German school and language association for North Schleswig

The German School and Language Association for North Schleswig (DSSV) , based in Aabenraa (dt. Aabenraa ), is the umbrella organization of the schools and kindergartens and the German Gymnasium for North Schleswig of the German minority in North Schleswig / Denmark .

history

The association was founded on August 1, 1945 and was the successor organization to the German School Association of 1920, which was dissolved at the end of World War II. At the end of the war, all German private schools were expropriated based on the allied convention on the confiscation of German and Japanese property existing German departments of the municipal Danish schools closed. The German school work in North Schleswig was left with nothing. After the first German lessons had to be given in private homes after the war, thanks to active support from the Federal Republic of Germany , especially from Schleswig-Holstein , the German private school system was rebuilt, mainly in newly built schools. In connection with the Bonn-Copenhagen declarations , the ban on examinations in German private schools that had been in force since 1946 was lifted. In 1959 the new German high school for North Schleswig (DGN) was inaugurated in Aabenraa and in 1962 the first high school students passed their Danish Abitur (student exams ) and an additional German examination. Passing the additional examination ("nostrification test") turns the Abitur passed at DGN into a full German Abitur.

The purpose of the association was and is the preservation, maintenance and communication of the German language and culture as well as the preparation of children and young people for a family, professional and leisure life in Denmark.

Facilities and goals

Around 600 children are cared for in 23 kindergartens and a leisure facility, and around 1,380 pupils are taught in the 15 general schools and one grammar school. Some schools have a school recreational regulation (SFO) attached to them. The kindergartens and schools are German-speaking institutions in the Danish border region. The German language is also used to maintain German culture and history. The offer is aimed primarily at members of the German ethnic group, but anyone who recognizes the association's objectives can accept the DSSV's offer.

The DSSV facilities want to prepare the children and young people for a life in a Danish environment. That is why Danish is taught at the native speaker level. Danish history and culture are a natural part of the classroom. Both kindergartens and schools are private institutions and recognized according to Danish laws and regulations. The pupils get both the Danish and the German school leaving certificate recognized, which means that they can either train or study in Germany and Denmark. The schools and kindergartens are generally well equipped. In the schools, the small class sizes have a positive effect. With around 400 employees, the DSSV is an important workplace in the region.

Legal position

The kindergartens are private institutions with a municipal agreement. They are recognized according to the Danish social law. The agreement with the municipality triggers operating subsidies in the amount of 2/3 of the expenditure recognized in the budget. The parents have to provide the remaining third. The schools are private schools and each individual school is recognized according to the Danish Free School Act. About 70% of the funding is provided by state subsidies. The schools have to finance the rest themselves. The federal government and the state of Schleswig-Holstein grant grants.

literature

Karin Linke, Immo Doege, Volker Lindemann, Hans Jürgen Nissen: 50 years of the German high school in North Schleswig: 1930–1980. A commemorative publication . Ed .: German School and Language Association for North Schleswig. Mohrdieck, Aabenraa 1980.
Immo Doege, Hans Jürgen Nissen: 25 years at the German grammar school for North Schleswig: 1959–1984. A commemorative publication . Ed .: German School and Language Association for North Schleswig. Aabenraa 1984.

source

Peter Jessen Sönnichsen: Mirror of the Years: the German people's calendar for North Schleswig - a cultural history of the German ethnic group in Denmark . Ed .: German School and Language Association for North Schleswig. Aabenraa 1993, ISBN 87-90072-00-6 .