Cornel Schmitt

Cornel Schmitt (born January 4, 1874 in Marktheidenfeld , † January 13, 1958 in Würzburg ) was a versatile German educator . He worked as a composer of children's and choir songs, teacher trainer , author of children's books as well as biologist and biology didactician .

Life

Cornel Schmitt was born as the son of the teacher and organist Karl Stephan Schmitt and his wife Anna, b. Schmitt, born in Marktheidenfeld. He grew up in the schoolhouse where his father taught and lived.

At the age of 13, Schmitt attended the preparatory school in Lohr am Main in order to be prepared for the planned teacher training for two years, which then took place in the Würzburg school teacher seminar. After graduating, Schmitt received his first position as a seminar assistant teacher in Freising in teacher training. However, he returned to Würzburg and married his wife Mathilde, nee. Summer, with whom he had four children. Schmitt finally came to Landsberg am Lech for seven years as a preparation school teacher . Here he composed and published a. a. 40 children's songs. In 1905 he established a tradition there with his festival “Der Jungfernsprung” for the “ Ruethenfest ” that has been taking place in Landsberg since 1751 . He set many songs to poems by Paula Dehmel . He also began to take photos, which was evident in many nature photos of the books he had designed himself.

In 1909 Schmitt returned to his home in Main Franconia and became head of the Lohrer Preparand School. There he dealt intensively with natural history, especially with ornithology . With Hans Stadler he began to record bird voices on records. After Lohr was dissolved, he taught German, natural history and music from 1923 as a professor at the teacher training college in Würzburg . As in Lohr a. In addition to his compositional activity, M. devoted himself to bird song research. He gave rousing lectures on biological topics for the radio. He was also an important pioneer of the school garden movement , pointing out the limited possibilities in the school environment and rejecting the then highly praised "Barmer School Garden" with entire communities . His ideas fit in well with reform pedagogy , as he relied on holistic pedagogy and advocated learning in nature at the "extracurricular learning location". However, he did not represent a theory in biology didactics, but worked in a practical way. He advocated nature conservation that had to be created in the children by the teachers.

He did not support the racism of the Nazi state. In 1936 he retired regularly, but had to do school service again until 1944 during the war, which he enjoyed doing. In 1947/48 he again accepted a teaching position at the teacher training institute and continued to publish biological textbooks.

Numerous as yet unpublished compositions were lost when his Würzburg house was destroyed in the devastating bombing of the Royal Air Force on March 16, 1945, which he rebuilt himself in 1953.

Cornel Schmitt died on January 13, 1958.

Works

Works of art

Schmitt composed numerous children's songs for piano and voice (e.g. "Rumpumpel"), of which over 100 were printed. For male and mixed choirs he set ballads and songs by Mörike , Löns , v. Liliencron and v. Fallersleben .

In addition to the festival "Der Jungfernsprung", Schmitt set the nativity play "The Shepherds of Bethlehem" to music in 1922 and the folk play "Des Deutschen Liedes Sendung" by the Frankish poet Nikolaus Fey in 1923 .

biology

• with Hans Stadler: The bird language: a guide to their recognition and research , Stuttgart 1919
• The biological school garden. Its system and educational use, Freising 1922 (first 1909)
• Out of the classroom! 1926
• From our brothers in forest and field , 1929/30
• Who is singing there? Hiking booklet for bird lovers , 1953 (first 1930)
• Love of nature and homeland - my teaching goal. Ways to love nature, Freising 1935
• 250 simple experiments with plants and animals: compiled according to communities and arranged according to the season, Datterer, Freising 1953 (first 1913)
• Markwart and Hazzel, the story of two jays, Beltz, Langensalza 1925

literature

• E. Ullrich: Cornel SCHMITT (1874-1958). Teacher - musician - biologist - teacher trainer - pioneer of nature conservation . - Depends on natural science Würzburg Association 34 (1993), pp. 185-208.
• Joachim Neumann: A certain Cornel Schmitt, in: Institute for Environmental History and Regional Development eV at the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg (ed.): STUDIENARCHIVUMWELTGESCHICHTE No. 10, 2005, pp. 15-18 online
• Aiga Klotz: children's literature in Germany 1840-1950: Volume IV: R-S . Springer-Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-476-03319-2 ( google.de [accessed April 25, 2020]).
• Norbert Jung, Heike Molitor, Astrid Schilling: Nature, emotion, education - forgotten passion ?: On the tension between nature conservation and environmental education . Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2015, ISBN 978-3-86388-248-8 ( google.de [accessed on April 25, 2020]).
• Fernande Walder: The school garden in its importance for teaching and education: German school garden efforts from the German Empire to National Socialism . Julius Klinkhardt, 2002, ISBN 978-3-7815-1242-9 ( google.de [accessed April 25, 2020]).

Web links

• Literature by and about Cornel Schmitt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Memorial plaque Berlin Krumpuhler Weg indicating the school garden