[4] It was at Strasbourg that he passed his university final exams and also, on 6 March 1886, received his doctorate[3] for work on the Imperial Military Constitution of the Holy Roman Empire at the end of the seventeenth century.

He moved to northern Bavaria (Franconia) in 1896, taking a post as a visiting professor in Medieval and Modern History at Erlangen, which became a full professorship three years later on 16 October 1899.

[3] On 1 April 1907 Fester switched to Kiel, taking a position as Professor of Medieval and Modern History.

Less than two years later, in October 1908, he moved again, this time to Halle where he took an equivalent professorship, also becoming co-director for Historical Seminars.

[5] In 1925 Fester drew widespread attention to himself in the context of the Munich "Stab in the back" trial by accusing the Social Democratic movement of treason.