Habilitationsschrift

History and etymology

The term habilitation is derived from the Medieval Latinhabilitare, meaning "to make suitable, to fit", from Classical Latinhabilis "fit, proper, skillful". The degree developed in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the seventeenth century (c. 1652). Initially, habilitation was synonymous with "doctoral qualification". The term became synonymous with "post-doctoral qualification" in Germany in the 19th century "when holding a doctorate seemed no longer sufficient to guarantee a proficient transfer of knowledge to the next generation". Afterwards, it became normal in the German university system to write two doctoral theses: the inaugural thesis (Inauguraldissertation), completing a course of study, and the habilitation thesis (Habilitationsschrift), which opens the road to a professorship.