Carl Menger
Life and Work
- 23. Februar 1840
- 26. Februar 1921
in Wien - Generation 1
The episode on Carl Menger
Carl Menger in audio: the life, the one idea, the most famous argument, and which work to read first. About 17 minutes.
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Stations
- 1840Birth
Born on 23 February 1840 in Neu Sandez (Galicia, today Nowy Sącz, Poland), the third of ten children.[1]
- 1848Death of the Father
At the age of eight, Menger lost his father; four of his siblings had already died before then. For the family, the result was deprivation and hardship.
- 1859–1860Studies at the University of Vienna
Began his studies in law and political science at the University of Vienna.[1]
- 1860–1863Studies at the University of Prague
Continued his studies at the University of Prague from 1860 to 1863.[1]
- 1860–1867Studies and Journalism in Lemberg (today Lviv)— inferred
During his studies, Menger earned his living as a journalist in Lemberg.
- 1867Co-founder of the Wiener Tagblatt— inferred
Menger was a co-founder of the Wiener Tagblatt and later worked as an editor at the Wiener Zeitung.
- 1867Journalist, Lemberger Zeitung— approximate
Worked as an editor at the Lemberger Zeitung after completing his doctorate.[1]
- 1871“Principles of Economics”
Publication of the “Principles”, the founding work of the Austrian School. The habilitation followed immediately afterwards.[1]
- 1871Editorial Secretary, Wiener Zeitung— approximate
Editorial secretary of the Wiener Zeitung; observer and market analyst of the Vienna Stock Exchange.[9]
- 1872Habilitation in Political Economy
Habilitation in political economy at the University of Vienna in June 1872.[1]
- 1873Associate Professorship
Just a year after his Habilitation, Menger received an associate professorship at the University of Vienna.[1]
- 1876–1878Tutor to Crown Prince Rudolf
Appointed in 1876 as one of the tutors to Crown Prince Rudolf; in 1877 and 1878 Menger accompanied him on study tours through Europe.[1]
- 1883“Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences”
Publication of the “Investigations”; the trigger for the Methodenstreit with Gustav Schmoller and the German Historical School.[7]
- 1900Life Member of the Herrenhaus
Appointment as a life member of the Austrian Herrenhaus (House of Lords).[1]
- 1903Emeritus Status
Early retirement (emeritus status) from the University of Vienna for health reasons.[7]
- 1921Death
Died on 26 February 1921 in Vienna, in the 9th district, surrounded by a library of some 25,000 volumes.[1]
Influences
- 1883Gustav von Schmoller(1838–1917) · Jüngere Historische Schule
With the “Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences” (1883), Menger set off the Methodenstreit with Schmoller and the German Historical School; Schmoller's dismissive review first mocked Menger's followers as the “Austrian School”.[1]
- 1876–1878Rudolf von Habsburg(1858–1889)
From 1876, for two years, Menger taught Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg political economy and statistics and accompanied him on his travels.[1]
- 1884–1887
Studied law from 1884 to 1887 at the University of Innsbruck, among others under Carl Menger.
- 1885
After his law studies, he completed his Habilitation under Carl Menger.
- 1887–1887
In 1887 Carl Menger supervised the doctorate of Ernst Seidler von Feuchtenegg to the degree of Dr. jur. at the University of Vienna.[2]
- 1889–1899
He studied law at the universities of Czernowitz and Vienna and is explicitly described in the biography as a pupil of Menger.[3]
- 1890–1895
From 1890 studied history, law and economics at the University of Vienna and attended Carl Menger's lectures on economics; adopted his insistence on the exact definition of concepts and causal investigation.[13]
- 1899–1899
"Favourite student" and last Habilitation candidate of Carl Menger; studied economics and law at the University of Vienna.
- 1903
Only reading Menger's “Grundsätze” offered Wieser the perspective he had been seeking, which in retrospect he experienced as a liberation from the “distress of thinking”.[4]
- 1904–1904
Earned his doctorate in 1904 at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Vienna under Carl Menger and Eugen von Philippovich.[6]
- —
Ludassy was one of the most outstanding pupils in Carl Menger's seminar for graduates who were already in professional life and interested in economics.
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Wikipedia DE bestätigt: Landesberger gehörte zur Österreichischen Schule und war Schüler Carl Mengers an der Universität Wien.[11]
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Sax was at first a rival, later an ally of Menger in the Methodenstreit, but distanced himself again from the Austrian School a few years after 1887.
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Groß wurde von Menger bei der Aufzählung seiner Habilitanten anlässlich seiner Emeritierung nicht erwähnt – ein zwiespältiges Verhältnis trotz formaler Verbindung über die Wiener Habilitation.[5]
Carl Menger in the context of the School as a whole: five generations, their teacher-student lineages, circles and collegial ties.
Show in the family tree →SOURCES ON STATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS33 citations · 6 sources
- [9]Boos 1986: Wissenschaftstheorie Carl Mengers (Biographischer Teil)
- [10]Rothbard: „Ludwig von Mises: Scholar, Creator, Hero"
- [11]Schulak/Unterköfler: The Austrian School of Economics (2011), S. 58 f.
- [12]Ludwig von Mises: Nachruf auf Julius Landesberger (Wiener Universität 1921)
Places of Activity
The Books
- Principles of Economics
- Investigations into the Method of the Social SciencesOriginalEnglish
Essays, Reviews, Lectures
- APA
- Carl Menger. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 18, 2026, from https://mises.at/en/denker/carl-menger
- Chicago
- “Carl Menger.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 18, 2026. https://mises.at/en/denker/carl-menger.
- German historical style
- Carl Menger, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.at/en/denker/carl-menger (accessed July 18, 2026).