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Public Schooling in Prussia: Number of Institutions, Teachers, and Pupils (1864-1911/13)

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II. Public Secondary Schools

An 1882 decree stipulated that, in the future, the successful completion of an institution with nine grade levels (even one not offering Latin) would entitle pupils to enter university and to pursue certain advanced scientific and technical occupations. Nevertheless, this decree did not result in any standardization. Afterwards, there were three types of secondary educational institutions:

I. Full-credit institutions whose school leaving certificates entitled pupils to study at university; these differed in the combination of subjects offered.

1. Gymnasium (grammar school), entailing compulsory instruction in Latin and ancient Greek.
2. Realgymnasium, a type of grammar school entailing compulsory instruction in Latin (but usually not in ancient Greek) and a stronger emphasis on the natural sciences.
3. Ober-Realschule (a senior stage of middle school), without instruction in Latin.

II. Advanced schools that were not full-credit institutions; the successful completion of these schools did not entitle pupils to study at university. These schools had seven grade levels; they were intended to prepare pupils to attend full-credit institutions, and they featured the corresponding subdivisions.

In addition, a separate type of educational qualification (which included a school leaving exam and eligibility for one year of military service) was offered by the advanced schools for the middle classes (Bürgerschule) after the completion of a six-grade education (without Latin); by decree of the responsible minister in 1892, these schools were turned into preparatory institutions for the Ober-Realschulen. This same decree also caused school types to be differentiated more sharply on the basis of the foreign language combinations and the natural sciences offered in the curricula.

Hence, the secondary educational institutions included: Gymnasia and Progymnasia (six-grade grammar schools without the senior grades), Realgymnasia, from 1859 to 1882 Realschulen of the Ist order (full-credit institutions with nine grades) with instruction in Latin, Ober-Realschulen, since 1877 full-credit institutions with nine grade levels but no instruction in Latin, and Realprogymnasien, i.e. Realschulen that prior to 1882 had been designated as Realschulen of the IInd order or, respectively, advanced Bürgerschulen.

In including these schools, the following table covers the entire school system beyond the so-called intermediate school leaving certificate (mittlere Reife). Admittedly, it does not cover girls’ schools of this same level, but even as late as 1913 these schools did not have more than 3,939 pupils, even when private schools are counted. Preschoolers and preschool teachers were counted as well.


Year*

Institution

Teachers**

Pupils

Pupils per teacher

Pupils per 100
inhabitants

1864

264

3,810

78,718

20.7

0.41

1871

414

5,941

119,641

20.1

0.49

1875

454

6,669

135,777

20.4

0.53

1880

493

7,502

145,575

19.4

0.53

1885

525

8,724

151,541

17.4

0.54

1890

549

156,796***

0.52

1896

576

8,365

156,472****

18.7

0.48

1900

627

8,852

176,268

19.9

0.51

1906

745

11,119

227,349

20.4

0.60

1910

824

12,549

260,019

20.7

0.65

1913

881

13,731

275,165

20.0


* Throughout, the data for “year” begins with the winter semester of the year listed and continues to the following one.
** Until 1885, these figures include full-time employees and assistant teachers together; from 1896 onward, they only include full-time teachers.
*** In Schwarz, due to an error in addition, the figure 166,796 was provided in this place.
**** Here, Schwarz (p. 226) lists the number of pupils at 165,060. The source of this figure remains inexplicable, whereas the data provided there for the year 1893 corresponds with our source.



Source: Jahrbuch für die Amtliche Statistik des Preußischen Staates [Yearbook of Official Statistics for the Prussian State] (1883): p. 397 (1864-1880); O. Schwarz, Der Staatshaushalt und die Finanzen Preußens [The State Budget and Finances of Prussia], vol. 2, Die Zuschußverwaltung [Benefit Administration]. Berlin, 1900, p. 228 (for 1885) and p. 226 (for 1890); Statistisches Jahrbuch für den Preußischen Staat [Statistical Yearbook for the Prussian State] (1913): p. 416.

Original German data reprinted in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka and Gerhard A. Ritter, Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch II [Social History Workbook II], 2nd ed. Munich: Beck, 1978, pp. 159-60.

Translation: Erwin Fink

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