The institutionalization of geography and the development of its spirituality in the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy

Abstract

The foundation and institutionalisation of Austrian and Hungarian geography not only occurred in the same historical period but also within the confines of the same territorial unit, the Habsburg Empire, and then the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. Just as in the case of the population and the enterprises, science had no internal borders within the Monarchy either; still, the vast majority of scholars treat the two parts of the Empire separately. In this paper, my view of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy as a unified legal entity is applied for the development of the discipline of geography. In addition to the process of institutionalisation in the Empire’s two parts (in the form of the establishment of university geography departments and geographical societies), I also provide an overview of the scientific work done by the heads of geography departments of the universities of Vienna and Budapest, the two main centres of national scientific life. By doing so, not only the Dualism-era development of Austrian and Hungarian geography can be compared and their connections can be identified but the Monarchy’s geographical discipline can also be placed in an international context.