Mountain School Siegen
The Mountain School wins existed until 1967 and had the task of mining professions such Hauer and Steiger train. The school was under the control of the Siegen Mining Authority until its dissolution in 1861. There, apprentices from the North Rhine-Westphalian mining districts Siegen I , Siegen II , Burbach and Müsen, and rarely also from the Daaden-Kirchen and Hamm an der districts in Rhineland-Palatinate, were employed Victory taught.
history
Beginnings
In 1815, Oberbergrat Johann Philipp Becher demanded the establishment of a mountain school in Siegen due to a lack of knowledge of Prussian mountain officials. However, the practical skills of Siegerland miners were in demand all over the world. On April 6, 1818, the “Royal Mountain School Siegen” was opened. Ten students were taught in a room in the “Kurland Wing” in the Lower Castle .
The morning shift consisted of a practical part. For this purpose, the nearby Schleifmühlchen mine, which had already been closed, including Becher's tunnel, was reopened as a test pit . In the afternoons mathematics, drawing, calligraphy and mining were taught in the Lower Castle . Morning and noon were used to earn money, as the life of a student without a job in Siegen was impossible or difficult.
Until the end of 1827, the director of the Mining Authority, Johann Christian Leberecht Schmidt, was the first principal. After his leave of absence, Oberbergrat Carl Ludwig Heusler was deputy until January 1830, after Schmidt's death full-time headmaster. From 1827 onwards, various reforms were drafted due to the small number of students, all of which were doomed to failure. An improvement began in 1830, when practical and theoretical training were strictly separated. A brief heyday of the school was imminent, but the number of students never rose to more than 18 students.
Cessation of operations and reopening
After Heusler's death, the school came to a standstill in 1851/52. The school was reopened on October 10, 1854 under the direction of Heinrich Wilhelm Lorsbach. The school system was reorganized by autumn 1854. From now on, lessons were held in two different classes. With the new funding of the school by the mines in the mining authority, the royal school became a state-private mining school.
When the Siegen Mining Authority was dissolved in 1861, the school lost almost all of its teachers through transfers. This was followed by the establishment of the “Royal Mountain Mortgage Commission” under the direction of Bergrat Brockhoff, who was also responsible for the school. In 1867 this commission was also dissolved. Thereafter, the district officials of the local mountain districts Siegen I and Siegen II shared the management of the mountain school.
Anniversary and upswing
The upswing in the school only came at the end of the 19th century, when the Düren school was closed and the number of students rose to 24. In 1903 the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. On September 4th of that year the “Siegener Bergschulverein” was founded in order to create the previously missing legal entity as a sponsor. The association's statutes stipulated that private and state funds should finance the school. The private money came from the members of the association. These goods
- 35 mining operations of the "Siegener Eisensteinverein",
- 15 other iron stone pits,
- 24 lead and zinc pits,
- two gravel pits,
- 16 roof slate pits,
- the Cologne lignite briquette sales association with 22 pits,
- 7 natural persons
- and the city of Siegen.
The First World War marked a turning point in school life, as many students were drafted or had signed up for the service. On August 1, 1914, only four students came to class. School operations were therefore temporarily suspended. It was not until 1921 that regular operations were returned to.
New building and end of school
In 1933 the school moved into the premises of the former Wellersberg School , which was built as a primary school in 1907. The move was made necessary by the establishment of the regional court in the Lower Castle. After the Second World War , the school had twelve teachers and 135 students. Considerations for a new building became loud. Its foundation stone was laid on April 17, 1953, despite the foreseeable end of mining in the Siegerland region. The school was inaugurated on June 16, 1955.
With the closure of the last mines in the district of Siegen , Neue Haardt in Weidenau and Pfannenberger Einigkeit in Salchendorf , in 1961 and 1962 the school lost its livelihood. The attempt to convert it into a “mining engineering school” also failed. School operations ceased in September 1967. The continuation as a "mining school" ended on December 31, 1969.