© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,  | doi:./- GRAZER PHILOSOPHISCHE STUDIEN  () – brill.com/gps Zwischen Universitätsreformen und katholischer Renaissance Alois Riehl und die Nachfolge Ernst Machs an der Universität Wien Josef Hlade | ORCID: --- Gesellschaft der Ärzte in Wien – Billrothhaus, Vienna, Austria josef.hlade@gmail.com Rudolf Meer | ORCID: --- Zentrum für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Graz, Austria rudolf.meer@uni-graz.at Abstract With the first edition of the Philosophical Criticism, published in the 1870s and 1880s, Alois Riehl became the founder and most important representative of Realistic Criti- cism, and emerged as one of the leading figures in German-speaking philosophy at the turn of the century. In 1901, he applied for a chair at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. In the appointment procedure for the succession to Ernst Mach, he was chosen by the committee with the recommendation unico loco, and also confirmed by the faculty. Nevertheless, the Minister of Education, Wilhelm von Hartel, rejected the recommendation for political and ideological reasons. Using previously unpublished archival sources, the present study reconstructs Riehl’s academic career, the conditions of the appointment procedure, the internal decision-making processes, and the reasons that ultimately led to his rejection. The aim of the article is to develop a case study that, first, makes educational policy in Austria visible and, second, criti- cally evaluates the term Austrian Philosophy that dates back to this time. Keywords Austrian philosophy – Alois Riehl – philosophical criticism – Ernst Mach – appointment procedure