State school for the blind and visually impaired (Neuwied)
Today's state school for the blind and visually impaired was founded in 1899 as an evangelical provincial institution for the blind of the Rhine Province with significant participation from the Princely House of Wied in Neuwied and is located in what is now the Feldkirchen district . At that time it was the most modern school building of its kind in Germany and is now the only school for the blind in Rhineland-Palatinate .
history
The school served to relieve the Provincial Institute for the Blind in Düren (founded in 1845), which was now reserved for the Catholic blind and visually impaired . The school was initially designed for 80 students. Empress Auguste Viktoria took over the protectorate of the institute and gave it her name: Auguste-Viktoria-Haus. She resigned her protectorate in April 1919. Queen Elisabeth of Romania (Princess zu Wied, known under the name Carmen Sylva) was more connected to the school than the Empress . So she visited the school several times during her stays in Neuwied. Following the example of the Neuwied School, she built the first Romanian school for the blind in Bucharest.
As early as 1906, class trains were set up based on a curriculum comparable to that of a middle school. One began early on to include vocational training for school leavers and those who later became blind. Until then, in addition to the normal school education, the students had been taught skills in Braille and in the manufacture of brushes, brooms and baskets.
One principle was: “Work instead of alms.” Until 1947 (Control Council Act No. 46), the Provincial Blind Institutions were subordinate to the Rhenish Provincial Parliament or its governor. The board of directors of the institution was formed by the Patriotic Women's Association for the Nursing and Employment of Poor Unemployed People in Neuwied . This commissioned deaconesses from Kaiserswerth with the care and commercial instruction of the girls. The older male pupils were entrusted with the care and training of the headmaster. The first 35 students came from Düren. Compulsory schooling for blind children was not introduced in Prussia until 1911 , which contributed to the increase in the number of pupils in Neuwied. Until 1912, blind people had so-called vacations in most boarding schools for the blind. Since April 1, 1912, the relatives or the respective municipality had to pay a care allowance for the children.
During the First World War , a reserve hospital was set up in the institution, in which the deaconesses acted as nurses. The pupils who had initially been released home came to Düren in 1915, as did the teachers who were not involved in military service. The brush-making could be maintained. The teaching and learning materials and the director stayed in Neuwied. When the German troops marched back from the western front, the Düren institution was also needed for billeting. The blind therefore had to be released in October 1918. Since the Neuwied facility building was the American headquarters until August 20, 1919, lessons could only start again in November after repairs and maintenance work. At times the deaf and mute were still housed in the asylum for the blind because American occupation troops claimed the building as their quarters.
From 1926 onwards, skills for office jobs were added: typing lessons and a specially developed stenograph for the blind. If the level of education of the students allowed, they were trained for the higher school for the blind in Marburg , where they could do their Abitur and prepare for a degree. It was not until 1970 that the teaching of the blind and visually impaired was separated.
The school today
The state school for the blind and visually impaired is a state institution of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Today more than 200 pupils with various disabilities are taught here in various specialization areas and courses. Over half of the students live in the connected boarding school or in four year-round living groups. A vocational and a vocational school as well as a kindergarten are attached.
Web links
The website of the state school for the blind and visually impaired
Coordinates: 50 ° 27 ′ 17 ″ N , 7 ° 26 ′ 7 ″ E