Hans Hensen

Hans Hensen (born June 18, 1786 in Bünge , † November 20, 1846 in Schleswig ) was a head of the royal deaf-mute institution Schleswig, budget adviser and professor.

Life and work as a teacher

Hans Hensen was a son of the farmer and miller Martin Hensen (* 1748 in Bünge; † 25 June 1803 ibid) and his wife Margarethe, née Clasen, widowed Lassen (* 21 April 1745 in Dbodstedt; † 28 July 1808 in Bünge ). He had six older siblings and lived until he was 15 years old on his father's farm, which he ran as an inherited farmer's bailiff. Due to the position of the father, the family had a prominent position in the village.

From 1801 Hensen attended the cathedral school in Schleswig and began studying law at the University of Kiel on April 25, 1806 . In 1809 he passed the official examination with a second character and “very laudable distinction”. During his studies, Hensen made the acquaintance of his future father-in-law Georg Wilhelm Pfingsten . He took on deaf people, who were mostly children, and taught them arithmetic, writing and spoken language , which was absolutely unusual at the time. Whitsun teaching facility in Kiel grew so quickly that the teaching workload overwhelmed him. At the same time, Hensen was very interested in working with " deaf and dumb " people and therefore received an apprenticeship at the deaf and dumb school immediately after his graduation in the autumn of 1809, of which he was thus the second teacher.

In the spring of 1810, the institute moved to Schleswig due to the lack of expansion options. On June 17, 1811, Hensen married in Schleswig-Friedrichsberg Whitsun daughter Agnete Catharine Wilhelmine (born March 13, 1790 in Lübeck; † November 27, 1827 in Schleswig), with whom he had five sons and two daughters. Due to financial problems, shortly after the wedding, Hensen asked to be appointed as a lawyer , but this was considered incompatible with his professional business. Instead he took over the position of adjoint head of the educational institution in 1811.

From 1813, Hensen increasingly participated in publications and official reports of the institution for the deaf and dumb. All official letters have him and Pentecost as addressees with equal rights. In the following years, Hensen took over more and more official business and teaching. On December 20, 1825, Pentecost retired at the age of 80. On June 3, 1826, Hensen was royal appointed as the real and sole head of the deaf-mute institute. At that time he looked after 79 students, employed a further teacher, two teaching assistants, a calligraphy and drawing master as well as a repetition .

During Hense's time as head of the Deaf-Mute Institute, the number of pupils rose very slowly: 83 in 1825, then 90 in 1845. Thus, after a phase of almost hectic expansion of the facility, always on the edge of what the institute could still achieve, he ensured a phase of stability. This included the consolidation of buildings, income, but also pedagogy and methodological didactics.

After the death of his first wife, Hensen married Henriette Caroline Amalie Suadicani on February 16, 1827 in Schleswig-Friedrichsberg (born July 8, 1804 in Schleswig; April 22, 1862 there). The couple had five daughters and two sons, including the later physiologist and marine biologist Victor Hensen .

Educational concept

Between 1812 and 1820, Hense published extensively on dealing with the deaf and mute. He initially developed teaching courses that later comprised six departments and appeared in print. In addition, there was a complete linguistic knowledge and an expert knowledge based on it, dealing with the deaf and dumb lessons. In addition, he wrote texts for deaf students, wrote scientific essays and reported on his experiences in the educational institution. Due to the increasing workload due to his teaching and administrative activities, he published significantly less afterwards.

It was important to Hensen to teach his students life practice through household and handicraft work. In 1818 he therefore opened a printing company with a publishing bookstore that operated at his own risk. A weaving mill, a spinning mill, a joinery, a turnery and other workshops and small businesses that made profits were added later. So many former students were able to secure their own livelihood.

As head of the institute, Hense laid down his preferred teaching content and methods in writing. His predecessor, Pentecost, had introduced teaching for the deaf and dumb at the institute and did not focus on spoken language. Hense further reduced the proportion of spoken language and instead increasingly taught written language, pantomime and finger alphabet. He had lessons in spoken language given only to the more able pupils for a maximum of four hours per week. With this concept he obviously deviated from his theories, which he had published in 1820. In his writings he had expressed the opinion that teachers should primarily teach speaking. By concentrating on written language, pantomime and finger alphabet, the students were able to communicate more or less quickly with one another, but they did not have optimal communication options outside the institute. However, the learned life practice compensated for this disadvantage.

Other engagement

In addition to working in the educational institution for the deaf and dumb, Hensen co-founded the Friedrichsberger Spar- und Leihkasse in Schleswig in 1816 and was one of three administrators responsible for its fund until the end of his life. From 1830 until his death he participated in the royal directory of the Schleswig lunatic asylum. In doing so, he advocated setting up profitable workshops and creating further factories.

Hense also got involved with people in need through no fault of their own. He administered and increased some of the foundations, some of them large, that the deaf-mute institute had received, and tried to use the funds as effectively as possible. He created a fund for widows among those employed at the institute and other support funds, including one for the insane asylum.

From 1836 to 1844 Hensen was a member of the Schleswig State Assembly . Politically, he took a position between the moderate liberals, to whom he was closer, and the ruling party. He was actively involved in politics and was so respected that the congregation closed attending his funeral.

Honors

On June 26, 1821, Hensen was appointed Dannebrogsmann. On July 31, 1816 he was appointed Knight of the Order of Dannebrog. He was also awarded the title of professor.

literature

• Rüdiger Porep: Hensen, Hans . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 4. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1976, pp. 94-97