Spaces and places: an historical overview of the development of geology in Austria (Habsburg Monarchy) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Abstract

AbstractGeology as a discipline emerged in Austria between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from mineralogy and geognosy, two sciences dominated by descriptive rather than theoretical approaches. Austria, in this context, refers to the conglomerate of different states under the Habsburg Monarchy that existed until 1918. Two key aspects shaped the development of geology and the establishment of public institutions: mining industries and natural history collections. As a result of their close relation, the k.k. Geologische Reichsanstalt (Imperial Geological Survey) was founded in Vienna in 1849, which had repercussions for the entire empire. The Reichsanstalt carried out a geological survey of all the territories of the Habsburg Monarchy, resulting in a unifying geological map published in 1867. Geology was triggered and accelerated not least by the industrialization processes of the nineteenth century. From the 1850s, geology no longer focused only on the empire and its provinces, but took a global perspective. From 1862 a growing number of university chairs for geology were established, making the ‘new’ academic discipline visible. The internationally outstanding research work of Eduard Suess contributed to this success story.