Individual German Schools: Hermsdorf School


Figure 1.-- Here we see the Hermsdorf School in the 1934. I don't think that this was the name of the school, but rather the town where the school was located. I'm not even sure that the school had a formal name. Here are the older children at the school. Click on the image to see the younger boys.

We note images from the Hermsdorf School in the 1930s and 40s. I don't think that this was the name of the school, but rather the town where the school was located. I do not know where Hermsdorf is in Germany. I'm not even sure that the school had a formal name. It looks to be a primary school with children up to about 14 years of age. The only information we have about the school at this time is the available school photographs. Onr photograph suggests it was a boys' school. Apparently the younger children were taught in single gender classes. Presumably there was a separate class for the younger girls. Notice the class here is coed and much smaller. I'm not sure why the class for the older children was so much smaller. The academically clever children had left at about age 11 to attend Gymnasium. Other children had presumably left already to begin appreciteships or work. As a result the older children were apparaently taught together because of the smaller number of children. This was Klassenjahrgang 1926 meaning that these children began school in 1926. We note another image from the school in 1941 with the older childreon an country outing.

Hermsdorf

Hermsdorf is a small town in Thüringen. It was the name of the town and of the school (the school has now a different name!) Like many German municipalities, the town has a fascinating history. Hermsdorf" was founded some time before 1256. After World War II it was in the Soviet occupation zone and subsequently a part of East Germany (DDR). The town is located located between Erfurt and Dresden, since 1964 a township, about 9,000 population, in the former DDR (during the DDR time, Hermsdorf was well-known for the "Wessies" in the Federal Republic as there is near by the famous highway crossing "Hermsdorfer Kreuz" of the main highways A9 South/Nord from Munich to Berlin and A4 West/East from Frankfurt (Main) to Dresden; the "Wessies" when travelling to Berlin or into the DDR by car one had to pass this crossing). There is also a suburb of Berlin with the same name, "Berlin-Hermsdorf".

The School

Probably Hermsdorf had only one school which was just called the Hermsdorf School. We assume that it was the a Volksschule. It is now called called "Friedensschule" ("Frieden" = "peace"). I assume that it was given that name during the DDR era. We do not have a complete history of the school. Tgere were teachers known to have worked in Hermsdorf as early as 1544. A school was founded in 1827 which presumably was the origin of the school here. More detailed information is available in a Schulen>Chronik

History>

We note images from the Hermsdorf School in the 1930s and 40s. We do not know when the school was founded or its current status. There are images available from the school through the years. Actually more than one school may be involved, but there could not be very many schools in the town.

School Names

The fact that the name of the town and school was the same brings up te subject of school naming in Germany. Of course there were exceptions, but a German reader has provided us a useful general overview of the situation in pre-War Germany and West Germany/the Federal Republic.

Types of schools

The situation in East Germany (DDR) was somewhat different and more standardized, Grundschule till 12 always. In villages and small towns till the middle of the 20th century the school was named like the village / town. E.g., Volksschule xxx, Mittelschule xxx, Oberschule xxx, Lyzeum ( in former days, usually only for girls), Gymnasium xxx, Realschule xxx, Oberrealschule xxx, Hauptschule xxx, may be with an addendum "Mädchenschule" / "Knabenschule" (school for girls / boys). As there was only one school of the specific kind in a village or small town, there was no reason for a differentiating naming, except as an honorific. It was "Volksschule" for the primary school, to my knowledge this is still the case in Austria and Switzerland. In Germany it is now always "Grundschule" (basic school) - the term "Volk" (people / nation) is now more politically correct after the Third Reich, 1933 - 1945 in Germany -. Volksschule / Grundschule is mandatory for age 6 - 10. It may continue till 14 (now till 15). In some German states there is now a "Förderstufe" from 10 to 12, more or less mandatory. All the other schools start at age 10 (or now in some cases with 12). The Gymnasium always starts at age 10. Realschule, Hauptschule and Mittelschule are for age 10 (resp. 12) to 15 or 16. Originally (before 1950) the Mittelschule had one foreign language, English or French, ending in the socalled "mittlere Reife" allowing to continue education in an engineering school or trade school. Oberrealschule and Oberschule are for age 10 (resp. 12) till age of 18 / 19, two foreign languages, leading to the "Abitur" and allowing for university studies (may be restricted in the areas, e.g., not for studying medicine, law, theology). Gymnasium (still, hard political fighting!) for age 10 to 18 / 19, always three foreign languages, in many cases with Latin or even (old) Greek (I myself attended a gymnasium and learned English for 9 years, Latin for 7 years, and French for 6 years. Some of my schoolmates learned Greek instead of French).

School names

In bigger towns usually there were more than one school of a certain level. Hence, for differentiating, they were named, in former days often with the name of the founder (king, duke, princess, a holy person etc); now with the name of an important historical person (Einstein, Anne Frank, Schiller, Goethe, Hauptmann, till 1933 also Bismarck etc). In the DDR the naming was often (similar as in France) by a numbering system.

The School

It looks to be a primary school with children up to about 14 years of age. The only information we have about the school at this time is the available school photographs. Onr photograph suggests it was a boys' school. Apparently the younger children were taught in single gender classes. Presumably there was a separate class for the younger girls. Notice the class here is coed and much smaller. I'm not sure why the class for the older children was so much smaller. The academically clever children had left at about age 11 to attend Gymnasium. Other children had presumably left already to begin appreciteships or work. As a result the older children were apparaently taught together because of the smaller number of children. This was Klassenjahrgang 1926 meaning that these children began school in 1926.

School Outings

We note another image from the school in 1941 with the older childreon an country outing. We have seen other impages of these outings at German schools. We do not know, however, much about these outings. Here I am not sure what was involved. Were these outings a day off from school? Perhaps a treat for the children's hard work. Were they a kind of fiekd trip with some kind of learming experience in mind such as identifying trees and insects. We also do not know if they were held on a school day or Saturday.

Clothing

We notice the boys at Hermsdorf School in the 1930s wearing a wide range of jackets, suits, and sweaters. The different school images over time represent an interesting view of German children and their clothing over time. Few boys wear ties. This might be expected at this seems to be a primsry school. Some of the younger boys wear sailor suits. Most boys wear short pants with short pants. Boys in the early 1940s wear casual shirts and sweaters, still commonly with short pants. Some boys wear their Hitler Youth uniforms. We are not sure how common that was. HBC readers have commented on the hosiery the boys are wearing during the 1930s. Here seasonality was a major factor. After the War we see many childern going barefoot because of the difficult economic conditions.






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Created: 1:39 PM 4/23/2005
Last updated: 1:03 PM 11/27/2009