 The year after, he became a state employee at the university library.In 1895, he was awarded his "habilitation" and became a professor in 1904 at the University of Innsbruck.1909-1912, Walde was Professor of comparative linguistics at the University of Giessen, but returned in 1912 to Innsbruck where he became the dean of faculty in 1914 and rector of the university in 1916.