The legendary receipt of a PhD by physician Dorothea von Erxleben (1715–1762) in 1754 from the University of Halle long remained a historic exception. Women with an enquiring mind had to be content with being an undergraduate, for only in exceptional cases (chiefly in medicine) were female doctoral candidates permitted before 1906. Even within Saxon universities, doctorates for women were considered an unnecessary ‘adornment’. Only slowly did faculties open their doors to female postgraduates after 1906. For example, in 1912, the Faculty of Philosophy at Leipzig University granted women equal opportunities to take a PhD in its doctoral degree regulations. In 1918, 38 women received a doctorate from Alma Mater Lipsiensis, mainly in chemistry, biology and physics. In 1919, Maria Frommer became the first woman to be awarded a doctorate in architecture by Dresden College of Technology. In times of war, the lack of men caused the proportion of female doctoral candidates to rise to in some cases half. In East Germany, women were encouraged to work in academia by the state. And in 1969, Eleonore Diessner became the first German woman to earn a doctorate in a technical field at Chemnitz University of Technology. Nevertheless, women rarely chose an academic career because the temporary junior positions were incompatible with starting a family. Nowadays, the number of female doctoral students is rising continuously. By 2015, the share of women taking doctorates at Saxon universities had reached 40.5%.
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