The Thun-Hohenstein University Reforms 1849–1860 Conception – Implementation – Aftermath Edited by Christof Aichner and Brigitte Mazohl VERÖFFENTLICHUNGEN DER KOMMISSION FÜR NEUERE GESCHICHTE ÖSTERREICHS Band 115 Kommission für Neuere Geschichte Österreichs Vorsitzende: em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Brigitte Mazohl Stellvertretender Vorsitzender: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhard Stauber Mitglieder: Dr. Franz Adlgasser Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Becker Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dr. Ernst Bruckmüller Univ.-Prof. Dr. Laurence Cole Univ.-Prof. Dr. Margret Friedrich Univ.-Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Garms-Cornides Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Gehler Univ.-Doz. Mag. Dr. Andreas Gottsmann Univ.-Prof. Dr. Margarete Grandner em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hanns Haas Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dr. Wolfgang Häusler Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dr. Ernst Hanisch Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gabriele Haug-Moritz Dr. Michael Hochedlinger Univ.-Prof. Dr. Lothar Höbelt Mag. Thomas Just Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dr. Grete Klingenstein em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alfred Kohler Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christopher Laferl Gen. Dir. Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner Dr. Stefan Malfèr Gen. Dir. i. R. H.-Prof. Dr. Lorenz Mikoletzky Dr. Gernot Obersteiner Dr. Hans Petschar em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helmut Rumpler Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Martin Scheutz em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gerald Stourzh Univ.-Prof. Dr. Arno Strohmeyer Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dr. Arnold Suppan Univ.-Doz. Dr. Werner Telesko Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Winkelbauer Sekretär: Dr. Christof Aichner The Thun-Hohenstein University Reforms 1849–1860 Conception – Implementation – Aftermath Edited by Christof Aichner and Brigitte Mazohl Published with the support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): PUB 397-G28 Open access: Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Cataloging-in-publication data: http://dnb.d-nb.de © 2017 by Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Wien Köln Weimar Wiesingerstraße 1, A-1010 Wien, www.boehlau-verlag.com Translation: Übersetzungsbüro Schnellübersetzer GmbH (C. Kelly). ISBN 978-3-205-20553-1 Contents Introduction Christof Aichner, Brigitte Mazohl “For the mind and the light! ... Darkness dwindled!” The Thun-Hohenstein University Reforms ......................................................................................................... 5 Walter Höflechner The Thunian Reforms in the context of the development of the sciences in Austria ............................................................................................................. 18 Conception of the reforms Franz Leander Fillafer Leo Thun and the Enlightenmen Thun’s Ideal of Science, University Politics, and the Fortunes of Austrianness ............................... 39 Mitchell G. Ash Was a “German university model” imported to Austria? Open research questions and theses .................................................................................................................. 57 Thomas Maisel Freedom of teaching and learning and the first steps towards a university and academic reform in the revolutionary year of 1848 ............................... 77 The implementation of the reforms Alois Kernbauer Principles, pragmatism and innovation: The implementation of the Thunian Reform at the University of Graz ........................................................................................... 94 Christof Aichner Aspects of the Thunian Reforms at the University of Innsbruck ......................................................... 122 Milada Sekyrková The Thunian reforms at the University of Prague ...................................................................................... 143 Maria Stinia The Jagiellonian University in the era of Minister Leo Thun (1849–1860) .................................... 159 Attila Szilárd Tar The Hungarian law academies in the 1850s ................................................................................................. 177 László Szögi Changes in the foreign university attendance of Hungarian students at the time of the Thunian reforms 1849–1860 ............................................... 191 Alessandra Ferraresi The mixed fortunes of the university reforms in Lombardy-Venetia after 1850. The case of Pavia ....................................................................................... 205 2 Valentina Chierichetti, Simonetta Polenghi The Thun-Hohenstein reform and the Lombardy-Venetian ginnasi. Aspects and problems ............................................................................................................................................ 226 Aftermath and reception of the reforms Jan Surman Leon (sic!) Thun in Polish historiography: On the tradition of the history .................................... 250 Johannes Feichtinger, Franz Leander Fillafer Leo Thun and posterity The academic reformer in the Austrian historical and cultural politics of the 19th and 20th centuries ............................................................................................. 274 Lists and index List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ 304 Literature and source material ........................................................................................................................... 305 Authors ......................................................................................................................................................................... 337 Index........................................................................................................................................................................... 340 3 Introduction Christof Aichner, Brigitte Mazohl “For the mind and the light! ... Darkness dwindled!”1 The Thun-Hohenstein University Reforms This volume presents – in revised and expanded form – the talks given at an international conference on the Thun-Hohenstein university reforms during the Habsburg monarchy, which was held at the University of Innsbruck in June 2013.2 The primary objective of both the conference and this volume of essays was and is to direct attention beyond the boundaries of present-day Austria and to examine in more detail the implementation of the reforms and their consequences at the “Austrian” universities of the time, of which there were ten in total3, with the aim of creating a further basis for future comparative studies. Another key aspect was the – to this day effective – reception history of these reforms and their most important originator, a man who continues to be appraised very differently, the Minister for Religious Affairs and Education, Leo Graf von Thun-Hohenstein. The conceptual pair of university and reform is one that is again very present in public perception today. This can be seen in, among other things, the Europe-wide implementation of reforms known as the Bologna Process, which was aimed at simplifying university education and qualifications in European countries. But historically, too, universities have always been subject to constant change – even if the reforms of recent decades have taken place at a speed never seen before. In addition, university reforms are often a symptom of social, economic and political change. Reforms in the area of the universities – or generally in the field of education – are an expression of the changing ideas on the role of science and education in society. Incidentally, just as constant as the changes in the educational system are the complaints associated with each reform. Fears and worries are often expressed, which are manifested in the more or less severe rejection of the new. Just as frequently, however, also from an historical 1 “Für Geist und Licht! … das Dunkel schwand.” The title derives from a poem by Innsbruck students, which was presented to the minister on the occasion of his visit to Innsbruck in the summer of 1854. The complete poem can be found in the digital edition of the correspondence of Leo Thun: Huldigungsgedichte der Innsbrucker Studentenschaft für Leo Thun. Juli 1854, Státni Oblastní Archiv Litoměřice, Zs. Děčín, Rodinný archiv Thun, Leo Thun, A3 XXI D271. 2 Original conference title: “Für Geist und Licht! … Das Dunkel schwand.” Die Thun-Hohensteinschen Universitätsreformen 1849–1860. Konzeption – Umsetzung – Nachwirkung (5–7 June 2013). 3 Via Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck, these were the universities of Padua, Pavia, Prague, Krakow, Olomouc (until its dissolution in 1855, respectively 1860), Pest and Lviv. 5 perspective, it has been shown that the worries were unjustified in the long term, that the reforms were ultimately successful, and that the university would appear to be a very robust institution. The Thun-Hohenstein reforms also fit this picture. In the revolutionary year of 1848, the mood that had been brewing for some time also broke out in the Habsburg monarchy, and the students and professors who were crucially involved in the revolution demanded not only general civil rights and possibilities for political participation, but also a reform of the universities and the educational system. At this time, the universities had remained largely unchanged since the reforms during the era of Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II. In the sense of the enlightened measures carried out by Joseph II, they were important components in his concept of the restructuring of the state, and were aimed in particular at