The Sybel-Ficker controversy (German: Sybel-Ficker-Streit) is the name given to a dispute in the second half of the 19th century between the historians Heinrich von Sybel (1817–1895) and Julius von Ficker (1826–1902). It involved a discussion concerning relations between Rome (that is, the papal see) and the Holy Roman Empire, which also had an important bearing on the Austria–Prussia rivalry—whether Austria was to be part of a federal Germany, or whether Germany would continue without Austria (as a Lesser Germany).