Editing Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Education and medicine===
To produce a literate citizenry, elementary education was made compulsory for all boys and girls, and higher education on practical lines was offered for a select few. Joseph created scholarships for talented poor students and allowed the establishment of schools for Jews and other religious minorities. In 1784 he ordered that the country change its language of instruction from Latin to German, a highly controversial step in a multilingual empire.

By the 18th century, centralization was the trend in medicine because more and better-educated doctors were requesting improved facilities. Cities lacked the budgets to fund local hospitals, and the monarchy wanted to end costly epidemics and quarantines. Joseph attempted to centralize medical care in [[Vienna]] through the construction of a single, large hospital, the famous [[Vienna General Hospital|Allgemeines Krankenhaus]], which opened in 1784. Centralization worsened sanitation problems, causing epidemics and a 20% death rate in the new hospital; the city nevertheless became preeminent in the medical field in the next century.<ref>Paul P. Bernard, "The Limits of Absolutism: Joseph II and the Allgemeines Krankenhaus." ''Eighteenth-Century Studies'' 1975 9(2): 193–215. {{ISSN|0013-2586}} [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2737597 in Jstor]</ref>