1886. On 12 October 1887 Külpe was awarded his PhD. He titled his thesis “Zur Theorie der sinnlichen Gefühle”, or in English, The Theory of Sensual Feeling. This is a topic that Külpe was interested in over the course of his life, and especially influenced his later studies and lectures on esthetics. He then became Privatdozent at the University of Leipzig, before being promoted to a professorship extraordinarius in 1894. In October 1894, he attended Würzburg as professor ordinarius, the highest obtainable rank as a professor at a German university, for both philosophy and esthetics. It was here in 1896 that Külpe founded a psychological laboratory. He was able to increase the size and improve the equipment until the Würzburg laboratory became the most outstanding institute of psychology in Germany aside from Leipzig. Here, he trained numerous influential psychologists including the likes of Max Wertheimer, Kaspar Ach, and Henry Watt. Following fifteen years of service at the lead of the Würzburg laboratory, Külpe also established first-rate psychological institutes at the University of Bonn and the University of Munich. It was his innovative experimental psychology methods and success in establishing these psychological institutes that led to Külpe being referred to as the second founder of experimental psychology on German soil. Though Külpe and Wundt differed on matters of principle, Külpe regarded Wundt highly and published three tributes to him. In his later years, Külpe began to focus less on psychological issues and more on his interests in philosophical problems such as esthetics, where it seemed his true passion lay. Just before the Christmas of 1915, Külpe suffered a bout of influenza. He recovered to the point where he was able to return to his university teachings. He was, however, suffering from a heart infection, which he succumbed to on 30 December, after a few days of illness. It was said that had he lived longer, Külpe likely would have accepted the request to succeed Friederich Jodl and establish a psychological laboratory at the University of Vienna as well. Laboratory at Würzburg By 1896 Külpe had founded a laboratory at the University of Würzburg and remained there for fifteen years. He received a private endowment and he managed to make it one of the foremost psychological institutes second only to the University of Leipzig. At the Würzburg school, a key area of focus was the development and formation of concepts. Külpe and