The subject of this paper is the work of the most significant Austrian theoretician in the field of librarianship of the late 19th and early 20th century, Ferdinand Eichler. Eichler left an important mark on the Central European librarianship, attempting to explain theoretical and methodological principles of librarianship and the role of library science at university level. He pointed to the need of establishing university departments that would explore and teach library science to young generations of librarians. He also attempted to introduce modern library management. He was very interested in classification and cataloguing methods, dealing with various technical issues related to library construction and equipment.