The reforms of the Austrian educational systems 1849-1860

The book gathers 14 articles on the reforms of the Austrian University system from 1848 to 1860 named after Leo Thun Hohenstein. Leo Thun-Hohenstein was Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in the Habsburg Monarchy between 1849 and 1860. The reforms that bear his name mark a turning point in the history of the Austrian educational landscape. Especially the universities faced fundamental reforms, bringing about a significant scientific upturn in the following decades. Although Thun-Hohensteins influence on the development of the Austrian university system has been basically acknowledged, both contemporaries and historians have differently assessed his ministership and the reforms. For this reason the book tries to provide new perspectives on the work of Leo Thun-Hohenstein, using to date unknown sources and new approaches. The book is divided in three parts. The first part addresses the planning of the reforms and the complex intellectual environment in which Leo Thun-Hohenstein grew up. Moreover it discusses the controversial question of the role model for the Austrian Reform. The second and largest part studies the implementation of the reform at the different universities of the Habsburg Monarchy. Here the contributions provide a comprehensive perspective on changes at the single universities and the manifold problems, which the reformers were facing because of the multinational monarchy. The last section addresses the historiographical reception and the many criticisms that the reforms and Leo Thun-Hohenstein have met with, and shows how ideologically affected the historiography on the minister had been. With its authors coming from six different countries, this volume renders insights in the varying national historiographical traditions on Leo Thun-Hohnenstein and the reforms and hence offers a transnational view on the topic.