Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/339

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AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
289
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.


"minister of puhlio instriKtimi. Scliool adminis- tration is unilfT the supervision of loeal, dis- trict, and provincial boards, and district and provincial inspectors. The features common to all the crown-lands are the division of educa- tional institutions into primary, secondary, and higher schools, and the very low cost at which instruction in schools of all grades is imparted. Characteristic, too, of all the Austrian prov- inces is the high degree of excellence which technical education has attained. The care of primary instruction is incumbent on the local communities, and attendance at the primary schools between the ages of 6 and 14 (in three provinces between G and 12) is compulsory. The course of instruction includes, besides the ordinary branches, the subjects of religion, physical training, and, in the case of girls, do- mestic science. In 1893 the number of national schools and grammar schools {X'oUcsschiile, Biii- gerschule) in Cislcithania, in which elementary education was imparted, was 18,807, with a teaching force of G7,.'io4 men and women and an enrollment of 3,100.8.37 pupils. In 1808 the numlier of schools rose to 19,735, the number of teachers to 74,783, and the number of pupils to 3,483,040.

Above the elementary schools are the Gi/mnasia and the Realschiilrn, offering courses of eight and seven years respectively. The Gymnasia pre- pare for the universitie.s, the Realschiilen for the technological institutes. For the support of the secondary schools, the State, the provinces, and the larger comnnmes coJiperatc. In 1800 there were 182 flfitiiniisia, with a teaching staff of 3000 and an attendance of .50.07.5, and 84 Renlschulen.vt 1570 teachers and 20,429 students. In 1001 the number of flymnnsin was 212 and the attendance 69,788, while the Rrnlschnlen had increased to 106 in number, with 35,10'2 students; in other words, the number of pupils in the Refilsrhulen increased at a rate almost double that in the Gymnasia. Universities of Cislcithania, eight in number, supported by the State, are located at Vienna, Prague ( two, German and Czech ) , Gratz, Innsbruck, Cracow, Lemberg, and Czernowitz. Each comprises faculties of theology, jurispru- dence and political science, medicine, and philoso- ph}'. The universities at Vienna and Cracow and the German University at Prague, date back to the Fourteenth Century : and of these, the first ranks among the foremost universities of the world, especially as to its faculty of medicine. In 1803 the number of pi'ofessors and tutors in all these universities was 1140 and the num- ber of students 13,528. In 1901 the combined faculties included 139.5 instructors, and the stu- dents numbered 17,132, showing an increase of nearly 25 per cent, in the student body and teaching staff. The number of students at the University of Vienna, in 1900, was 0981. In 1898 50 theological seminaries (of these 42 Catholic) gave instruction to 1978 students. Of the technological institutes, the most important are the six State high schools at Vienna, Prague (two), Gratz, Briinn, and Lemberg; and the mining academics at Leoben and Pribram. In addition, there are numerous schools of agricul- ture, forestry, and mining, industrial schools, military and naval academies, and schools of fine arts and music. In all, the special schools of Austria in 1898 numbered 3599, with a recorded attendance of over 225,000 students. General culture is highest in the German-speaking prov- inces (Bohemia included) and lowest among the Slavic races of Dalmatia, Galieia, and Bukowina. Of learned societies', libraries, museums and art galleries there are a very great number, the most prominent of which are the imperial acade- mies of science at Vienna, Prague, and Cra- cow. The Imperial Library at Vienna possesses 900,000 volumes and the library of the L'niver- sity of Vienna nearly 000,000. The periodical press increased in numbers from 2137 publica- tions in 1894, to 2849 in 1899.

The educational system of Hungary is similar in its general outline to that of Austria, but differs from it in the greater uniformity of or- ganization, due to the preponderating influence of the JIag'ar element in the population. The persistent attempt to make Magj-ar the exclusive lanmiage in the public schools has been a marked feauire of educational policy in Hungary proper in very recent years. Attendance at the elemen- tary schools, grammar schools, and the so-called repetition courses is compulsory for all chil- dren between the ages of and 15, and it is incumbent on all communes to provide, generally with the aid of the State, adequate facilities for elementary instruction. In 1894 the number of elementary schools was 10,881, and the enroll- ment of pupils 2,270,584, or nearly SO per cent, of all children of school age. In 1899 the schools had increased to 18,375. The Gymnasia and the Realschiilen, which offer courses of eight years in preparation for the universities and technical schools, are supported by the communes, by the State, or partly by both. In 1894 there were 180 of these secondary schools, with a staff of 3230 instructors and 51,228 students. In 1899 the number of in.stitutions was 214 and the attendance 61,520. At Budapest, Klausenburg. and Agram are iiniversities supported by the State, with faculties of theology, law and political science, medicine, and philosophy, at- tended in 1899 by nearly 9500 students. Of" these the University of Budapest is preeminently in the lead, with a faculty of 275 professors and in- structors and an enrollment of about 5000 stu- dents. At Budapest is also the Royal .Joseph Polytechnic Institute, with nearly 2000 students. The other technical institutions and commercial institutes of superior grade, 51 in number, impart instruction to nearly 0000 students, while the lower commercial and industrial schools are attended by more than 86,000 pupils. Be- tween 1895 and 1899 the number of periodicals rose from 1000 to 1258, of which 71 per cent, were in the Jlagyar language and 12 per cent, in German.

Government. The Austro-Hungarian mon- archy is composed of the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary, and though it is com- mon to speak of an Austro-Hungarian empire divided into Cisleithan and Transleithan halves, it is nearer the trutli to regard Austria-Hungary as a loose tmion of two independent States. Es- sentially the only bond between them is their possession of a common ruler ; the crown of both is hereditary in the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, and the Emperor of Austria is at the same time Apostolic King of Hungary. He is crowned both at Vienna and Budapest, and takes the oath be- fore both the Austrian Parliament and the Hun- garian nation in his twofold capacity. The present dual system was adopted by the Aus-