Big Book of Doctorates Awarded by Karlsruhe Polytechnic

Initiated in 1901, the Big Book of Doctorates awarded by Karlsruhe Polytechnic marks a step toward achieving equality between advanced polytechnical institutions and traditional universities. Throughout the nineteenth century, the German polytechnic, the Technische Hochschule, had sprouted independently from its own roots. Conventional universities comprised four faculties — the liberal arts (artes liberales), theology, law, and medicine. Polytechnics, on the other hand, focused on mathematics, architecture, civil engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. As at Karlsruhe, most polytechnics had started out as polytechnical colleges. One important milestone in their evolution into universities was the integration of teaching and research extending beyond mere instruction. These technical institutions acquired university-style organizational structures. One key aspect of academic self-governance was the election of directors and rectors, which practice was also adopted. Additionally, some polytechnical colleges were granted the right to confer habilitation degrees, allowing them to qualify their own young academics for professorships. However, for decades, they were denied the right to confer doctorates — a fundamental qualification for pursuing a career as an academic scientist. In the fall of 1899, after Prussia had paved the way, the technician’s doctorate, Doktor-Ingenieur, was also introduced in other states of the the German Empire. The government of the Grand Duchy of Baden quickly followed suit, granting Karlsruhe Polytechnic the right to award doctorates on December 28, 1899. This right was exercised for the first time in 1901, when the chemist Adalbert Engler was awarded the degree of Doctor of Engineering. The binding of the Big Book of Doctorates, in large format with a representative half-leather spine — despite its content actually duplicating a simpler doctoral index — reflected institutional acknowledgment of the significance of this new right to confer doctorates. kn