Höninger Latin School

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Höninger Latin School
Klosterhöningen.jpg
Höningen at the beginning of the 18th century from the north (copper engraving). A Latin school building can be seen behind the archway. The monastery church rises to the left.
type of school Latin school
founding 1573
closure 1630
place Altleiningen
country Rhineland-Palatinate
Country Germany
carrier Augustinian Canons

The Höninger Latin School was a humanistic center of the Counts of Leiningen , which was founded in the district of the former Augustinian Canons of St. Peter ( Höningen Monastery ). The school existed from 1573 to 1630. The village of Höningen , a district of Altleiningen , has been built around the ruins of the monastery and the school since the 19th century.

Founding period

After the Augustinian Monastery was burned in Höningen 1569, Count turned Philip I. on 2 May of the same year to his brothers Reinhard V. and George I of the proposal, the goods and gradient of the monastery for a Latin school to use. He was able to convince them of his idea and implement it in 1573 after the necessary renovations. In a document dated June 16, the count, who was born in 1527, regretted the delay in setting up the building due to the fire in the monastery, because "the tiresome Sathan had resisted this long-established Christian fear". The purpose of “Christian furhabens” was, on the one hand, the education according to religious ideals, because “Christian schools are God's right planting gardens, from which his fruit garden is provided with young trees.” (Church regulations of Leiningen -Hartenburg); on the other hand, a Latin school was also a humanistic center for the training of new teachers, pastors and administrators.

One can assume that in the Leiningerland there were individual elementary schools next to the Höninger Latin school , where reading, writing, singing and religion were taught. According to the traditional curricula, the Latin school required reading and writing and thus attending an elementary school or private lessons. The national language was replaced by Latin in the classroom , and knowledge of Greek was also taught.

After Arnold II, the former head of the monastery and first Protestant pastor in Höningen, was transferred to Kirchheim for reasons of age, Matthias Maurus took on the role of pastor and teacher who, according to the secretary Schmitz, was "a pious and learned young man". In the same year Philipp I managed to recruit two more teachers, M. Theobald and Andreas Pfeiffer, who had been trained in Strasbourg . When they were hired, Maurus married and was already working in Bissersheim the next year . Theobald became his successor in Höningen and took over the students who had been trained by Maurus for one semester as head of the upper level, while Andreas took over the new ones in the lower level (Prima). Until 1612 there were no more than two teachers working at the same time in Höningen. The head of the upper level (classis secunda) was called "pastor and schoolmaster", the head of the lower level (classis prima) "helpers", later " collaborators ". The teachers were Lutheran theologians, sometimes students. Their employment was viewed as a transitory post with which they could bridge the time until they took over a more lucrative parish position.

Nevertheless, an orderly school operation seemed possible, so that the three count brothers concluded another contract in 1579: the school and income were to remain untouched. The school administration should file an annual invoice. Count Philipp kept the school as bailiff.

Bids and prohibitions

The annual school fees of around 30 guilders for tuition, meals and housing were relatively high. If there was no wine, it was reduced by 5 guilders. Gifted pupils from poor parents could receive a scholarship from the counts. Individual student directories and accounts provide information about the number of students. It was an unspoken matter of course that no girls attended Latin school. In the first few years, the small number of students corresponded to an equally limited catchment area; the sons of farmers, pastors, teachers or aristocrats came mainly from the Leiningerland (including Grünstadt and the surrounding area). Completion of elementary school was not a prerequisite for attending a scholarly school and nobody had to have attended one in order to study. How the trials and transfers took place is unknown. Private tuition was a popular alternative to attending a public elementary or Latin school in wealthy families. The students mostly started their careers at Easter , rarely in autumn. In Höningen they moved from the “Prima” to the “Secunda” with a similar duration after two to three years. The school time was divided into semesters (half-years), each of which ended with an examination under the supervision of the court preacher. After this, the boys performed a Latin drama, for example "Hildegardis" by Frischlin, "Hagne" or "Colignius" by Rhodius or a play by Terence . This custom was also cultivated in Heidelberg and Strasbourg for practicing Latin.

The following do's and don'ts applied at the school (translation from Latin):

  1. The morning prayer should be at 5 a.m. in summer and 6 a.m. in winter,
  2. the evening prayer is held at 8 a.m. in summer and at 7 a.m. in winter, and no one is allowed to go unpunished.
  3. Classes must be opened and closed with prayer.
  4. Read a scripture passage before and after eating.
  5. If you want to drink while you eat, you have to recite elegant verses out loud beforehand.
  6. No student is allowed to leave the school yard without permission from the teacher.
  7. The behavior of the students in general and in particular should be monitored.
  8. Teachers and students should speak Latin anytime and anywhere.
  9. After the evening prayer, teachers should examine each student's sleeping area and not allow any light to be used.
  10. Neither a teacher nor a student should be allowed to bring a guest for lunch or dinner without authorization from the conductor.
  11. Nor should any teacher be allowed to take a student on a trip and thereby prevent him from studying.
  12. Teachers should not allow students to attend markets or church fairs except with the express permission of their parents.
  13. Since two exams are held and promotions are held annually, teachers should endeavor to complete the prescribed subject matter in every semester and to repeat the same two or three weeks before the examination with the students.

A curriculum from 1590 to 1600 underlined the religious character of the educational institution. He had four lessons for Wednesday and Saturday, otherwise one to two hours, three of which were in the morning and the others in the afternoon. Were taught catechism and psalm-singing / music, Greek and Latin grammar, in the lower grades especially Cato and Cicero's letters, in high school Cicero's speeches, Plutarch's book on education (in Greek), arithmetic (arithmetic) and dialectic .

In addition to the lesson directory, the lower level designation "classis prima" and the use of the Württemberg Latin grammar point to a strong influence of the Württemberg school regulations of 1559. Without being officially binding for the Collegium Henninganum, it gave a clear insight into the strictly regulated coexistence in a Latin school of the 16th century and into the ideal self-image of the teachers. So it was after her u. a. The following: The student was required to clean his home. The beds should be made up early in the morning and given to be washed if necessary. In order for the teachers to be able to control the students' apartments, where homework was done, at all times, they set up their own rooms in the student bedrooms (in Höningen in the former monastery dormitory ). The student had to obtain permission to leave the school premises. He had to stay away from the employees' workplaces so that no one was impaired in his work. Everyone was obliged to report a rule violation on the part of their classmates to the teacher immediately. If a failure was proven, the victims faced the same punishment: withdrawal of wine, imprisonment or flogging with a rod.

With their vow ("Promission of the Monasteries-Preceptorum"), the teachers made sure to maintain the school rules with moderation and "with no poisonous anger". They viewed their profession as a "high, thewr, and divinely ordained ampt", as a means "to promote and raise the youth with teaching and divine research, to maintain the preaching, and good regiment". With a “chaste, compassionate, sober life” they should be a role model for their students, be diligent in teaching, not miss the service, and speak Latin with their students. The headmaster saw himself as the first preceptor and the second preceptors as assistants in "spiritual" matters. The other teachers had to obtain permission from him to leave the school premises. It was no coincidence that his title “Prelat” corresponded to that of a monastery chief.

After attending the Höninger Latin School, the scholarship holders were able to attend the university in Heidelberg , Strasbourg or Tübingen at the expense of the school . In order to see whether the award of the scholarship was actually worthwhile, Count Ludwig von Leiningen-Westerburg asked the Strasbourg professors in 1617 to issue individual “hard work and moral certificates”.

The school's supply base

The conductors (Oeconomicus) and his wife and other servants - including cook, baker, maid and shepherd - were responsible for the housekeeping of the school, and they were both under the count's office. The scope and type of income in money and in kind previously earmarked for the monastery as interest, lease or tithe payments were made clear, for example, in the accounts of conductor Peter Hilderich from 1578 and 1581. Such gradients originated entirely from the predominantly Leiningian villages, which were still burdened with monastic rights. In 1578, for example, school fees covered one fifth of income. (A total of about 300 guilders were paid for the ten students. The total income was 1,358 guilders.) The expenses were not only used to care for the school residents and employees, but also for the retirement benefits of former monastery brothers who still lived in Höningen , as well as for the co-financing of pastors' salaries for former canons who now worked as Lutheran pastors. Up until 1622, the entire amount of the surpluses or residual amounts fell to the Counts of Leiningen. In 1588 the "monastery" consumed 11 Fuder 1 Ohm 3 quarters (corresponds to approx. 10 750 l) of wine as a tithing, lease or interest payment from several Leiningen villages, mainly from the Dackenheim and Herxheimer plants. There had to be 56 people fed, 21 of whom were illegally cared for - as unnecessary servants - after an investigation by the office. Schoolchildren (or scholarship holders), teachers and staff were entitled to around 1/3 l of the grape juice every day. The beer was produced on site from the barley income and was not documented as an in-house production. In the “Ganerbewald” building and firewood could be felled for personal consumption, but not for sale or trade. The "Höninger Forest", also known as the school forest, managed by a forester, had developed from the monastic "war wood" and comprised around 345 hectares. As a real property of the school, its use was unrestricted. The local estate of 127 hectares corresponded to a farm with meadows, fields and ponds and was a rich source of income that was not included in Hilderich's calculations. Only the surplus converted into proceeds was given, which in its undiminished totality would bring in much more for the count. The proven embezzlement was used by the school founder's Westerburg nephew, Count Albrecht Philipp, as an opportunity to take action against the school in order to obtain at least a third of its property.

Plague and greed

After a teacher died of an epidemic in 1582 , which paralyzed classes for several months, Albrecht Philipp occupied the building with trumpeters and fencing masters in 1595 . By mistreating the employees and trying to dismiss the teachers from their duties and send the students home, he almost brought about the end of the Collegium Henninganum, but his uncle Philipp persuaded him to make a settlement that was written down on June 21 was: The three counts lines should support three scholarship holders and the boarding allowance of the students should be based on the needs of the school. Because Philip I had drawn in too much of the surplus, the Westerburger and Schaumburger lines each received 100 Malter grain and three loads of wine. After checking the Schaffnerei bill, the surplus should be divided evenly between the count houses. A jointly obliged conductor was hired, who was supposed to file a weekly bill.

Boom

The late humanist and poet Theodor Rhodius († 1625) worked here as a teacher from 1595 to 1601 . From 1602 to 1606 and from 1610 to 1626 Paul Wenzel was pastor and schoolmaster in Höningen. In his second term in office, he set up a third “class” - the Suprema - to better prepare students for university. With a new curriculum he steered the development of teaching from the scholastic-monastic tradition to a freer humanism by expanding the range of classics. These included the Aeneid by Virgil , Paedagogia by Plutarch , De senectute (about old age) and De amicitia (about friendship) by Cicero , as well as writings by Horace , Hesiod and Homer . Rhetoric , prosody and metrics encouraged the training of language skills. In addition, newly designed books were used for grammar and religion lessons. During this time, increasing numbers of students have been documented. The boys came from the Pfrimm-, Eis- and Eckbachtal , from Glan, Nahe and Rhein, from the Leiningerland, the Hagenauer and Oberbronn area in Alsace, from Kurpfalz , Hessen and other areas. In 1615, Count Ludwig, as Vogt, had the old school buildings renovated and, due to lack of space, a new school building with teachers' apartments was built. A stair tower was built on the west side of the former monastery church.

End and outlook

Shortly after the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in May 1618, the Catholic-Imperial Spaniards occupied the areas of the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine. In 1621 a roaming troop of the occupiers attacked Höningen and killed the conductor Joh. Jakob Diterich, for whom a memorial stone was carved in honor. In 1626 a schoolboy was also shot by Spanish soldiers. Schools ended in 1630 due to the war.

Only conductors and farm servants still had their apartments here to manage the Höninger gradient. These were still used in 1650 - two years after the official end of the war - to satisfy Swedish demands on the descendants of Philip I, who later used part of the income to award scholarships. The Catholic Philipp Ludwig wanted to transfer the gradient to a monastery foundation, but his family prevented him from doing so. When he died childless in 1705, the Schaumburg line came into his inheritance. In 1729 Georg Hermann resumed school operations in Grünstadt after a period of almost 100 years. The Leininger grammar school in Grünstadt emerged from the newly founded Latin school .

literature

  • Friedrich Ernst: The documents of the Progymnasium Grünstadt concerning the Latin school in Höningen (1573–1630). A contribution to the school and church history of the Leininger Land . Riedel, Grünstadt 1919 ( reports on the Progymnasium Grünstadt. For the school year 1918/19, enclosure).
  • Friedrich W. Ernst: History of the Leiningischen Gymnasium in Höningen and in Grünstadt 1573-1819. A contribution to the school, parish and family history of the Northeast Palatinate. Emil Sommer-Verlag, Grünstadt 1927.
  • Horst Schiffler, Rolf Winkeler: A thousand years of school. A cultural history of learning in pictures. Belser-Verlag, Stuttgart et al. 1985, ISBN 3-7630-1265-6 .
  • Richard van Dülmen: Culture and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Age. Volume 3: Religion, Magic, Enlightenment. 16.-18. Century. CH Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-406-34582-4 .

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