Schnepfenthal Salzmann School

The Schnepfenthal Institution (Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal) is a boarding school in the district of Gotha, Germany, founded in 1784.

Schnepfenthal Salzmann School
Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal
Address
Klostermühlenweg 2

, ,
99880

Germany
Coordinates50°53′0″N 10°34′26″E
Information
TypePublic boarding school
Established1784 (1784)
HeadmasterDirk Schmidt
Teaching staff46 (2009/10)
Years5-12
GenderCo-educational
Number of students393 (2009/10)
Average class size16
Student to teacher ratio8:1
Abitur average1.4
Website

In addition to compulsory education in English and German, students in 6th grade choose from Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Latin is taught in year 5, and the student may continue studying Latin throughout his education at the Salzmannschool, if he wishes. In year 8, students must choose from French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. 9th grade students have to choose among three of those four languages again, depending on which language they began studying in year 8.[1]

It is amongst a handful of government supported schools specifically catering to the academically talented in Germany, along with institutions such as Pforta and the Landesgymnasium für Hochbegabte Schwäbisch Gmünd. To gain admission, prospective students have to pass a special entrance examination facilitated by faculty from the University of Erfurt.[2][3]

Location

Located on the northern slopes of the Thuringian Forest, the school is in Waltershausen in the district of Gotha, near Castle Reinhardsbrunn.

History

The linguist and theologian Christian Gotthilf Salzmann founded the school in 1784, with the intention to focus on languages, practical work and physical exercise. Salzmann was an influential theorist in childhood education, and his treatise 'Elements of Morality' was translated into the English language by the 18th century British feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft. In the book Child of the Enlightenment,[4] Rotterdam University professors Arianne Baggerman and Rudolf Dekker stated:

"We know a lot about the ideological basis of Salzmann's school, because he outlined it in a detailed prospectus published in 1785. He began by stating that for the last fifteen years, people had been waking up to the fact that much of the 'wretchedness and misery' in the world had been caused by a misspent education. Like the other philanthropists, he was keenly aware of being an innovator. He chose the village of Schnepfenthal because, he said, it was 'not situated so close to the city that it could be badly influenced by it, yet it was close enough to allow the pupils to associate with upright, enlightened and cultivated people'."

The support of the Freemasons of Gotha and the patronage of Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau were also integral to the founding of the school.[5] Leopold III was a noted liberal and social reformer, who also supported the founding of the first Jewish newspaper in Germany.[6]

Since its early days, the school was internationally known as a pioneer in education and was visited by many pedagogues and intellectuals including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christoph Martin Wieland.[7][8] The husband of Queen Victoria, Albert, Prince Consort, was frequently sent there as a boy to play with the students.[9]

Teachers and alumni

Some of the people who have taught or studied there include [10]

See also

References

  1. "Concept of the Salzmannschule". www.salzmannschule.de. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  2. "Bildende Kunst - Goethe-Institut". www.goethe.de.
  3. "The Approach of the Salzmann School". www.salzmannschule.de. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. Arianne Baggerman and Rudolf Dekker, Rotterdam University professors, Child of the Enlightenment, page 60
  5. Joachim Whaley, Oxford University Press, Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, page 520
  6. J. Morley, "The Bauhaus Effect," in Social Utopias of the Twenties (Germany: Müller Bushmann press, 1995), 11.
  7. "Salzmann, Christian Gotthilf (1744–1811) - Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society". www.faqs.org.
  8. "The Museum of the Salzmann School". www.salzmannschule.de. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  9. Charles Grey, Cambridge University Press, Early Years of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort: Compiled Under the Direction of Her Majesty the Queen, page 42
  10. "A short history of the Salzmann School". www.salzmannschule.de. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  11. "The "Useful Questions of Heredity" before Mendel". jhered.oxfordjournals.org. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 2020-10-30.http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/100/4/421.full
  12. "Hans Domizlaff Archiv | Leben und Werk | Master of Brands in the Roaring Twenties". www.hans-domizlaff-archiv.de. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  13. "Home - Globethics.net". www.globethics.net.
  14. Thaler, Peter (March 22, 2008). "Identity on a Personal Level: Sleswig Biographies during the Age of Nationalism". Scandinavian Studies. 80 (1): 51. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  15. "Springer SBM - EQT". www.eqtgroup.com.
  16. "Springer Timeline". www.ulib.niu.edu.
  17. Archived 2013-06-19 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Springer-Verlag. Pt. 1: 1842-1945 : foundation, maturation, adversity, p. 395, at Google Books
  19. B. A. Kachur, "Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm (1852–1917)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2007), online edition at doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36549 (subscription required)
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