On the Dialectical Origins of the Research Seminar

de Staël Mme , a most sympathetic observer, found the Germans utterly incapable of ‘conversation’. See her D'Allemagne (1813), part 1, chap. 11. On the few fora for non-academic, intellectual life, see Hertz Deborah , Jewish high society in Old Regime Berlin (New Haven and London, 1988). Her work focuses on the salon-culture in Berlin, c. 1780–1806, but much reference to the general literature is there. On the character of the intellectuals toward the end of the eighteenth century, see Brunschwig Henri , La crise de l'état Prussien à la fin du xviii^e siècle et la genèse de la mentalité romantique (Paris, 1947), 176ff. On the professional class in the eighteenth century, see Bruford W. H. , Germany in the eighteenth century: The social background of the literary revival (Cambridge, 1935), 235ff., esp. 247ff.

On the origins of the modern research university, see Ben-David Joseph , The scientist's role in society: A comparative study (Chicago, 1971/1984), 108ff. See also Turner R. Steven , The Prussian universities and the research imperative, 1806 to 1848 (Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1972/73), 1ff., esp. 4ff. Also see his “The growth of professional research in Prussia, 1818 to 1848 — Causes and context”, Historical studies in the physical sciences, iii (1971), 137–82. See esp. 145ff. Also his “The Prussian universities and the concept of research”, Internationales Archiv für die Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur, v (1980), 68–92. And his “University reformers and professorial scholarship in Germany”, in The university in society , ed. by Stone Lawrence (2 vols, Princeton, 1974), ii, 495–532. See, finally, McClelland Charles , State, society and university in Germany, 1700–1914 (London, 1980).

Epistolae obscurorum virorum (1515/16), lib. II, epis, lviii & xlvi. The translation is from Francis Stokes's edition: Epistolae obscurorum virorum: The Latin text with an English rendering (New Haven and London, 1925), 508f., 485f. The Epistolae are satire; but, as with all satire, are founded on truth. Cf. Urkundbuch der Universität Leipzig von 1409 bis 1555, ed. by Stübel Bruno ( Codex diplomaticus Saxoniae regiae , 2. Hpt., xi (Leipzig, 1879)), 280f. The document here, written between 1502 and 1537, corroborates the portrayal given in the Epistolae.

On the dissolution of the collegiate and corporate university in the Germanies, see Clark William , From the medieval universitas scholarium to the German research university: A sociogenesis of the Germanic academic (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, 1986), 286ff., 325ff., 362f. This work must be consulted with care, since, besides being poorly written, it contains numerous misstatements.

Veysey Laurence , The emergence of the American university (Chicago, 1965/70), 125ff., describes the diffusion of the German model in America. On the importance of the German model in general, see Ben-David Turner , op. cit. (ref. 2.). The forthcoming book by Kathryn Olesko, Physics as a calling: Discipline and practice in the Königsberg Seminar for physics, will be, to my knowledge, the first published, detailed study of this influential research institute, founded in 1834, and preceded, therefore, only by the natural sciences seminar at Bonn, founded in 1825. See also her doctoral dissertation, The emergence of theoretical physics in Germany: Franz Neumann and the Königsberg school of physics (Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1980). On the issue of ‘institute-building’ in chemistry, see Turner R. Steven , “Justus Liebig versus Prussian chemistry: Early institute-building in Germany”, Historical studies in the physical sciences, xiii/1 (1982), 129–62. Robert Frank is currently engaged in research on the origins of the bio-medical research institutes in the Germanies.

The historiography began with the new genre of historical writings on individual German universities in the eighteenth century. With the appearance of biographies of eminent philologists, who were usually seminar directors, treatment of the seminars expanded in the nineteenth century. In a few cases, histories of the individual seminars appeared. Most of these biographies and seminar histories will be cited as sources below. Numerous, but scattered, materials on the history of the seminars lie in the late nineteenth century histories of classical philology and higher education. For example, in Bursian Conrad , Geschichte des classischen Philologie (2 vols, Munich and Leipzig, 1883); and Paulsen Friedrich , Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts , 3rd edn (2 vols, Leipzig and Berlin, 1919–21). The first work on the seminar in general seems to be: Erben Wilhelm , “Die Entstehung der Universitäts-Seminare”, Internationale Monatsschrift für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Technik, vii (1913), 1247–64, 1335–48. Thiele Gunner , Geschichte der Preussischen Lehrerseminare (Monumenta Germaniae Paedagogica , lxii; Berlin, 1938), deals only with pedagogical seminaries/seminars for lower school teachers.

It was Turner's work which seems to have reawakened interest in the philology seminars, and brought these issues to a wider audience. See Turner , op. cit. (ref. 2). Cf. McClelland , op. cit. (ref. 2), 60, 85, 111, 127f., and esp. 174ff. On the diffusion of the seminar system to the United States, see Veysey , op. cit. (ref. 5), 153ff. The most recent works on the philology seminars in the Germanies are: Grafton Anthony , “Polyhistor into philolog: Notes on the transformation of German classical scholarship”, History of universities, iii (1983), 159–92, and Leventhal Robert , “The emergence of philological discourse in the German states, 1770–1810”, Isis, lxxvii (1986), 243–60.

The determination of source-materials, and the fundamental concepts and methods for this project, come from my two teachers, Robert Westman and Norton Wise. My intellectual debts here are too great to be equated with a recitation of their publications; but let me mention a few particulars. From Westman's work comes the idea of isolating and reconstructing academics qua personality-types — The notion that there is an academic personality-system, which changes over time, and within which there are both orthodox and deviant types. See, for example, Westman Robert , “The Melanchthon circle, Rheticus and the Wittenberg interpretation of the Copernican theory”, Isis, lxvi (1975), 165–93, and his “The astronomer's role in the sixteenth century: A preliminary study”, History of science, xviii (1980), 105–47. From Wise's work comes the idea of decoding German academic practices for their political discourse — Not simply setting academic practices within a political context, but rather also the opposite: Finding the political context itself within academic practices. (This should not be confused with the banal point that there is ‘politics’ in the academy.) See, for example, Wise M. Norton , “How do sums count? On the cultural origins of statistical causality”, in The probabilistic revolution, 1800–1930: Dynamics of statistical development, i: Ideas in history, ed. by Daston L. (Cambridge, Mass., 1986), 395–425. It is through the combination of these approaches of Westman and Wise that this analysis of research institutions differs from that of Ben-David, Turner, and McClelland. Citations to their works are given supra (ref. 2). 9. References to the literature in Clark, op. cit. (ref. 4), 362ff. See also ibid., 284ff.

See ibid., 87ff., 363ff.

This section makes extensive use of three works by Ewald Horn: Die Disputationen und Promotionen an der Deutschen Universitäten (Centralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, Beiheft xi; Leipzig, 1893); Kolleg und Honorar (Munich, 1897); “Zur Geschichte der Privatdozenten”, Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für deutsche Erziehungs- und Schulgeschichte, ix (1901), 26–70. See also Tholuck August , Das akademische Leben des siebzenten Jahrhunderts (2 vols, Halle, 1853–54).

For details on the origin of the private collegium, see Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 220ff.; Horn , “Zur Geschichte” (ref. 11), 29ff.

The private collegia as disputational collegia derive from the nightly disputations of the colleges (disputationes serotinae, quotidinae, domesticae, mensales, bursales). The nightly disputations of the colleges went alternately through the circle of scholars (per vices circulares), each scholar being sole defendant for a turn, then one of the opponents, all conducted with a master or bachelor presiding (the praeses). See for example the Manuale scholarium (c. 1481), cap. xii, reprinted in Die deutschen Universitäten im Mittelalter , ed. by Zarncke Friedrich (Leipzig, 1857). Cf. also Die Statutenbücher der Universität Leipzig aus den ersten 150 Jahren ihres Bestehens , ed. by Zarncke Friedrich (Leipzig, 1861), 435f. After the Reformation, and the dissolution of the colleges, these nightly circular disputations continued as the disputationes circulares, and eventually the disputational collegia. On the disputationes circulares, see Horn , Die Disputationen (ref. 11), 30ff. Also see Will Georg A. , Geschichte und Beschreibung der Nürnbergischen Universität Altdorf , 2nd edn (Altdorf, 1801; reprinted, Aalen , 1975), 120, and Wolf Ernst , “Zur wissenschaft-lichen Bedeutung der Disputationen and der Wittenberger Universität im 16. Jahrhundert”, 450 Jahre Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg , ed. by Stern L. (2 vols, Halle-Wittenberg, 1952), i, 335–44, esp. 337. See also Ratio studiorum et institutions scholasticae Societatis Jesu per Germaniae olim vigentes , ed. by Pachtler G. M. (Monumenta Germaniae paedegogica, ii, v, ix, xvi; Berlin, 1887–94), v, 341; ix, 287, 357, 393.

See Horn , Die Disputationen (ref. 11), 39f.; Kolleg (ref. 11), passim, esp. 13f., 17, 20, 48ff., 57, 63, 73, 84f; “Zur Geschichte” (ref. 11), 30ff., 36ff., 39f. See also Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 95.

I shall depart from Horn in my assessment of the relation of the private collegium to the seminar. Cf. Horn , Die Disputationen (ref. 11), 41, 94ff.; Kolleg (ref. 11), 17, 19f., 23, 50; “Zur Geschichte” (ref. 11), 47. Cf. also Paulsen, op. cit. (ref. 6), i, 271ff.; ii, 132ff.

I shall return to this point below. Another candidate to be rejected as originary locus for the seminar is the Professorentisch. On the Professorentisch, see Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 220ff., esp. 223ff. and 228. See also Horn , Kolleg (ref. 11), 149ff.

At Göttingen disputational collegia were rare by 1770. At Halle there were commonly a few each term up through the 1770s. At Leipzig many disputational collegia appeared through the 1780s (thirteen in Summer Semester 1780); they continued but declined in numbers by the turn of the century (six in Winter Semester 1800), and the institution fell into desuetude between 1810 and 1820. All these comments concern the arts faculty alone.

Indeed, far more than the disputational form, the enforcement of latinity may have been what led to the gradual abandonment of such collegia by most scholars. This is the judgement of Bonjour regarding why the disputational collegia, earlier well attended, disappeared at Basel by the mid-eighteenth century. See Bonjour Edgar , Die Universität Basel, 1460–1960 (Basel, 1960), 275f.

See Horn , Die Disputationen (ref. 11), 31ff., 42ff. On the public circular disputations at Halle, see ibid. , 36f., 94ff. For Göttingen, see Die Privilegien und ältesten Statuten der Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen, ed. by Ebel Wilhelm (Göttingen, 1961), 61.

See Schrader Wilhelm , Geschichte der Friedrich-Universität zu Halle (2 vols, Halle, 1894), ii, 491ff., esp. 496f. See also document from 1844, reprinted in Das Unterrichtswesen des preussischen Staates: Eine Sammlung aller gesetzlichen Bestimmungen, ed. by von Rönne Ludwig M. P. (2 vols, Berlin, 1855), ii, 515–19.

Most Protestant universities set up such convictoria. On the scholarship system in general, see Enzyklopädie des gesamten Erziehungs- und Unterrichtswesens, ed. by Schmid Karl A. (11 vols, Gotha, 1859), ix, 261ff. References to further sources are there. See also Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 206ff., 212; Paulsen , op. cit. (ref. 6), i, 224ff., 234, 237f., 239f., 243, 245f., 252ff. On Jena and Wittenberg in particular, see Kius Otto , “Das Stipendienwesen in Wittenberg und Jena unter den Ernestinern im 16. Jahrhundert”, Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie, liii (n.s.: Xxix; 1865), 96–150. On Marburg, Unkundensammlung über die Verfassung und Verwaltung der Universität Marburg , ed. by Hildebrand Bruno (Marburg, 1848), 13ff., 39ff., 47, 63ff., 69, 72ff. On Heidelberg, Statuten und Reformationen der Universität Heidelberg von 16. bis 18. Jahrhundert , ed. by Thorbecke August (Leipzig, 1891), 147, 151, 211. On Tübingen, Urkunden zur Geschichte der Universität Tübingen , ed. by Roth Rudolf (Tübingen, 1877), 195, 425ff., 441f.; and also Hofmann Norbert , Die Artistenfakultät an der Universität Tübingen (Contubernium, xxviii; Tübingen, 1982), 11, 47, 51. On Greifswald, Kosegarten Johann G. L. , Geschichte der Universität Greifswald (2 vols, Greifswald, 1856–57), i, 209f.

On the lack of juridical personality of the scholarship funds in general in Germany, see Sohm Rudolf , Institutionen, Geschichte und System des römischen Privatrechts , ed. by Mitteis L. Wenger L. , 17th edn (Leipzig, 1949), 204, note 3.

On the social order of the convictoria, see Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 207ff., 211ff. In particular, on Marburg, Urkundensammlung … Marburg (ref. 21), 45, 47, 69, 72f. On Tübingen, Urkunden … Tübingen (ref. 21), 429, 441, 446. On Heidelberg, Statuten … Heidelberg (ref. 21), 136ff., 139, 151, 211, 213ff. On the relation to the civil service and the tendency of the convictoria toward the clerical estate, see Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 206ff., 216. In particular, see Kius , op. cit. (ref. 21), 115,152; Kosegarten , op. cit. (ref. 21), i, 209; Urkundensammlung … Marburg (ref. 21), 15, 40ff., 70.

See Statuten … Heidelberg (ref. 21), 108f., 140, 149ff., 211f.; Urkundensammlung … Marburg (ref. 21), 45f., 69, 72; Urkunden … Tübingen (ref. 21), 440f., 444. On Luther's role in preserving disputation, see Wolf E. , op. cit. (ref. 13), passim, esp. 339ff. On Melanchthon's role in the reform of the educational system, and especially in propagating Luther's agenda, see Paulsen , op. cit. (ref. 6), i, 224ff., 234, 237f., 239f., 243, 245f., 252ff., 271ff.

On the matter of social origins, see Tholuck , op. cit. (ref. 11), i, 206, 212; Kius , op. cit. (ref. 21), 103.

See Duhr Bernhard , Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Ländern deutscher Zunge (4 vols, Freiburg im Br., 1907), i, 295ff., 315ff. Relevant documents in Ratio studiorum (ref. 13), ii, 322, 404f., 411ff., 417ff., 441; xvi, 236ff., 254ff., 258f., 261, 265.

Document reprinted in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum decreta, ed. by Albergio J. (3rd. edn, Bologna, 1973). Canon xvii of the “Decreta super reformatione” is on pp. 750–3. On the history of the seminary antecedent to the Council of Trent, see Theiner Augustin , Geschichte der geistlichen Bildungsanstalten (Mainz and Vienna, 1835). See esp. 10ff., 15f., 28f., 66f., 103f., 106ff.

See Duhr , op. cit. (ref. 26), i, 551ff; ii: 2, 552ff.; iii, 278ff. Relevant documents are in Ratio studiorum (ref. 13), xvi, 175ff, 187ff., 254ff., 268ff., 310ff., 332ff.

See Thiele , op. cit. (ref. 6), passim, esp. 80ff., 130ff.

See Frick Otto , Das Seminarium praeceptorum (Halle, 1883), passim, esp. 1–10.

See Frick , op. cit. (ref. 30), 6.

Much is to be found in Immanuel Götz, Geographica academica (Nuremberg, 1789).

Ratio studiorum (ref. 13), v, 460ff.

Ibid., 470.

See Schulze Johann D. , Abriss einer Geschichte der Leipziger Universität, 2nd edn (Leipzig, 1810), 177ff.

Ibid.

See Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 604ff.

See ibid., 423ff.

On Leipzig, see Schulze , op. cit. (ref. 35), 215ff., 267.

Pierides sive latinum literatum continens selection elaborationum a membris Societatis latinae exhibitam, ed. by Otto Martin H. (Halle, 1736), 15ff., 25, 28ff.

“Leges”, Exercitationes Societatis latinae , ed. by Hallbauer F. E. (Jena, 1741), pp. iii, xxxxiii et seq. See also Literarisches Museum für die Grossherzoglich Sächsischen Lande (Jenaischer Universitäts-Almanach f. d. J. 1816, ed. by Güldenapfel Georg G. ; Jena, 1816), 271ff.

See Will , op. cit. (ref. 13), 151f.

Henceforth unreferenced remarks are to be understood as based on materials cited in the Appendix.

See Beck Christian D. , De consiliis et rationibus seminarii philologici (Leipzig, 1809), 4, and Wolf's letter of April 1810 (#489) in Friedrich August Wolf: Ein Leben in Briefen , ed. by Reiter Siegfried (3 vols, Stuttgart, 1935), ii, 104.

The University at Würzburg was the only one not to possess a philological seminar, having failed to obtain it in 1805.

The exact data on this are in the Appendix.

For a cursory treatment of the problem of private societies and institutions, and their relation to the state, see Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 423ff., esp. 446ff. For a discussion in labyrinthine detaim, see von Gierke Otto , Rechtsgeschichte der deutschen Genossenschaften (4 vols, Berlin, 1868–1913).

Definite budgets existed at Erlangen, Göttingen, Helmstedt, Kiel, Wittenberg, Halle, Berlin, Bonn, Greifswald, Königsberg, Freiburg im Br., Munich, Giessen, Marburg, Rostock, Tübingen and Vienna.

“Das philologische Seminar”, Chronik der Universität Kiel a. d. J. 1855 (Kiel, 1856), 37. At Kiel the seminar was originally actually but a Stipendienanstalt, four scholarships having been set up in 1777 for students of philology and pedagogy. Some time after 1804 this became a Philologisches Institut.

Stählin Otto , Das Seminar für klassische Philologie an der Universität Erlangen (Erlangener Universitätsreden, i (Erlangen, 1928), 7, 10.

For Erlangen see Acta historico-ecclesiastica nostri temporis, iv (1777), 620. At Helmstedt there were reports from the commission overseeing the seminar at least since 1786. See document in Stalmann Wilhelm , “Das herzogliche philologisch-pädagogische Institut auf der Universität zu Helmstedt (1779–1810)”, Jahresbericht über das Herzogliche Gymnasium zu Blankenburg am Harz (Blankenburg am Harz, 1899–1900), ii, 23f. For Kiel regular reporting seems to emerge only once some amount of control was invested in a commission at the university. See document of 1810 in Systematische Sammlung der für die Herzogthümer Schleswig und Holstein erlassenen … Verordnungen und Verfügungen (Kiel, 1832), iv, 578ff.

See documents of 1788 in Arnoldt J. F. D. , Friedrich August Wolf in seinem Verhältnisse zum Schulmann (2 vols, Braunschweig, 1861), i, 256. On Wolf's problem with these reports, and his execution of them, see his letters between 1788 and 1805 in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 60, 63ff., 70ff., 75ff., 94f., 209ff., 280, 293ff., 313f., 343f., 348f.; iii, 20, 76, 122.

Regular reporting was also mandated for the seminars at Leipzig, Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Greifswald, Königsberg, Freiburg im Br., Munich and Rostock. I do not know about Jena, Dorpat, Heidelberg, Marburg and Tübingen. The 1827 regulations for the seminar at Giessen do not mention reporting, but paragraph 1 clearly puts the seminar under ministerial control.

See Gesner Johann M. , “Programma … in scholis seminarii philologici… [1737]”, Opuscula minora varii argumenti (Breslau, 1743), i, 70f. See also the Schulordnung für die Churfürstl. Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Lande (Gotha, 1738), 209f. Also see George's King “Anweisung” of 1737 reprinted in Evangelische Schulordnungen , ed. by Vormbaum Reinhold (3 vols, Gütersloh, 1860–64), iii, 358f., footnote. See Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 4, on the novelty of the Göttingen seminar.

There were exceptions to this in the eighteenth century, e.g. the pedagogical institutions at Halle and Wittenberg.

For the seminars at Bonn, Halle, Königsberg, and Münster, see Die preussischen Universitäten: Eine Sammlung der Verordnungen , ed. by Koch Johann F. W. (2 vols in 3 pts, Berlin, 1839–40), ii/2, 621ff, 624ff., 839ff., 846ff., 850ff., 855ff., 858ff; and Verordnungen und Gesetze für die höheren Schulen in Preussen , ed. by Wiese Ludwig (2 vols, Berlin, 1867), ii/2, 30, 42, 45, 47ff. On the Leipzig physical institute, see Eulenberg Franz , Die Entwicklung der Universität Leipzig in den letzten hundert Jahren (Leipzig, 1909), 112; and Wiener Otto , “Das physikalische und das theoretisch-physische Institut”, Festschrift zur Feier des 500 jährigen Bestehens der Universität Leipzig, 1409–1909 (4 vols, Leipzig, 1909), iv/2, 24ff., esp. 33ff.

On how scholastic the resolution of this question can swiftly become, one can survey the discussion regarding when the cabinet de physique really did become an ‘institute’ for physical sciences at Marburg. See Hermelink Heinrich Kaehler S. (eds), Die Philipps-Universität zu Marburg, 1527–1927 (Marburg, 1927), 532, 757ff.; Schmitz Rudolf , Die Naturwissenschaften an der Universität Marburg, 1527–1977 (Marburg, 1978), 59. Cf. Lexis Wilhelm (ed.), Die deutschen Universitäten (4 vols, Berlin, 1893), ii, 25ff.

For all German universities, the seminars and institutes, along with their budgets in the early 1890s, are listed in ibid., i, 619; ii, 174ff. On the departmentalization of the faculties in America, see Veysey , op. cit. (ref. 5), 153ff, 320ff.

The status of the members of the directorate is given in each case after their names in the Appendix.

See document of 1780, in Braunschweigische Schulordnungen von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Jahre 1828, ed. by Koldeway Friedrich ( Monumenta Germaniae paedagogica , i and viii; Berlin, 1886–90), viii, 467. See also Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 7, 10.

For Kiel , Chronik … Kiel (ref. 49), 37. For Göttingen see Pütter Johann , Versuch einer academischen Gelehrten-Geschichte der Georg-Augustus Universität zu Göttingen (4 vols, Göttingen and Hanover, 1765–1838), ii, 274.

See Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 10.

See the description by Heyne, the director after 1763, in Pütter, op. cit. (ref. 61), i, 248ff. Also ibid., ii, 273ff. On Heyne's selection of the seminarians, see Heeren Arnold , Christian Gottlob Heyne: Biographische Dargestellt (Göttingen, 1813), 251. On selection protocols, also see Pütter , op. cit. (ref. 61), ii, 274; iv, 168. Leventhal, op. cit. (ref. 7), 257, footnote 33, claims that the philology seminar first became “a royally funded institute” in 1784, citing the following as his source: “Ankündigung einer wirklich königlichen Stiftung des Philologischen Seminars”, Göttingsche Anzeige, clxxxiii (1784), 1882. I have checked this source and am somewhat baffled. The few pages to which he refers ( ibid. , 1881–84) actually concern “die Ankündigung einer wirklich königlichen Stiftung von vier jährlichen Preisen für die Studierenden” (ibid., 1881; emphasis mine).

See Körte Wilhelm , Leben und Studien Friedrich August Wolfs, des Philologen (2 vols, Essen, 1883), i, 202ff., esp. 203. Arnoldt , op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 246ff., esp. 246, 248, 251, 254f. See also Wolf's letter of February 5, 1788, in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 63.

Kiel , Chronik … Kiel (ref. 49), 37. The University at Helmstedt was closed in 1809, with no major changes seeming to have taken place in the seminar. At Erlangen the seminar appears to fall under the control of the director statutorily in 1827, though perhaps de facto as early as 1817. See Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 14ff. On the Wittenberg seminar, I have no knowledge on this point.

This is so for the seminars at Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Dorpat, Giessen, Greifswald, Königsberg, Leipzig, Tübingen, and appears to be so at Marburg. At Rostock the director admitted, with full members of the seminar having some voice in the matter. At Munich the director had to report to the ministry regarding the awarding of scholarships, though it is unclear whether this was only pro forma. At Freiburg im Br. admission came through the Direktorium, of which ministerial officials could conceivably have partaken. I do not know about Heidelberg.

More detail on these matters is in Section D infra.

See the lists of directors in Appendix.

Actually, three individuals: J. D. Michaelis was provisional director from 1762 to 1763.

These seminars, as noted, remained under ministerial control.

See Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 206. Here an extraordinarius as Inspector to the seminar is mentioned.

Such was also the case at Leipzig after 1848, and at the pedagogical seminar at Münster.

Hermelink , op. cit. (ref. 57), 695ff.

Sick of C. G. Heyne's seminar, students instigated the foundation of a philological society in 1811 as a counter-institution to the seminar. Between 1813 and 1815 the official seminar collapsed. Upon its reconstitution in 1815, and Heyne having died, Mitscherlich C. W. Wunderlich F. K. Dissen G. L. became co-directors, all seeming to share equal power.

From the lecture catalogues, one can see that the two directors, Heinrich K. F. Naeke A. F. , alternated in the Latin and Greek sections. Moreover, though F. G. Welcker did not officially teach in the seminar, the directors involved him as an equal in the supervision of the philology students.

Reisig C. founded a philological society as counter-institution to the seminar in 1824. Here students had to pay instead of being paid. See Ribbeck Otto , Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschi (Leipzig, 1879–81), i, 37f.

On the pedagogical ends of the other seminars, see for example Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 53, 55; ii, 113, 117; Neues Wittenbergisches Wochenblatt, xxxi (issue of 2 August 1806), 243ff.; Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 56; Systematische Sammlung (ref. 51), 577, 580f.; Sammlung der im Gebiet der inneren Staatsverwaltung des Königreiches bestehenden Verordnungen , ed. by Döllinger Georg (20 vols, Munich, 1835–39), ix/1, 236; Reglement für das nach 93–100 des Allerhöchst bestätigten Statuts der Kaiserlichen Universität zu Dorpat dasselbst eröffnete Pädagogisch-philologische Seminarium (Dorpat, 1822), 3, 14; Zell Carl , Programm … Betrachtung über die Wichtigkeit und Bedeutung des Studiums der classischen Literatur … nebst Nachricht über das an der hiesige Universität neu gegründete philologische Seminarium (Freiburg im Br., 1830), 7, 37f.; “Bekanntmachung, die Statuten des philologischen Seminars zu Giessen [1827]”, Grossherzoglich Hessisches Regierungsblatt, xlv (issue of 26 Sept. 1827), 426; Friedländer Paul , “Zur Geschichte des Altphilologischen Seminars”, in Hermelink, op. cit. (ref. 57), 695; Statuten für das Grossherzogliche philologische Seminarium zu Rostock (Rostock, 1829), 2; “Bekanntmachung, die Einrichtung von Seminarien für Lehramts-Candidaten and der Universität [Tübingen] betreffend [1838]”, Regeirungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemburg (Stuttgart, 1838), 332; “Statuten des philologisch-historischen Seminars zu Wien [1850]”, Zeitschrift für das österreichische Gymnasium, i, (1850), 855f.

See Johann Schulze's review of F. Thiersch's Über gelehrte Schulen, in Jahrbücher für wissenschaftliche Kritik, i (1827), 92ff. The pedagogical ends are only implicit in the Prussian statutes. See for example paragraphs 8 and 13 of the 1812 statutes of the Berlin seminar, in Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 560ff.

Sources for the following are often ambiguous as to whether the amounts given are per term, or per year.

On the (non-university) teacher training seminars for the schools below the Gymnasia, see Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 407, 409f.

At Bonn and Königsberg, 50 Rthlr for three students, and 40 Rthlr for five students; Freiburg im Br., 25 Fl. for ten, and two with nothing; Marburg, 200 Fr. for three, and 100 Fr. for four, plus four with nothing; Munich, 100 Fl. for eight, and 50 Fl. for four; Rostock, 20 Rthlr for five, and 25 Rthlr for one; Vienna, 60 Fl. for twelve; Dorpat 400 Rbl. for ten.

I have no information on the seminars at Heidelberg and Jena.

See Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 471ff.

See, for example, the Göttingen statutes in Evangelische Schulordnungen (ref. 54), iii, 359, footnote. For Freiburg im Br., see Zell , op. cit. (ref. 77), 37.

Heyne kicked out J. H. Voss and his lazy friend. See Herbst Wilhelm , Johann Heinrich Voss (2 vols, Leipzig, 1872–76), i, 73–76.

Wolf F. A. , letter of 6 Sept. 1787, in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 55f.

Wolf F. A. , cited in Arnoldt, op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 255.

Although it is not in the statutes, Heyne at Göttingen had this power, since he did it. See Herbst , op. cit. (ref. 85), i, 76. See also Pütter , op. cit. (ref. 61), iv, 168. Wolf had the same power at Halle. See Wolf , op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 56; Arnoldt , op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 249; and Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 222. At the later Prussian seminars — Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Greifswald, Halle (reorganized), and Königsberg — Power of expulsion is written into the statutes. The same is true at Erlangen, Freiburg im Br., Helmstedt, Kiel and Tübingen. I do not know about Dorpat, Geissen, Heidelberg, Jena, Leipzig, Marburg, Munich and Rostock.

So the Königsberg statutes. See document in Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 853. The top three seminarians at Berlin and Königsberg get 50 Rthlr, while the other five get 40 Rthlr. At Freiburg im Br., the bottom two of the twelve get nothing, the other ten receiving 25 Fl. At Halle as reorganized (1829), the top four get 40 Thlr, with the remaining eleven getting 20 Thlr. This practice of differential amounts based on competition seems to have been pioneered earlier by Wolf at Halle. See Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 204, including footnote.

Augustin Christian F. , Bemerkungen eines Akademikers über Halle und dessen Bewohner in Briefen (‘Germanien’, 1795), 87.

On the professional status of the directors, see Appendix.

See Gesner , op. cit. (ref. 54), i, 70; Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 9.

The concept of the undergraduate major seems to emerge only in the late eighteenth century.

Notorious since in 1776/77 Heyne, the director of the Göttingen seminar, tried to talk F. A. Wolf out of registering as philologiae studiosus, entreating him instead, in his own best interest, to register with the theology faculty. See Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 40ff., 46ff., 207,217. But at Erlangen there had been philology majors since 1749. See Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 9. Even at Göttingen students had registered as philology majors prior to Wolf. See Table 1.

Table 1 was constructed from collating the list of seminarians with the matriculation register. The matriculation register is Die Matrikel der Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen, 1734–1837, ed. by von Selle Götz (Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hannover, ix; Hildesheim and Leipzig, 1937). The seminarians are listed in Pütter, op. cit. (ref. 61), ii, 275–8; iii, 494–7; iv, 169–71. The years given in the table are the year of matriculation of the seminarians, not the actual year of entry or in the seminar. Most students enter the seminar one or two years after matriculating. The period chosen (1764–1835) was a function of how the data were originally gathered. The breakdown into three year periods was made only for clarity's sake. Eighteen students are listed in Pütter, whom I was unable to find in the matriculation register; the table is, therefore, somewhat incomplete.

See the letters in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 53, 55f.; ii, 104. Friedrich Thiersch's visit to Wolf's seminar documented the same sentiment. See letter to Lange in Heinrich W. J. Thiersch, Freidrich Thierschs Leben (2 vols, Leipzig, 1866), i, 34.

Universitätsarchiv Halle, Rep. 3, Nr. 260 = Acta, iii, 1802–6. Blatt 46 has a list of seminarians for WS 1801/2; Blatt 75 has that for SS 1802. See also Blätter 168 and 196 for WS 1802/3 and SS 1803. See also Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 207.

See paragraph 2 of the statutes of the Berlin seminar, 1812, in Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 560. The drift of most of the nineteenth century foundations is in this direction.

The case of the seminar at Erlangen is instructive. While the seminar had originally been founded (1777) for theology majors, the new statutes of 1827 stipulate preference for philology majors. See Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 9, 15f.

See Gesner , op. cit. (ref. 54), 72ff.

Heyne in Pütter , op. cit. (ref. 61), i, 249.

On Halle, see Arnoldt , op. cit. (ref. 52), 102ff., 248ff.; Wolf , op. cit. (ref. 44), 53ff., 314. On Erlangen, Acta historico-ecclesiastica (ref. 51), 618; Engelhardt Johann G. V. , Die Universität Erlangen von 1743–1843 (Erlangen, 1843), 151ff.; Stählin , op. cit. (ref. 50), 9, 15f. On Wittenberg, Wittenbergisches Wochenblatt , i/15 (1768), 131; Neues Wittenbergisches (ref. 77), 243ff. On Kiel, Systematische Sammlung (ref. 51), 578. On Helmstedt, documents of 1779/80 and 1780 in Braunschweigische Schulordnungen (ref. 60), viii, 463ff. In all seminars, including Göttingen and Halle, some practical experience in pedagogical matters continued with the philological.

Augustin, on his visit to Halle in the early 1790s, reports that Wolf gave his seminar such an assignment. Augustin saw no sense in the exercise. See Augustin , op. cit. (ref. 90), 86f.

Examples additional to the two cited infra are the following. On the Halle seminar, see Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 169f., 171, footnote; Arnoldt , op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 103. But also cf. F. Thiersch's report on how Wolf ran the seminar in H. W. J. Thiersch, op. cit. (ref. 96), i, 33f. On the Leipzig society/seminar under its first director, see Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 61; Schulze , op. cit. (ref. 35), 253f. At Helmstedt, students did not seem to lead the lessons by turns, but rather collectively participated, presumably under the director as chairman. See Stalmann , op. cit. (ref. 51), 14. On Tübingen, Regierungs-Blatt (ref. 77), 332; and “Bekanntmachung des akademischen Senats, die Einrichtung von Seminarien für Lehramts-Candidaten and der Universität betreffen [1838]”, Vollständige, historische und kritisch bearbeitete Sammlung der Württembergische Gesetze, xii/2: Gesetze für die Mittle und Hochschulen, ed. by Reyscher A. L. (Tübingen, 1847), 718. On Vienna, see Zeitschrift (ref. 77), 855f., 859. For the Prussian seminars, the manner in which the seminarial lessons are described in the lecture catalogue is telling. Summer Semester 1822 at Berlin: “Im philologischen Seminar wird Herr Prof. Böckh Mittwochs und Sonnabends von 10–11 Uhr den Euripides erklären lassen…” (emphases mine), whereas a private collegium in the same catalogue reads: “Die Republik des Platons erklärt Hr. Prof. Böckh …” (emphasis mine). Thus, in the private collegium the professor interprets the text, while in seminar the student does.

Pütter , op. cit. (ref. 61), ii, 273f. The remark concerns Heyne's seminar at Göttingen.

Statut für das philologische Seminarium zu Freiburg (Freiburg im Br., 1830), 3 (paragraph 16).

On hearing of Wolf's having tossed out a seminarian at Halle on just such grounds, Gottfried Hermann, Professor of Philology at Leipzig, made the sign of the cross. See Thiersch H. W. J. , op. cit. (ref. 96), i, 34.

The Kiel seminar, for example, stands as a great exception when it mandates a formal examination after two years, passage of which is needed for continuation of scholarship. See Systematische Sammlung (ref. 51), 578f. (paragraph 9).

Contra the imposition of examinations in seminar, see Wolf , op. cit. (ref. 44), ii, 113.

Examination, either written or oral, and submission of written work was required by the seminars at Göttingen (at least under Heyne), Kiel, Helmstedt, Leipzig, Halle, Berlin, Bonn, and Königsberg. See Heeren , op. cit. (ref. 63), 252; Systematische Sammlung (ref. 51), 578f; Braunschweigische Schulordnungen (ref. 60), viii, 465; Wideburg Friedrich A. , “Nachricht von dem auf der Julius-Carls-Universität zu Helmstedt errichteten philologisch-pädagogischen Institut”, Gelehrte Beyträge zu den Braunschweigische Anzeigen , October 1780, pts lxxix–lxxxi, 618f.; Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 60; Arnoldt , op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 246ff.; Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 561, 621f., 851. Dorpat, Giessen, Tübingen, Breslau, and Greifswald seem only to require an examination, while Freiburg im Br., Rostock and Vienna only a specimen of writing, sometimes also with submission of the Maturitätsprüfung. See Reglement … Dorpat (ref. 77), 4f.; Grossherzoglich Hessisches (ref. 77), 426; Regierungs-Blatt (ref. 77), 333; Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2,680,719; Statut… Freiburg im Br . (ref. 106), paragraphs 11 and 14; Statuten … Rostock (ref. 77), 3f.; Zeitschrift (ref. 77), 859.

By the time a seminar is founded in Vienna (1850), the standards for admission have become formidable. See Zeitschrift (ref. 77), 859.

Statute of the Bonn seminar, 1819. In Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 623.

Statute of the Königsberg seminar, 1822. In ibid., 853.

Cf. Leventhal , op. cit. (ref. 7), 257. He argues that the disputational form became attenuated over time.

See Schulordnung … Braunschweig-Lünburgische (ref. 54), 220. I find no mention of disputation, qua formal exercise, at Kiel or Wittenberg.

See Acta historico-ecclesiastica (ref. 51), 618; also Engelhardt , op. cit. (ref. 102), 153.

Wolf may have changed the seminar's structure upon occasion, so producing conflicting reports on frequency of disputation. See documents in Arnoldt, op. cit. (ref. 52), i, 103f, 248, 255; Körte , op. cit. (ref. 64), i, 169ff., 210, 212, 220. See also Wolf , op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 53, 55f., 75, 314; ii, 104. Also Wilhelm Süss, Karl Morgenstern (1770–1852): Ein kulturhistorisches Versuch (Eesti Vabargiigi Taru Uelikooli. Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis (Dorpatensis), B. Humaniora, xvi and xix; Dorpat, 1928), i, 35, footnote. On Göttingen, see Heeren , op. cit. (ref. 63), 252f.; Pütter , op. cit. (ref. 61), iv, 169. On Helmstedt, see Wideburg Friedrich A. , “Nachricht von der Einrichtung des philologisch-pädagogischen Seminariums auf der Julius Karl Universität”, Humanistisches Magazin auf das Jahre 1788 , ii [?] (Helmstedt, 1788), 289ff., esp. 295. See also Stalmann , op. cit. (ref. 51), i, 14; and statutes in Braunschweigische Schulordnungen (ref. 60), viii, 465f. (paragraph vii). From Stalmann it is clear that the above transpired weekly.

Such disputation was held at Bonn, Greifswald, Halle (reorganized) and Königsberg, usually every week; at Berlin and Breslau, every two weeks. See Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 561, 621ff., 681, 720, 776f., 852f. On Berlin, see also Klausen Rudolf H. , “A. Böckh's Biographie”, Lebensbilder berühmter Humanisten: Erste Reihe , ed. by Hoffmann S. F. W. (Leipzig, 1837), 44. On Breslau, see also Ribbeck , op. cit. (ref. 76), i, 125. At Leipzig seemingly weekly: See Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 60f., 69f.; also Schulze , op. cit. (ref. 35), 253f. At Freiburg im Br., seemingly about once every two weeks: See Statut … Freiburg im Br. (ref. 106), 1 (paragraph 5), 3 (paragraph 16), 5f. (Zu 5, ad 2 and ad 3). At Giessen, once a week: See Grossherzoglich Hessisches Regierungsblatt (ref. 77), 428f. At Munich, seemingly once a week: See Loewe Hans , Friedrich Thiersch: Ein Humanistenleben im Rahmen der Geistesgeschichte seiner Zeit (Munich, 1925), 364f. At Rostock, in two weeks out of every five: See Statuten … Rostock (ref. 77), 5ff. At Tübingen, weekly: See Regierungs-Blatt (ref. 77), 332; Vollständgie … Gesetze (ref. 104), 718. At Dorpat, probably once every one or two weeks: See Süss , op. cit. (ref. 117), ii, 162; Reglement… Dorpat (ref. 77), 11. At Vienna, weekly: See Zeitschrift (ref. 77), 855f., 859. I do not know about Jena, Heidelberg and Marburg.

The modern academic conference, with its chairman, speaker(s) and commentator(s), is thus a further derivation from the model of the collegium disputatorium, frequently mirroring this version quite closely.

I know of only one case in which this was otherwise: The Leipzig society/seminar under Beck. See Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 60f.; Schulze , op. cit. (ref. 35), 253f. See also Wolf's critique of Beck's method: Letter of April 1810 (#489), in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), ii, 104f.

Schulordnung … Braunschweig-Lüneburgische (ref. 54), 220.

See Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 539ff.

Citations for this are mostly the same as those for the disputation, supra (ref. 118). The seminars at Helmstedt, Halle, Breslau, Königsberg, Vienna, Freiburg im Br. mention consulation with the director. At Leipzig, Erlangen, Göttingen, Berlin, Bonn, Greifswald and Giessen only the seminarian is mentioned, though one ought presume some consultation with the director. For Tübingen, Vollständgie … Gesetze (ref. 104), 718, might be taken to imply selection of topic by director.

Statute of the Königsberg seminar, 1822, in Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 852.

On the origins of the doctoral dissertation in the Philosophische Fakultät, see Clark , op. cit. (ref. 4), 539ff. This was a cursory treatment, and in need of correction. For provisions regarding publication as graduation dissertation of essays written in seminar at Bonn, Breslau, Greifswald, Halle, Königsberg, see Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 624, 681f, 721, 778, 853. For publication of essays at Leipzig, see Beck , op. cit. (ref. 44), 58; for Giessen, Grossherzoglich Hessisches (ref. 77), 429f.; for Munich, publication is implied in Acta Societatis philologorum Monacensium, ed. by Thiersch F. , iv/1 (1829), “Praefatio”, p.v. The notion of publication of an essay written in seminar as graduation dissertation, as noted above, no doubt originated at Göttingen with Gesner. See supra (ref. 121). Following Göttingen, in the eighteenth century the seminars at Halle, Helmstedt and Erlangen anticipated publication of seminarial work, the implication being as graduation dissertation. See Wolf's letters in Wolf, op. cit. (ref. 44), i, 56, 75,211; Engelhardt, op. cit. (ref. 102), 153; Stalmann , op. cit. (ref. 51), i, 14; Wideburg , op. cit. (ref. 117), 289ff.

1812 Statute of the Berlin seminar, in Die preussischen Universitäten (ref. 56), ii/2, 562.

See her D'Allemagne (1813), part 1, chaps. 2, 11 and 18. Because of its subtlety and incisiveness, her critique of German intellectuals, especially regarding their lack of political involvement, was the most devastating until that of Marx, who himself recapitulates (or steals?) some of her points. The case of Marx is illuminating at another level. Although atypical politically, his writings manifest most sharply the tensions within many German intellectuals between the rhetorically ‘open future’ (or romantic liberalism) of research science, and the rhetorically ‘closed future’ (or romantic eschatology) of dialectical philosophy. Not only is this union unhappy, but also, to the serious researcher, the dialectical constructions cannot but seem an ill-starred proposal, or worse, a joke.