On compulsory schooling

Not all children like going to school. Some also think it is unfair that they have to go to school, when they can choose many other things for themselves. Five hundred years ago, these children would apparently have had it easy. Back then, there was no compulsory schooling.

Schools and even universities already existed, but they were reserved for the children of the nobility and other wealthy people. Most people lived as ordinary farmers, with few rights, and could neither read, write nor do arithmetic. They learned from their elders what they needed to know for their work. Everyone had to work, including children—even very young ones. There was hardly any free time or time to play.

Change came very slowly. At that time, Germany was divided into many small principalities, and each prince ruled his own territory, including decisions about setting up schools. The Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken was the first to make school attendance compulsory for the children in his territory. This was in 1592. In the Kingdom of Prussia, children were not required to attend school until 1717.

For a long time, supervision of schools was entrusted to pastors and church councils. In each community, the council and mayor were responsible for school buildings, teachers and school equipment. The first teachers were poorly trained. It was enough if they could write, do a little arithmetic and read the Bible. Shepherds were often hired as teachers, since they had less work with their sheep in winter.

In the past, many parents didn’t see the point of sending their children to school. They felt they couldn’t afford to lose the children’s help with work. For example, in the Eifel region in the first half of the 19th century, this led to sometimes fierce protests by rural residents against children attending school.

Often, people lacked even the bare essentials. School buildings were basic. Sometimes, classrooms still had open fires, equipment was very sparse and rooms were far too small. In winter, it was often so cold that children and teachers could only bear it near the stove.

A teacher sometimes taught more than 100 children. At first, women were not allowed to work as teachers at all. And from 1880, in what was then the German Empire, women teachers were allowed to teach but not to marry. The Weimar Republic’s constitution made school attendance compulsory for all children. This happened in 1919.

Every child in Germany must attend full-time school for 9 or 10 years. This is followed by another two or three years at a vocational school or in the upper grades of a Gymnasium, meaning that children in Germany spend a total of 12 or 13 years at school.

Even 200 years ago, many children in Germany did not go to school at all, or lessons were held only in winter. Eventually, compulsory schooling was introduced in almost all German states, requiring every child to attend school. During the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm, most children went to public schools known as Volksschulen.

However, private schools had existed in many places long before then. They often called themselves “Latin schools”. Some of these schools later became secondary schools or grammar schools. For a long time, these “higher schools” were open only to the children of nobles and wealthy citizens. Girls were not admitted to these schools at all.

Later, there were classes for boys only or girls only. Schools for girls only were also founded, such as one in Bad Tölz, Bavaria.

Find out:

What does compulsory schooling mean?
What could most people not do 500 years ago?
Who made the decisions about people’s lives back then?
When was compulsory school attendance first introduced?
In which kingdom was compulsory schooling introduced as late as 1717?
What skills were teachers expected to have at the time?
Why did many parents refuse to send their children to school?
How many children did teachers sometimes have to teach?
What restrictions applied to women teachers?
How many years of school are children in Germany required to complete today?