Sexton School

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sexton schools were lower education schools run by the community sexton . From the second half of the 17th century onwards, the sexton schools were the predominant school type in some rural areas of Central Europe, especially in Reformed areas. This type of school can be proven as a fixed term in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Thuringia and Westphalia, among others . The sexton school was a special form of the parish school in which the respective pastor was also the teacher.

Another, more general term for this type of school is church school , which is derived from the fact that in the village the parish was the supervisory authority for the school and church staff was also the school teacher at the same time: this did not always have to be the sexton. B. in Saxony the cantor was the teacher, who was also often supported by a school substitute in larger parishes.

Emergence

As a result of the Reformation and the associated dissolution of many monasteries , the possibility of higher education for gifted children no longer existed. The common people hardly had this possibility either. But it was a goal of the Reformed congregations to enable their parishioners to read the Bible . So the sexton or the cantor of the parish also taught the local children. He lived in the Küsterei or Kantorei, and a classroom was originally set up in the same building or in an extension. In very small schools, lessons took place in the living room. Only later, as it grew, were the church school buildings added, which at the beginning often only had one or two rooms. In areas with scattered settlements, there were also hiking schools, which took place on different farms depending on the season and the circumstances.

The sexton as schoolmaster

The sexton often had other tasks too, for example he was often also an organist or court clerk. The main task of the sexton school was to support the pastor with catechesis, the children should also learn to read, write and arithmetic, no other subjects were included. Occasionally gifted children were also taught Latin by the pastor so that they could later switch to a theological Konvikt .

The level of training of the sexton was very different. Some had a good education, others had only been trained by the pastor . The pastor had to make sure that the sexton and schoolmaster had a certain educational potential. The sexton should be very good at religion, be able to read well and have sufficient knowledge of mathematics. The story often deals with the fact that the sexton and schoolmaster lacked professional competence. There is also a frequent argument as to whether the double task has always belonged together.

The payment of the sexton was regulated by contract with the municipality. The sexton was either paid by the hereditary farm owners, he also had his own land and was also taken into account in the division of trademarks . On high feast days there was a special gift in the form of eggs, sausages and similar foods from the parish residents . But there were also sextons who only received the school fees for the schoolchildren (around 1/2 thaler per year and child) and could hardly support themselves with it.

The end of sexton schools

Sexton schools were repeatedly criticized by the supervisory church offices because of the insufficient training and the often insufficient motivation of the sexton. The construction of own schools for village children with a qualified full-time schoolmaster came up late in most of the village areas. The Enlightenment in the late 18th century, which ensured that the princes advocated an improved education for the population independently of the churches, was also responsible for this. In the course of the 19th century, the state primary school was gradually established. Some old sexton schools are still preserved in the Westphalian region and in Eichsfeld , the listed buildings are used differently. According to documents from the past centuries, the dual function of sexton and school teacher in the villages often seems to have continued until after the First World War .

Municipalities with a former sexton school (examples)

literature

  • Christa Kostolnik: 300 years of Mecklenburg rural school history: from the sexton school to the polytechnic high school in the parish of Ankershagen . Ed. Steffen, Friedland / Meckl. 2006, ISBN 3-937669-88-4 .
  • Willi Schwarz: The Bergische Schule and its roots in the vicariate and sexton school. Contributions to the history of school law 1700–1825 in the area of ​​today's Rheinisch-Bergisches Kreis . Gouder & Hansen Verlag, Cologne 1966 (also dissertation; University of Cologne 1966).
  • Victor Hoheisel: The law of the sexton school. A contribution to theory and practice in the dispute between united church and school offices, taking into account the latest case law of the Prussian Higher Administrative Court . Stilke Verlag, Berlin 1929.

Web links

Footnotes and individual references

  1. P. Westhoff: "Küsterschule" (from: Lexikon der Pädagogik der Gegenwart / edited by the German Institute for Scientific Pedagogy in Münster in Westphalia, edited by Josef Spieler, Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1932, vol. 2)
  2. the process of the development of village schools began before 1500, see: Christa Berg (Hrsg.): Handbuch der deutschen Bildungsgeschichte: 18. Century. Munich 2005, p. 217 center
  3. on Saxony: Hans-Martin Moderow: Elementary school between state and church: the example of Saxony in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cologne / Weimar 2007, p. 48 ; Christa Berg (Hrsg.): Handbook of the German history of education : 18th century. Munich 2005, p. 218
  4. Online presence of the primary school Barrien ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Online presence of the community of Dabrun ("Chronicle of the primary school> Küsterschule")