The Academic Institutionalization of Sociological Teaching in Cologne

Abstract

There are numerous works devoted to the institutionalization of sociology at German universities. However, only a few contributions trace back the early development of sociological teaching and ask who the students of sociology were when the subject began to establish itself. In this respect, we focus on sociology in Cologne, where Leopold von Wiese offered courses with sociological topics at the Städtische Handelshochschule even before the reestablishment of the University of Cologne in 1919. A special feature is that in the 1920s, sociological chairs were established at two faculties: the Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Philosophy. The number of sociology courses increased until the summer semester of 1924, and then it remained at a level of five to seven per semester. Most of the students came from the middle-class milieu. The still limited course of study offered students rather great freedom; those who wanted to complete their studies in a sociological subject could complete a doctorate with little effort compared to today.