Figure 1.--This photo was also taken in Exing, a rural village in the municipality of Eichendorf, Lower Bavaria. It is not dated, but was taken after World War II while Germany was still recovering from World War II, probably dating to the late-1940s, possibly the early-50s. It is hard to see, but the boys has a book bag back pack. Notice the cloth hanging down grom the book bag. That bwasto wipe off the slate that was still being used. That is prbavly his schooin the vbackground. Click on the image for a colorized version.

Most German children walked to school. Germany rapidly industrialized beginning in the mid-19th century and by the 20th century was an industrial powerhouse. As a result. the population rapidly urbanized. The primary children thus lived close to their schools and walked to school. The working-class largely lived in apartments and with a high density population schools could easily built within walking distance. There were also middle-class suburbs, but we believe most middle-class children also walked to school. We are less sure about secondary school students. A relatively small number of children continued on to secondary school until after World War II (1939-45). This meant that the students often lived some distance from their schools, beyond walking distance. We think many students took public transport. Some may have also used bicycles. This was a middleclass option as few working-class childen had bicycles, but few working-class children atended secondary school. Very few children were driven to school. Automobile ownership was not widespread in Germany, ironically until after World War II. There was also a sizeable rural popultion. German industry was highly concetrated in western Germany--the Ruhr Valley in particular was heavily industrialized.

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Created: 4:17 AM 4/21/2026
Last updated: 4:17 AM 4/21/2026