[ot]

At that time the Ph.D. was something new in European universities; it was basically imported from the US.

Many professors didn't welcome the novelty, including one of Wittgenstein's examiners, who wrote in his report:

"The Tractatus is a work of genius, but it otherwise satisfies the requirements for a Ph.D."

EDIT: I should have said "British" instead of "European", see comments below.

[Van_av_Ordning]

You have things the wrong way round. The Ph.D. degree originated in Germany.

[ot]

You are right, but it came to UK through US:

  From the United States, the Ph.D. degree spread to 
  Canada in 1900, and then to the United Kingdom in 1917.

(from Wikipedia)

[enjolras]

Maybe the name Ph. D., but the Ph. D. itself is older in the USA and in Europe. There were Ph. D. in the 19th century both in Europe and in Universities like Yale or Harvard.

[Van_av_Ordning]

Could you clarify? Humboldt University started granting PhDs in the early 19th century, Yale in 1861, so yes, of course there were PhDs in the 19th century.