College for the female sex

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The college for the female sex was the first educational institution exclusively for women. It was founded in Hamburg in 1850 and had to give up school in 1852 due to political pressure and a lack of supporters.

initial situation

The idea for a university for women came from Johannes Ronge , the initiator of the German Catholic Movement . This idea was taken up by the “Hamburg Women's Association for the Support of German Catholics”, the founders of which were Bertha Traun and Emilie Wüstenfeld , and implemented with the help of the Froebel couple. On January 1, 1850,  the school was opened in Hamburg at 25 Am Holländischen Brook . It was an institute in which middle-class women were to be trained to be kindergarten teachers. Karl Froebel was the head of this facility until it finally had to close in the spring of 1852 for political and financial reasons.

Foundation of the Hamburg University for Women

As a result of these developments, the “Hamburg Women's Education Association” emerged from the “Social Women's Association ”. This served to promote women's education. Karl Fröbel and his wife founded a rural education home in Zurich and thus came into contact with the Hamburg Women's Education Association. This gave him the order to found the first university for women in Hamburg. At the end of 1849, the “Hamburger Bildungsverein” signed a contract with Karl Fröbel and his wife Johanna Fröbel. The principles of women's education were anchored in this contract and Karl Fröbel emerged as the future head of a “university for women”.

On January 1, 1850, the first women's college was founded and opened.

Karl Fröbel's basic ideas about the Hamburg University for Women

When founding the Hamburg University for Women, Karl Fröbel formulated among other things the spread of his educational ideas and the ideal combination of women's education with his uncle's teacher training. These thoughts were far from the ideas of the women who were excited about the change and saw here the chance to finally become more independent.

In addition, Karl Froebel made it clear that the Hamburg University was not an instrument for women to dissolve patriarchal relationships, nor did he think of women becoming economically independent. "The woman remains dependent on the family at all levels of her work."

It became clear that the university for women could never become a university as it was available to men. Women, as Karl Froebel put it, have their highest calling in the family and their upbringing. "Popular education in the sense of family education."

Organization of the Hamburg University for Women

The following subjects appear on the first curriculum of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences for Women: "Language studies, literature, English, French, history, geography, history of religions, theory of forms, drawing, singing, physics (1 hour) and explanation of Schiller's poems". None of these subjects was taught more than two hours per week. This was done on purpose, because women should only acquire superficial knowledge in order to enrich themselves with inner knowledge and to pass this on to their children.

In this context, philosophical understanding contained nothing more than the philosophy of mother and daughter songs and the philosophy of Froebel's kindergarten, which was all about understanding child rearing and development laws.

In addition to Karl Fröbel, teachers were the free religious preacher Georg Weigelt , the director of the Israelite Free School Anton Rée and others.

In general, the school was intended for all women of all ages and origins; the entry age was between the ages of 15 and 16. The school fees to be paid depended on the respective income. The women should receive knowledge that is necessary for household, child-rearing, medicine and nursing.

The Hamburg University for Women had the following educational guidelines: “Accounting should be learned through arithmetic. The teaching of nature aimed at a knowledge of the chemistry of food and household goods. Scientific studies should record the substances surrounding us, the human organism and the healing power of plants. History and literature are geared towards the present as entertainment that makes life amusing. ”Here at the latest it becomes clear that this institution had nothing in common with the importance of a university today.

Karl Fröbel founded a university whose educational requirements are more reminiscent of kindergarten teacher training than a conventional university.

Dissolution of the Hamburg University

The time when the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences dissolved for women cannot be clearly dated. While Adolph Diesterweg expressed his regret over the closure of the university to Johanna Goldschmidt in January 1852 , Malwida von Meysenbug reported that she had only left the university in the spring of 1852 after it had been closed.

The reasons that ultimately led to the voluntary closure of the Hamburg university can largely be explained by the changed political situation, but the financial situation also played a role. On January 1, 1852, Karl Froebel gave up his position in Hamburg, probably due to the poor financial situation of the couple. In addition, the shareholders' financial obligations ended in the spring of 1852 and no further donor could be found.

The political situation in Hamburg deteriorated as the reaction prevailed and progressive ideas were now fought. The close connection between the Hamburg university and the free communities now proved difficult. In 1851 the Senate had already expelled two teachers from the town's community school. The college has been accused of being too radical and failing to fully disclose its principles. Members of the Pietist Church spread rumors that the Hamburg university would teach disbelief.

In addition to the political and financial problems, there were also increasing conflicts between Karl Froebel and the women of the education association. In letters he said more and more frequently that he found women “too emancipated and too independent.” Johanna Fröbel had also imagined the work differently. She envisioned young girls whom she should raise, but not grown women like e. B. Malwida from Meysenbug.

Karl Fröbel's striving for independence also went too far: "[...] in this revolutionary striving for female independence I see the downfall [...]", especially Bertha Traun's separation (malicious abandonment) from her husband in order to marry Johannes Ronge, was a scandal, especially since other women were planning to get divorced.

The emancipatory efforts of the Women's Council, but above all the humane and atheistic educational principles, were fought by the representatives of the Christian churches with leaflet campaigns and influencing the donors.

Ultimately, all those involved at the Hamburg university decided to close it voluntarily in order to prove that this was only the result of insufficient financial resources, not a wrong principle.

Well-known female students

See also

literature

  • Frauen-Zeitung An organ for the higher female interests. Louise Otto (ed.), 1849-1852; Reprint from 1849–1850 in: “For the empire of freedom I advertise the women's newspaper to citizens”, ed. by Ute Gerhard and Elisabeth Hannover-Drück . Syndicate, Frankfurt / M. 1980 (including the lecture directories of the Hamburg Women's University)
  • Ingeborg Grolle : The free-thinking women. Temmen, Bremen 2000
  • Ingeborg Grolle: Democracy without women? In Hamburg around 1848 - The ideal family. Hamburg (Office for School) 1998, p. 28, from letters from Karl and Johanna Fröbel, Hamburg 1849
  • Helmut Bleiber u. a .: Actors of a radical change . Berlin 2007
  • Elke Kleinau: The university for the female sex and its effects on the development of the higher girls' school system in Hamburg , in: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik , volume 36, issue 1, January 1990, p. 121ff. ( PDF )
  • Sivia Paletschek: Freedom is indivisible . In: Ariadne . 33/1998
  • Elke Gensler: Experiment women's college . In: Paths without dogma . 5/2010 page 113 ff.
  • Eduard Spranger : The idea of ​​a university for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916
  • Sabine Hering-Zalfen : About the difficulties of founding a university - Froebel and the women's college from 1850. P. 66, In: Adrian Kniel: Social pedagogy in change. Kassel 1984.
  • Susanne Kortendick: The Hamburg "University for the Female Sex" - an investigation into the early history of adult education. Cologne, University, Faculty of Education, Diploma thesis, 1988

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johannes Ronge: Maria, or the position of women in the old and new times . A reply to a circular from the Pope about an urgent devotion to Mary. Hamburg 1949. p. 8
  2. ↑ Another name: "Women's Association for the Support of German Catholics".
  3. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Leipzig: Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung 1916, p. 29
  4. ↑ Sabine Hering-Zalfen: About the difficulties of founding a university - Froebel and the women's college from 1850 , pp. 66-68, In: Adrian Kniel: Social pedagogy in change . Kassel 1984
  5. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916, p. 30
  6. ↑ Ingeborg Grolle: Democracy without women? In Hamburg around 1848 - The ideal family . Hamburg (Office for School) 1998, p. 28, (from letters from Karl and Johanna Fröbel, Hamburg 1849)
  7. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916, p. 34
  8. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916, p. 31
  9. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916, p. 32
  10. ↑ Eduard Spranger: The idea of ​​a college for women and the women's movement . Verlag der Dürrschen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1916, p. 32
  11. ↑ cf. Hering-Zalfen, Sabine: "About the difficulties of founding a college - Froebel and the women's college from 1850", p. 69, In: Kniel, Adrian: Social pedagogy in change. Kassel 1984
  12. ↑ cf. Grolle, Ingeborg: “Democracy without women? In Hamburg around 1848 - The Ideal Family ”. Hamburg (Office for Schools) 1998, p. 28
  13. ↑ cf. Kortendick, Susanne: The Hamburg "University for the Female Sex" - an investigation into the early history of adult education. Diploma thesis in the subject of educational sciences
  14. ↑ cf. Kortendick, Susanne: The Hamburg "University for the Female Sex" - an investigation into the early history of adult education. Diploma thesis in the subject of educational sciences
  15. ↑ About to set the difficulty of university Herring Zalfen, Sabine. P. 73 In: Kniel, Adrian: Social pedagogy in change. Kassel 1984
  16. ^ Letter of January 18, 1851 to the Women's Council
  17. ↑ Carl Schurz: Memoirs .
  18. ↑ cf. Kortendick, Susanne: The Hamburg "University for the Female Sex" - an investigation into the early history of adult education. Diploma thesis in the subject of educational sciences