Education in the Czech Lands in the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries

Reforms introduced by Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the second half of the 18th century fundamentally affected the educational system in the Habsburg Monarchy. Supervision over the education was assumed by the state and the influence of the church gradually weakened. Three levels of the school system were stabilized: primary, secondary and university. The positions of Czech and German as the teaching languages gradually equalized. Numerous other school reforms took place in the second half of the 19th century. In 1869, the Czech Technical University in Prague separated into a Czech university and German university and in 1882, the Charles-Ferdinand University was established. In the late 19th century, the first girls' schools, grammar schools and lyceums were established, for example the Minerva Gymnasium in Prague in 1890. The girls were even allowed to study at certain universities. Vocational schools of various types also developed.

Building of the Natural Science Institutes of Charles University in Prague in Albertov, around 1926. In: Sborník Československé společnosti zeměpisné XXXII, 1926, No. 1. Institute of History of the CAS, unsigned.

References

Purš, J. a kol.: Atlas Československých dějin. Praha 1965;
Kavka, F. – Petráň, J.: Dějiny Univerzity Karlovy III. 1802-1918. Praha 1997;
Bláhová, K. – Petrbok, V. (eds.): Vzdělání a osvěta v české kultuře 19. století. Praha 2004;
Semotanová, E. ‒ Cajthaml, J. a kol.: Akademický atlas českých dějin. Praha 2014, 2. akt. vydání 2016.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0

Education in the Czech Lands before the First World War

Reforms introduced by Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the second half of the 18th century fundamentally affected the educational system in the Habsburg Monarchy. Supervision over the education was assumed by the state and the influence of the church gradually weakened. Three levels of the school system were stabilized: primary, secondary and university. The positions of Czech and German as the teaching languages gradually equalized. Numerous other school reforms took place in the second half of the 19th century. In 1869, the Czech Technical University in Prague separated into a Czech university and German university and in 1882, the Charles-Ferdinand University was established. In the late 19th century, the first girls' schools, grammar schools and lyceums were established, for example the Minerva Gymnasium in Prague in 1890. The girls were even allowed to study at certain universities. Vocational schools of various types also developed.

Building of the Natural Science Institutes of Charles University in Prague in Albertov, around 1926. In: Sborník Československé společnosti zeměpisné XXXII, 1926, No. 1. Institute of History of the CAS, unsigned.

References

Purš, J. a kol.: Atlas Československých dějin. Praha 1965;
Kavka, F. – Petráň, J.: Dějiny Univerzity Karlovy III. 1802-1918. Praha 1997;
Bláhová, K. – Petrbok, V. (eds.): Vzdělání a osvěta v české kultuře 19. století. Praha 2004;
Semotanová, E. ‒ Cajthaml, J. a kol.: Akademický atlas českých dějin. Praha 2014, 2. akt. vydání 2016.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0

Universities and research institutions in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic

The number of universities doubled in Czechoslovakia from 1918 until 1939. The most important event was the establishment of Masaryk University in Brno and Comenius University in Bratislava. Further development proceeded after 1945 when university workplaces were established in the regional capitals and in particular after 1990 when these workplaces turned into the regional universities. In 1953, the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences was established (since 1993, the Czech Academy of Sciences). In 2019, there were 24 public university-type schools, 2 state universities and two non-university colleges in the Czech Republic. The largest school is Charles University with 17 faculties and almost 50,000 students.

Entry court and new building of the Karolinum according to the project of Jaroslav Fragner from the 1960s. Photo Eva Semotanová, 2018

The Charles University buildings at Albertov also incorporate the Faculty of Science where the demonstration began on 17 November 1989. Photo Dana Fialová, 2018

References

Franc, M. – Kostlán, A. – Míšková, A. (eds.): Bohemia docta: k historickým kořenům vědy v českých zemích. Praha 2010;
Kraus, I. a kol.: Věda v českých zemích. Dějiny fyziky, geografie, geologie, chemie a matematiky. Praha 2019.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0