Abstract
In the year 1882, two new universities were established, German and Czech, replacing the old Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague. Professors were allowed to choose where they would teach; their institutes followed them to the corresponding university.
The position of the botanical garden was, however, more complicated. It had to serve both universities, but achieving agreement on cooperation between Czech and German chairs of botany at the height of national tensions in Bohemia was complicated.
The aim of this study is to describe the process that led to the foundation of two new university botanical gardens in 1898. It highlights particularly the role professors of botany played in this process.
It is difficult to compare this case with situations in other university institutes, as the relationship between Czech and German universities has not yet been systematically surveyed. In the realm of the history of botany, this episode of institutional development has been insufficiently described.
Thus this study is meant to serve as an opening for a broader research on this topic.