FOLIO I · THINKER · GEN. 02 · N° 019

Eugen Peter Schwiedland

Works
30
Articles
4
Generation
2.
ES
FOL. 02 · N° 019 · Eugen Peter Schwiedland
BIOGRAPHY

Life and Work

Coming from a Protestant family of scholars, Schwiedland studied law in Vienna, taught economics and economic policy from 1890, after some years in practice, at the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum, a Viennese technical college, and finally received his habilitation at the University of Vienna in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed associate professor at the University and in 1904 full professor at the Technical University. From 1908 to 1921 he held senior advisory positions without interruption at the Ministry of Public Works and at the Generalkommissariat für Kriegswirtschaft und Übergangswirtschaft (General Commissariat for the War and Transitional Economy). In his readily understandable textbooks he described the subjectivist theory of value as the psychological foundation of the economy. He kept his distance from Menger, both personally and intellectually. After the First World War, Schwiedland moved towards a 'romantic-organicist' economics.
Metadata
Born
23. Oktober 1863
in Budapest
Died
22. Dezember 1936
in Inzersdorf
Generation
Generation 2
Life stations

Stations

  1. 1863
    1863
    Birth · Budapest
    Birth

    Born on 23 October 1863 in Budapest, into a Protestant family of scholars.[1]

  2. 1881
    1881
    Studies · Wien
    Studies in Law— inferred

    Studied law in Vienna.

  3. 1887
    1887
    Doctorate · Wien
    Doctorate in Law (Dr. jur.)

    Doctorate in law at the University of Vienna.[1]

  4. 1888
    1888
    Career · Wien
    Actuarial Department, Ministry of the Interior

    Entry into the actuarial department of the Ministry of the Interior in connection with the establishment of workers' insurance.[1]

  5. 1890
    1890
    Academic post · Wien
    Teaching at the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum

    From 1890, after several years in practice, he taught economics and economic policy at the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum (Technological Trade Museum).[1]

  6. 1890
    1890
    Career · Wien
    Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Trade

    Move to the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Vienna.[1]

  7. 1895
    1895
    Habilitation · Wien
    Habilitation at the University of Vienna

    Habilitation at the University of Vienna in 1895.[1]

  8. 1902
    1902
    Academic post · Wien
    Associate Professor

    Appointed associate professor at the University of Vienna in 1902.[1]

  9. 1904
    1904
    Academic post · Wien
    Full Professor at the Technical University

    Appointed full professor at the Technical University in 1904.[1]

  10. ⁦1908–1921⁩
    ⁦1908–1921⁩
    Career · Wien
    Ministerial Adviser

    From 1908 to 1921, senior advisory positions at the Ministry of Public Works and at the General Commissariat for the War and Transitional Economy.[1]

  11. ⁦1917–1921⁩
    ⁦1917–1921⁩
    Career · Wien
    General Commissariat for the War and Transitional Economy

    Technical staff member at the General Commissariat for the War and Transitional Economy.[1]

  12. 1936
    1936
    Death · Inzersdorf
    Death

    Died on 22 December 1936 in Inzersdorf.[1]

Relationships

Influences

Private seminar, colleagues, Mont Pèlerin · 2
  1. ⁦1904–1904⁩
    ⁦1904–1904⁩
    Colleague
    Emanuel Herrmann⁦(1839–1902)⁩ · Wiener Staatswissenschaft

    In 1904 Schwiedland succeeded Emanuel Herrmann as full professor of political economy at the TH Wien.[1]

  2. ⁦1920–1934⁩
    ⁦1920–1934⁩
    Private seminar

    Schwiedland was a participant in the Mises-Privatseminar in Vienna.

Eugen Peter Schwiedland 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 RELATIONSHIPS12 citations · 1 source
Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon· 1
Topography

Places of Activity

CATALOGUE OF WORKS · CHRONOLOGICAL

The Books

1890s
1891
28 yrs.
Die Wiener Perlmuttindustrie und ihre Krisis
Book
OriginalGerman
1894
31 yrs.
Book
The work examines the emergence and conditions of existence of small trades and cottage industry in Austria and is divided into two parts. The general part traces how the putting-out industry develops out of home production, wage-work and handicraft under commercial-capitalist direction: either derived from existing forms of enterprise or established anew in its own right, in the countryside as in the city. Schwiedland describes the dependence of the contracted masters and resident journeymen on the putter-out, and the plight of the independent small master, beset by the factory, by commerce and by his own lack of capital. The special part is a monograph on the Viennese shell-turners (the mother-of-pearl button industry): raw material, the legal framework of the craft, booms and crises since the McKinley Tariff, the situation of masters, apprentices and journeymen, as well as the cottage industry. The argument draws on official reports, inquiries and statistical tables from Vienna, Berlin and Paris. Published in 1894.
OriginalGerman
1896
33 yrs.
Über den Einfluss der Gewerbefreiheit auf die Lage des Kleingewerbes
Book
OriginalGerman
1898
35 yrs.
Formen und Begriffe der Hausindustrie
Book
OriginalGerman
1899
36 yrs.
Book
The work examines the economic and social situation of the putting-out or domestic industry and asks by what means of legislation, self-help and administration the situation of home workers can be improved. By way of introduction, Schwiedland defines the origin, forms and concept of putting-out work and describes the favoured position of the putter-out in relation to the master craftsman and the factory owner. The main part discusses individual measures in twelve sections: registration, extension of compulsory insurance, sanitary policing, licensing of workplaces, organization of the workers, worker protection, abolition of home work, restriction of sales, labour exchanges, central workshops, immigration restriction and binding minimum wages. Throughout, the author draws on experiences from England, Switzerland, North America and especially the Australian colonies of Victoria and New Zealand, and examines their transferability to Austria. Appendices provide statistical overviews, a survey of the special legislation and an account of the central workshops.
OriginalGerman
1900s
1900
37 yrs.
Die gewerblichen Betriebsformen in Österreich
Book
OriginalGerman
1901
38 yrs.
Die Krankenversicherung der Verlagsarbeiter
Book
OriginalGerman
1902
39 yrs.
Book
In this Viennese study of 1902, Eugen Schwiedland examines the question of how female home workers can be organised into trade unions. His starting point is the 1896 inquiry into women's labour, whose grievances became visible without any practical consequences being drawn from them. Schwiedland sets out why home workers in particular are so difficult to organise: the crowding into the occupation, the burden of the family, the security of the husband's wage, and the low skill level of the work. Since self-help and Social Democracy fail here, he considers two routes of assistance from outside: legal compulsion (citing Brentano and the German Trade Regulation Act) and civic assistance from bourgeois society. As a model, he describes at length a Berlin trade association of home workers with nearly 1,000 members, complete with legal protection, a savings bank, the supply of sewing machines, and sociable gatherings. In conclusion, he recommends founding a similar neutral trade union for Vienna.
OriginalGerman
1905
42 yrs.
Die psychologischen Grundlagen der Wirtschaft
Book
OriginalGerman
1909
46 yrs.
Einführung in die Volkswirtschaftslehre
Book
OriginalGerman
1910s
1911
48 yrs.
Technik Naturkenntnis und Wirtschaft
Book
OriginalGerman
1912
49 yrs.
Die Wirtschafts-Genossenschaft
Book
OriginalGerman
Landflucht und Besiedelung
Book
OriginalGerman
1913
50 yrs.
Das Transportwesen
Book
OriginalGerman
Die Volkswirtschaft unter dem Einfluss der Umwelt
Book
OriginalGerman
1915
52 yrs.
Der Handel
Book
OriginalGerman
1916
53 yrs.
Grundzüge der Weltgestaltung. Betrachtung unserer wirtschaftlichen und seelischen Krise
Book
OriginalGerman
1917
54 yrs.
Die bisherige Entwicklung und heutige Gestaltung des Wirtschaftslebens
Book
OriginalGerman
Technik Wirtschaft und Kultur
Book
OriginalGerman
1918
55 yrs.
Das Eigentum
Book
OriginalGerman
Das Genossenschaftswesen
Book
OriginalGerman
Die Volkswirtschaft unter dem Einfluß der Umwelt
Book
OriginalGerman
Volkswirtschaft 43 Vorlesungen in drei Bänden
Book
OriginalEnglish
Volkswirtschaftslehre
Book
OriginalGerman
1919
56 yrs.
Die Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften
Book
OriginalGerman
Sinn und Weg der Sozialisierung
Book
OriginalGerman
1920s
1922
59 yrs.
Anfänge und Wesen der Wirtschaft
Book
OriginalGerman
Wert und Preis und ihre Verknüpfung
Book
OriginalGerman
1928
65 yrs.
Zur Krise des Abendlandes
Book
OriginalGerman
1930s
1933
70 yrs.
Zur Soziologie des Unternehmertums
Book
OriginalGerman
ARTICLES · 4 CATALOGUED

Essays, Reviews, Lectures

1890s
1896
33 yrs.
Hausindustrie und Sweating-System
Article
OriginalGerman
1899
36 yrs.
Die Hausierfrage in Österreich
Article
OriginalGerman
1900s
1902
39 yrs.
Behördliche Mindestlohnsatzungen in Australien
Article
OriginalGerman
1905
42 yrs.
Die psychologischen Grundlagen der Wirtschaft
Article
OriginalGerman
Cite this page

Three copy-ready formats with the canonical URL and access date.

APA
Eugen Peter Schwiedland. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 22, 2026, from https://mises.at/en/denker/eugen-peter-schwiedland
Chicago
“Eugen Peter Schwiedland.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://mises.at/en/denker/eugen-peter-schwiedland.
German historical style
Eugen Peter Schwiedland, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.at/en/denker/eugen-peter-schwiedland (accessed July 22, 2026).