„Bei uns hat die 200jährige Jubelfeier viel Staub aufgewirbelt…“ Das gescheiterte Gedenkjahr 1877 der Universität Innsbruck

Abstract

: The paper examines the failed jubilee of the University of Innsbruck in 1877. Due to a conflict in the senate of the university, the professors were not willing to organize the 200 th anniversary celebration of the university ’ s foundation. In this situation, students took over and tried to plan the university ’ s jubilee. However, the students failed in doing so, since they could not reach an agreement whether a catholic Mass should be part of the festivities. For this reason, only some smaller celebrations took place held by student fraternities,which ended in street fights and a scandal.The paper analyses the reasons for the failed jubilee in the context of the public debate on clerical control of the educational system in the Habsburg Monarchy and the discussion on the role of the church in the university at the time of the university ’ s foundation and in the contemporary era. Furthermore, it deals with concepts of cultural memory and performative prac-tices associated with the jubilee. oft Theilnahme hofft, Oesterreichs diesem Fest ihrer regen Antheil nehmen