the university.115 The scandal was probably promoted by the Catholic Church, since he was a pro-choice prac- titioner and a known theoretician of abortion. Disciplinary procedures also led to Kleinwächter not being taken into consideration for appointments at other universities later on.116