March 1896 marked two milestones for women's access to higher education in Austria: Women were admitted to the Matura examination and to the nostrification of medical doctorates from abroad.
Until then, women had only been present at the University of Vienna in exceptional cases, but now they were legally entitled to attend. In 1897, Gabriele Possanner von Ehrenthal became the first woman to receive a doctorate from the University of Vienna. She had completed her medical studies in Zurich, and the doctorateshe obtained there was recognised in Austria after she had retaken all her exams. Gradually, the faculties also opened up to female students: first the Faculty of Philosophy (1897), then the Faculty of Medicine (1900), the Faculty of Law and Political Science (1919), the Faculty of Protestant Theology (1928) and finally the Faculty of Catholic Theology (1945).
Although these were the first important steps towards women's acceptance at the university as an institution, women still had to fight for their place in the sciences.
