Gifted examination

Certificate of passing a talent test in Hessen (1970)

The gifted test was an examination carried out by the ministries of education in Germany from 1924 to 1984, which was intended to open up a course of study for people (with professional or life experience [minimum age 25]) without a school leaving certificate and the path to university. It's (non-official) the term for exams, gifted a study without leaving certificate at universities (from 1 September 1938 all scientific universities in Germany) and since 1945 in most countries access ( access to higher education without leaving certificate opened). The official designation was mostly an examination for admission to university studies without a school leaving certificate . After the Second World War, the certificate entitled - depending on the regulations of the respective country - to study in all countries of the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin in general (The Federal Statistical Office lists the examination as one of 15 ways of acquiring the general higher education entrance qualification and instructed him in 2009 Key 8 (university entrance qualification) the signature 33 to). In addition, in some countries there were also tests that only led to a subject-specific authorization (key 8, signature 52); the examinations for a course of study at a university of education or for another course of study usually had other names (e.g. immaturity examination , Z examination, etc.).

The examination was intended to give access to university studies for those people who were excellently qualified to study a particular subject, but who were unable to take a school leaving examination due to their developmental path. The applicant (in the legal language of the time there was only the male spelling) should prove in it that he is particularly suitable for the intended study according to his personality and his intellectual abilities, knows its technical principles and has an appropriately varied education. However, the successful examination granted access to all universities and all faculties; the certificate did not contain any restriction to a specific subject (faculty entrance qualification).

The regulation of the gifted examination

Purpose of the test

The purpose of the examination was to determine the applicant's aptitude (“excellent aptitude”) for a specific course, namely “his” (= the course he is aiming for); the examination should provide evidence of particular suitability for the intended course of study: In addition to a varied (general) education (a reference to the neo-humanistic past of the “humanistic” grammar schools ), the applicant should know the technical fundamentals of his subject area (a reference on the “realistic” past of the Realgymnasien and Oberrealschulen based on the “modern natural sciences” ).

The assessment also extended to the personality (in most countries an application was only allowed after the age of 25) and the mental abilities of the applicant in order to exclude or avoid the one-sidedness and the limitation of his interests ( technical idiocy ); she reached

objective: the opening of the university to people with excellent qualifications for a subject and
subjective: those who were unable to take a school leaving examination due to their fate in life.

The particular suitability for the course of study chosen by the student was not necessarily congruent with the much discussed ability to study on the part of the universities ( Rectors' Conference ).

Classification under examination law: State examination

The examination was not held by a school or a university , but by an examination committee specially appointed by the responsible minister (usually minister of education ), which, however, regularly consisted of both grammar school and university teachers. It had nothing to do with the “regular” school leaving exams for non-pupils (external examinations, extraneer examinations, foreign examinations, non-pupil school leaving exams, high school diplomas for non-pupils or the like, which were or are “school” examinations). It was also not a university examination that the university held (by virtue of its regulatory authority as an expression of its statutory authority as a corporation : “ matriculation ” or “admission as a student” according to communal German university law until at least the 19th century).

Examination subject: talent

Critics of a talent assessment (through examination) complain that large areas of society are oriented towards Johann Joachim Becher's idea of the beneficial transformation of a quality that is hidden as a spark of divine nature and a better utilization of the nation's power capital ( Gertrud Bäumer 1920 ) aimed at. Others saw in it the possibility of university entrance for highly gifted people with a charismatic special path . With these aspects in mind, between 1922 and 1927 the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and National Education tried to promote the gifted through the advanced school , the evening grammar school and the gifted test. The “irrational formula of talent”, criticizes Gerhardt Petrat, is ultimately not ascertainable. Success in the test is more the result of the granting of state privileges to individuals . Even if a small minority from disadvantaged strata of the people have succeeded in formally advancing upwards, the type of talent assessment that has been practiced up to now often leads to an uncoordinated selection , depending on the different rigid application, fail to use the social filter.

Even if the criticized views may have been decisive for the creation of the gifted test in the 1920s, this approach is opposed today by the more scientifically oriented research on gifted students. She considers it possible to be able to deduce overall or specialist talent based on the intersubjectively ascertainable products (services).

Admission procedure: requirements

Scientific report for admission to the gifted examination

The examination was preceded by a “preliminary procedure”, after which the minister of education decided on admission to the examination. It could only be admitted

who had reached the age of 25 and not the age of 40 (all states except Schleswig-Holstein: there the age of 23),

Who could name two personalities who were familiar with the nature of scientific work and were able to give an opinion about their personality, their achievements and their educational path (former designation: persons capable of judgment) and who could be asked for such an opinion (mostly professors or similar people from the scientific community).

The applicant also had to submit:

the applicant's application to the Ministry of Culture within the registration deadlines (depending on the number of examination dates in the respective country),
a "detailed handwritten" curriculum vitae (Hessen, North Rhine-Westphalia),
school leaving certificates and evidence of professional training and performance,
proof of the preliminary studies with regard to the chosen subject area,
a report on the way in which the general education is deepened after leaving school,
an assurance that he has not yet undergone such an examination and has not applied for admission to such an examination,
a police clearance certificate and
a photograph.

Those who had been admitted were invited to the examination date or dates.

According to the examination regulations, nothing is determined about the preparation. “How you prepare for the gifted test is up to you. There is no training course prescribed by the minister of culture ”(Karin Storch).

Examination procedure: Examination board

During the Weimar Republic and thereafter (1924–1938), the examination is held by specially formed examination committees of the cultural administrations of the federal states (not schools or universities), from 1938 to 1945 by the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and after 1945 again by the cultural administrations of the Federal states (in all four! Zones of occupation) and later the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany until 1983/84.

The audit committee belonged to

the "state commissioner" (a representative of the minister of education, as with the school leaving examination) as chairman,
a university professor who, if possible, represented the subject area chosen by the applicant,
a member with previous psychological training,
two members who were supposed to be high school teachers.

All members had to have completed a scientific or artistic university degree.

Written exam

In the written test, the applicant had to write a supervisory paper on two days:

a work from the desired field of study and
a "general" task

(two exams: three questions each, five hours each; deviation : in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate: task in mathematics or a foreign language; in Schleswig-Holstein: an essay in German, with one of the three elective topics from the field of social studies had to be a task from mathematics or a scientific subject).

Oral exam

On a third day, the oral examination consisted of a one to two hour discussion about the applicant's field of study and general knowledge. Minimum requirements:

Well-read German and foreign literature (in practice, the applicant could usually suggest four works of literature beforehand),
the acquaintance with the most important epochs of the German intellectual history and a lasting preoccupation with the historical, political and social foundations of our time,
Knowledge of a foreign language.

A record of the course and the result of the examination was made and added to the examination files.

Exam result and certificate

The assessment of the examination results was based on the usual grades for school exams; the overall result was “passed” or “failed”. An overall grade was not calculated from the individual grades until the end of the 1960s (and it was not until the tightened numerus clausus after 1970 that a grade was required, which is why a bonus of 0.5 was provided for this group of people because of the special preliminary work they had done in the selection process - as for the graduates of evening grammar schools and colleges). The applicant received a certificate confirming that he had passed the exam, which approved him to study at all universities in the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin ( exception : Bremen: an additional certificate for the examined subject; Lower Saxony only for the desired subject).

According to most examination regulations, the examination could be repeated once.

The history of the gifted test

Forerunner: Education without a state

There was no precursor to this type of test. This was also not necessary because up until the first half of the 19th century there was the opinion that the state did not unify the (legal) relationship between the legal guardians of a child and the university (or other "high" schools) The term universities did not yet exist) on the other hand, may interfere. It therefore depended on the fathers or other legal guardians (guardians) whether they considered a child to be mature (e.g. after private tuition by a private tutor) or whether the university wanted to make sure that a candidate was fit for study. Since the universities were legally independent corporations (and not state institutions as later), they determined the entry or admission requirements. In terms of access regulations, there were formally only the "barriers that the universities themselves found good". The deans of the individual faculties proceeded in very different ways when they were admitted to the freedom they had been granted: “A school report was not a necessary requirement”.

Even the often quoted Prussian regulations of December 23, 1788 ( Rescript ) and of June 25, 1812 ( Instruction - expressly confirmed by the royal edict of October 12, 1812) - had no intention of [...] going away one at a time to forbid still immature youths to attend the university, if their parents or guardians believed determined by some reason that could be left to their conscience, so a free choice should remain unlimited ... (§ 1 of the instruction of June 25, 1812), So they did not prescribe a school leaving exam, high school graduation exam or a Matura certificate for the students leaving the university, although the Prussian state claimed legislative competence for this ( ALR 1794: "The university is an event of the state"); they only offered it to inform the parents or guardians about the level of performance and the presumed ability to study .

Such tests were only carried out as a result of the Karlovy Vary resolutions (August 31, 1819 and the subsequent provisional resolution on the measures to be taken by the Bundestag of the German Confederation on September 20, 1819) after the murder of August von Kotzebue († 23. March 1819) and the anti-Jewish Hep-Hep riots, some of which lasted for months (started on August 2, 1819 in Würzburg) to prevent further politicization of students and professors in almost all federal states in the 1820s and 1830s . This decision also did not make a Matura examination mandatory. As before, youths who were found immature could study at the university, but - according to the regulations - they received no benefits, free meals, etc. A. ( scholarships ) more. Secondary and tertiary students continued to be accepted at the universities, and scholarships also seemed to be rather relaxed in practice. The graduate regulations appeared to experienced contemporaries to be dazzling .

The Electorate of Hesse (Hessen-Kassel, State University in Marburg ) in 1819 and the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hessen-Darmstadt, State University in Gießen ) in 1825: Elector Wilhelm I (Electorate of Hesse) ordered his State University of Marburg for the state-related professions, not to enroll any subject ... [who] wanted to study theology, jurisprudence, medicine or cameral sciences without showing a ... formal certificate of maturity from any public high school.

Then there were those who did not intend to be employed in the civil service anytime soon and did not want to devote themselves exclusively to one of the four subjects mentioned ... B. Economists, surgeons, foresters of a lesser kind, pharmacists, veterinary surgeons, riders and the like. Released from the obligation of submitting a Matura certificate, unless they apply for financial deficits or free meals , which should not otherwise be awarded to them .

Even those who wanted to study in the Philosophical Faculty did not necessarily need a school leaving certificate: pupils who had not (passed) the Matura test or people who only wanted to attend individual lectures because of their general education or because of a special training could enroll here and study ( artist faculty , admission with small matriculation ). Eight years later, the Hessian regulation of 1820 was expanded to include the study of political science, philosophy and philology. Those who did not seek public employment in the future were exempt from submitting a certificate.

Almost all states of the German Confederation followed, such as Braunschweig in 1826, Oldenburg in 1827, Hanover and Saxony in 1829, Mecklenburg in 1833 and Württemberg in 1834.

Opponent of the obligation to submit a certificate was u. A. the Prussian Minister of Justice Karl Albert von Kamptz , because everyone must be free to enter the university without having their qualifications checked beforehand, ... and Jacob Grimm explained: How church and theater are kept open to those entering should be every young man opened the door of the university and left to him to feel and bear all harm if he stepped into this hall without equipment. In particular , he considered the high school graduation exam, which required and complicates entry to the university, to be reprehensible. Notwithstanding this, the German states gradually tightened university access after 1835 and made submission of a Matura certificate a prerequisite for enrollment . The increasing financial needs of universities and the recognition of other “high” schools as academic institutions (e.g. technical colleges, mining, forestry, etc.) in the second half of the 19th century also promoted state influence.

Matura certificate only for state exams

In Prussia, on the basis of the Education Act provided for in Art. 26 of the constitutional document of 1850, a draft by the Education Minister Adalbert von Ladenberg was drawn up , but this was not pursued further. In the draft, enrollment was regulated in §§ 222–228 . In § 223 two prerequisites are provided for enrollment, on the one hand a certificate of maturity (Matura certificate) issued by a domestic (= Prussian) high school and on the other hand the permission from the father or guardian to study at the university concerned. This was only true for those who wanted to devote themselves to theology, jurisprudence and political science, medicine and surgery, philology or any other profession that required university education. It was not until the 1850s to 1860s that individual states determined that a Matura certificate had to be available before leaving a university, but this still only applied to those “who want to pursue university studies in order to qualify for the local civil service or for the To prepare for the exercise of a scientific profession in the local territory ”.

The German Empire , founded in 1871, changed nothing in the previous regulations of the federal states, because the teaching and university affairs remained in the competence of the federal states. Accordingly, the word Abitur does not appear at all in the official writings before 1945, but the word Abitur graduates (= graduates: This does not mean those who had the Abitur , but those who left school). With the Abitur (or more precisely: the successful Abitur examination, then still: Matura examination, later matriculation examination or in Bavaria: Gymnasialabsolutorialprüfung) it was about the admission to the state examination (mostly at the end of the course), not about the university entrance (before the beginning of the course). The high school diploma / matriculation examination entitles to unrestricted study in all subjects at the university, that of the Realgymnasium usually only entitles to study the subjects of the political economy and natural science faculty and modern languages and history at the philosophical faculty (but that was from the university to University different). The university often offered Latin courses that could lead to the acquisition of a small or large Latinum , then it was possible to study almost all subjects (except theology, later also classical philology ). Accordingly, there was also a high school diploma from the (ten-class) high school ; however, it only entitle them to study in the Faculty of Natural Sciences (from 1899, after a supplementary examination in Latin, to study in the Faculty of Philosophy). From 1904 the monopoly of the grammar school on studying all subjects was lifted (exception: knowledge of ancient languages for studies in theology and ancient philology). Up to 10% of male students (at the twelve Prussian universities) still had no school-leaving exams (e.g. chemists, economists, pharmacists, dentists) in 1908/09 ( women studies in 1908 , but only with the approval of the minister).

First World War and Weimar Republic

The examination for admission to studies without a secondary school leaving certificate is a product of the time after the First World War , although various attempts were already started in the last year of the war. Since 1916 the Wuerttemberg Ministry of Churches and Schools has been preparing special care for capable students from less well-off people circles. In 1918, "precautionary" funds were made available in the budget and an association was founded to promote the gifted. In 1919 the first attempt was made 50 young people were asked to apply, but only seven participants successfully completed it at the end of March 1923. Other suggestions were not put into practice (transition courses for workers at the University of Munich, proposal by the University Senate of August 21, 1919 to the Bavarian Ministry for Education and Culture, not carried out due to lack of funds (state parliament debate on May 17, 1922, finally rejected on May 22, 1922)).

The resistance to admitting further students without a school leaving certificate came mainly from the universities (and often enough from the philosophical faculties). Despite the difficulties of setting up a gifted test, both the University Conference in Bensheim in 1922 and the Rectors' Conference, in addition to the “regulated” routes to university studies, also spoke to people “who were prevented by special circumstances” from following this route to open up access to a specific university course . For example, the resolution of the University Conference in Bensheim of May 6, 1922 ( Bensheim resolution ) reads :
The University Conference recognizes the need for people who were prevented by special circumstances to get to the university in an otherwise regulated way, access to a specific one To open university studies if, due to their special abilities and excellent performance, they guarantee that they will achieve higher intellectual achievements through the academic studies. For the assessment of personality values, particular professional achievements should be primarily decisive. In addition, a minimum of general education is necessary. If this education is determined, more value should be placed on the ability to think and comprehend than on the level of ready knowledge. However, the scope of the existing knowledge must ensure the ability to follow the academic instruction in the chosen subject on the basis of previous self-study.

After the decision of the 11th (extraordinary) conference of the rectors of the German universities and colleges from 13./14. In March 1923, admission was
1) always to be limited to very special cases,
2) to be refused for persons under 25 years of age,
3) with regard to the minimum level of previous knowledge to be required, the Bensheim resolutions were decisive,
4) to be made dependent on an entrance examination an examination board of the university should take over.
5) Passing the examination should not entitle you to do a doctorate.

The approval of wide circles for the plans (left: knowledge is power / education for everyone, liberals: performance promotion through the advancement of the gifted, military: career opportunities for demobilized soldiers and former career officers) was historically based mostly on the scripture talent and study of the conservative scientist Eduard Spranger justified (1917 - dedication: "My students in the field").

Examination only for courses at universities

The Prussian Minister for Science, Art and Public Education approved the regulations drafted by the examination office for admission to university studies by decree of June 11, 1924 (Az. UI 1161). The regulations only applied to courses at universities; Other examination regulations applied to the other academic universities (e.g. supplementary examinations for technical universities, substitute maturity exams for commercial colleges and agricultural universities, and abbreviated matriculation examinations for elementary and secondary school teachers , which had to be taken after at least two years of school service before the start of studies, supplementary exams afterwards four semesters for university studies in philosophy and pedagogy and supplementary examinations in mathematics, physics, chemistry before beginning studies at technical universities).

At the end of 1928, not only Prussia, but also Baden , Hamburg , Thuringia and Saxony had introduced appropriate tests. After their recognition by the Prussian Minister for Science, Art and National Education, non-Prussian applicants were also able to study at the Prussian universities (Berlin, Bonn, Breslau , Frankfurt a. M., Greifswald , Göttingen, Halle, Cologne, Königsberg , Marburg , Münster, Medical Academy Düsseldorf , State Academy Braunsberg ) and technical universities ( Aachen , Berlin , Breslau , Hanover ) possible.

No order of magnitude measured by the number of high school graduates

Statistics - success and failure in Prussia:
In the first six years (late 1923 to 1930) 369 people were successful. Of 1,530 applications, 369 people, i.e. 24%, have obtained the higher education entrance qualification (22% of the male candidates, 36% of the female candidates). The elementary school students performed above average, 30% had passed the exam.
The following results were obtained about the origin of the test items:

42% were sons and daughters of officers,
38% of executives,
17.7% of merchants,
14.3% of factory and manor owners, bankers, directors of large companies and freelancers with academic training,
9.5% of artisans or workers,
7.5% from senior civil servants.

Statistics - success and failure in Baden, Bavaria and Thuringia:

In Baden, between 1928 (introduction of the examination) and 1931, 55 applications were submitted and 24 (43.6%) were rejected, 31 people were admitted (16 failed), and of 55 applicants, 15 were allowed to study (27.3%);
in Bavaria from 1929 (introduction of the examination) to 1933 137 applications were submitted and 55 (40.2%) were rejected, 82 people were admitted (25 failed), 57 of 137 applicants were ultimately allowed to study (41.6%);
In Thuringia, 117 applications were submitted between 1924 and 1931 and 71 (60.7%) were rejected (16 failed), of 117 applicants, 30 were ultimately allowed to study (25.6%).

The origin:
In Baden and Bavaria approx. 27% came from higher and middle civil servants, about the same number from business people and private employees, in Thuringia 30%; of craftsmen and workers in Baden 7%, Bavaria 16%, in Thuringia however 23%.
The following groups were the front runners: merchants, craftsmen and workers, middle and higher civil servants, in Bavaria 63%, in Prussia 45%.

In total, in the states of Baden, Bavaria, Prussia and Thuringia, only 604 out of 2,149 applicants passed the exam.

Nazi state

Overcrowding discussion and need for academics

In 1933 the number of male students without a school leaving certificate at Prussian universities had fallen to 0.8%. From 1934 onwards, the gifted test was used most by participants in the pre-study course of the Langemarck course in order to get to a (university) degree.

The need for academics rose sharply, especially from 1936, because the economic upswing (“four-year plan”), especially the armament of the Wehrmacht , required qualified personnel. Therefore, starting at Easter 1937, the secondary school time was shortened by one year to twelve years in order to have two classes of high school graduates available at once. Despite the advertisement (as early as the end of 1936) for the study of the higher teaching post ("promising") by the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education (unofficially also called "Reich Ministry of Education" REM), places remained vacant in the winter semester of 1937. The REM then tried to make schools and studies more attractive by reducing tuition fees, promoting talented students, "gifted exams" for employed people and "special maturity examinations" for technical school students, as well as through "fee waivers" for gifted but needy students (the tuition fees for the universities were between 157 and 250 Reichsmarks per semester, which roughly corresponded to the monthly salary of a skilled worker). Salaries and opportunities for advancement have improved (the quota of women is also rising again, in 1941 more than a quarter of all full-time teachers in secondary schools are women - a proportion that was only exceeded in the mid-1960s).

Uniform regulations through the examination regulations of 1938

Even during the Weimar Republic, some supplementary examinations were uniformly regulated under the designation special maturity examination (with effect from 1930) and new paths were broken in teacher training ( college for teacher training ). During the Nazi era, the decrees of August 8, 1938 (with effect from September 1, 1938) re-regulated both the special maturity examination and the gifted examination. From this point onwards, the passed examination entitles the holder to study at all German universities, but according to the implementation provisions of § 6, admission was “generally only for a certain subject for which a university degree is possible ... In special cases, admission for several of these subjects ”(faculty entrance qualification).

Tests in the countries of the zones of occupation and the Federal Republic

Not a year passed after the German Wehrmacht surrendered in 1945 when the Northwest German University Conference in Goslar (February 25, 1946) recommended the reintroduction of the gifted examination and the establishment of a joint examination board for the British zone; the gifted examinations taken so far should be recognized. The Northwest German (British Zone) and the South German University Day (US Zone) also proposed principles for the examination regulations (September 9, 1947), as they were later adopted by most of the federal states. The 1st Student Day of the US-American Zone in Heidelberg (1947) wanted to hold on to the Abitur (better: the Abitur examination), but during the transition period talented students should be encouraged without distinction in a suitable way so that they can take this or a corresponding examination can (selection of talented students and preparation for the exam) . The report on university reform by the Study Committee for University Reform (1948) also recommended the gifted test and pointed to the attempts at three-year special courses for workers who have completed their apprenticeship in Aachen, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg.

In response to a small inquiry, the Hessian Minister for Education and Popular Education, Ernst Schütte, announced the following figures on March 13, 1962 about the success of the regulations for admission to higher education without a secondary school diploma passed on November 12, 1956: From December 1956 to the autumn exam 1961 141 people applied for admission and 67 applicants took the test. 49 applicants passed the test and received a certificate that entitles them to study all subjects.

Special forms: access to teacher training colleges

In North Rhine-Westphalia, access was initially only available to teacher training colleges , i.e. only to secondary and elementary school teacher training, and later also to diploma courses (at the beginning of the 1970s, around 12% of PH students were recruited as a result). The public expenditure was initially limited to the costs of holding the exams, but later also to the student funding through BAföG .

In Lower Saxony, in addition to the existing gifted examination, special access to the universities of teacher education was set up early on: the Z examination (“Z” for admission to university studies), which was later sometimes referred to as the immaturity examination . The conditions were only partially the same as in the other countries. A study from 1973 provides information about the professions of the parents and grandfathers of the Immatures, the social class, origin by city / country, place of residence and place of birth, mobility, age, marital status, school attendance, career choice and apprenticeship, etc.

Educational politicians overwhelmed: swan song for the gifted test

Georg Picht's “ educational catastrophe ” has undoubtedly produced an uncoordinated wave of institutions promoting educational endeavors and their adult educational support with different objectives, although z. B. the adult education centers behaved rather hesitantly at first and only supported these efforts from 1967/68.

The FAZ doubted the success of the efforts of the third educational path as early as 1976 and asked whether it had really had the selection hurdles it deserved. In any case, the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs came to the conclusion: No. The original examination regulations from 1947 to 1959 were only known to the initiated and the number of applicants was correspondingly low. At the beginning of the seventies, however, the number increased by leaps and bounds: from around 500 to several thousand. In Hesse alone, the number has increased tenfold within four years. For such highly gifted people, special preparatory courses have been set up in Frankfurt-Höchst by the adult education center and in Frankfurt am Main by the Department of Politics, which has led to a steadily growing army of adults willing to study. The ministers of education, who had been struggling for some time with the steadily growing high school graduation avalanche, observed this development with concern - and drawn the consequences. After all, the large number of school leaving examiners had long been bothered by the fact that those who were supposedly so gifted received a 0.5 point bonus when they were awarded a university place, thus further reducing the chances of those who were not exactly untalented.

As a result, an "Action Committee 3rd Education" was set up in Frankfurt am Main to attack the plans. "Not wrongly" (FAZ) argued against the examination catalog of the planned examination regulations that the intended canon of subjects did not take into account that the applicants were "particularly capable adults" between the ages of 25 and 40 who had already been five years must have been employed. They would then have to deal with things that largely have nothing to do with their specific area of experience, nor in the majority of cases with the later field of study: That is pure examination drama or time-consuming boring without meaning (mathematics / natural sciences).

The FAZ thus relied on a figure of argument that was mainly cultivated in the ministries of education, and which the Hessian minister of education had already asked the Hessian state parliament several months beforehand and the “Federal Association of Third Education Paths e. V. ”had communicated in a letter. Scope and characteristics of the above Group of people would result from the comparison with the groups of people who acquire the general higher education entrance qualification in other ways. After all, the requirements for members of comparable groups of people such as the non-school leaving examination, students in evening grammar schools and colleges (regardless of age) are significantly higher than in the gifted test, while the two groups do not differ in terms of professional activity and financial burdens.

Success / failure in the exams from 1973 to 1976 in Hessen

Number of applicants who registered for a university degree exam without a secondary school leaving certificate, were admitted or not admitted and who passed or failed this test.

Exam date	Fall 1973	Spring 1974	Fall 1974	Spring 1975	Fall 1975	Spring 1976	Fall 1976
1. Applicant	150	215	250	239	213	204	190 ^(a)
2. Approved	108	147	145	145	129	122	75
3. Resigned before or during the test	12	17th	22nd	17th	19th	27	19th
4. Passed	89	119	105	108	85	82	48
5. failed	7th	11	18th	19th	25th	13	8th

^(a)Out of 190 applicants, 13 applicants withdrew their application prior to the decision on admission. Of the remaining 177 applications (100%), for 24 (13.6%) no factual decision could be made that the rejections should therefore be pronounced (7 because of missing police clearance certificates, 11 because of missing reports and 6 because of missing other documents).
For this reason, a factual decision could only be made on 153 applications. Of these, 75 applications (49%) received a positive decision.

Success / failure in the exams 1975 to 1980 in Bavaria and Berlin

Success / failure	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Bavaria overall	113	102	88	86	89	74
Bavaria successful	61	57	51	50	62	40
Berlin overall	200	231	182	103	36	53
Berlin successful	140	149	124	78	28	42

The other countries did not provide statistical material.

End of the gifted examination and the successors

After 1982, the gifted examination was replaced in all countries of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) by examinations for the access of particularly qualified professionals . It provided for a standardization of the differentiated regulations in the federal states with the tendency to align the examination requirements with the normal Abitur . "If the KMK agreement is implemented in state law by August 1, 1985 as planned without modification, an essentially independent way of university access would be abolished ". This was - despite the commitment of the Minister of Education in the Hessian state parliament about the maintenance of the gifted examination of the old kind - also the case in Hesse. The last admission to the gifted examination took place until the end of November 1984, the last examination was from June to September 1985 . B. partly welcomed by the trade unions (recognition of professional qualifications), but partly criticized because of the restriction to a certain group of people (instead of a further opening of the universities). Above all, the elimination of the possibility of opening higher education institutions was criticized. B. for (only) housewives, single mothers, juvenile prisoners (project for vocational training of women in prison), underqualified workers (project for training unemployed women in new professions), foreigners, etc., as well as the introduction of a greatly expanded catalog of traditional (Abitur -) Compulsory subjects. Lower Saxony did not join the resolution of the KMK at that time and pursued a special route with the state's own Z-exam (qualification test for university studies without a school leaving certificate) or the immaturity test . Although the unusual name of the examination has been preserved to this day, the prerequisites and the examination procedure no longer differ from those of the other countries of the Federal Republic of Germany since the changes in 2009 at the latest. By resolution of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) in May 1982, it was agreed to abolish the previous gifted test and to open the universities only to working people. There was no longer any possibility for non-employed persons (“only” housewives, refugees without recognizable foreign vocational training, etc.) to take up a course of study without a school-leaving certificate, in future a state-recognized vocational training had to be proven (other training courses did not apply); some countries have later recognized parental leave or care leave as time equivalent to vocational training.

Known people with gifted test certificates

Herwig Blankertz (Prof., Integration of General and Vocational Education)
Max Diamant (anti-fascist, IG Metall, SPD)
Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD, Member of the Bundestag, Federal Minister)
Milan Horáček (Greens, Member of the Bundestag)
Walter Kühlthau (CDU, Member of the Bundestag)
Rudi Rohlmann (SPD, MdL Hessen)
Waltraud Schoppe (Greens, Member of the Bundestag)

literature

For the gifted test during the "Weimar Republic"

Studies without secondary school leaving certificate - published on the basis of official material, Verlag für Politik und Wirtschaft, Berlin 1924.
Otto Benecke (Hrsg.) Studies without secondary school leaving certificate in Prussia - Official regulations, 2nd edition. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1925.
Hans RG Günther: University studies without secondary school leaving certificate. Fritz Wiechmann publishing house, Neustadt bei Coburg 1947.

For the gifted test during the Nazi era

Hans Huber, Franz Senger (Hrsg.): Studies without secondary school leaving certificate at German universities - official regulations. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1938.
Ulrich Gmelin : The Langemarck Study of Reich Student Leadership. Publishing house of the magazine "Der Altherrenbund" 1938.
Ulrich Gmelin , Hans-Bernhard von Grünberg : The Langemarck study of Reich student leadership: Reports from the work in the war. Dresden 1941.
Ulrich Gmelin : The right to education in the völkisch welfare state (SA.-Standarte Feldherrnhalle, department of ideological education) 1944.

For the gifted test during the period 1945–1984

Karl Bungardt: The Second Education Path - Keyword - or Program? Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn (Obb.) 1957 (the author means by the second educational path every alternative to the first, not just today's schools for adults).
Karl Wagner: evening school, foreign diploma and test for gifted students. In: Ralf Dahrendorf, Heinz-Dietrich Ortlieb (eds.): The second educational path in the social and cultural life of the present, Verlag Quelle & Meyer, Heidelberg 1959, pp. 208–222.
Karin Storch : The Second Education Path - Opportunity or Illusion. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1974, ISBN 3-436-01709-4 .
Hans-Ulrich Hilgendorff: University studies without high school diploma - the qualification test (gifted test). A comparison of the examination regulations in the federal states. (Legal opinion, typescript, Center for Scientific Further Education), Oldenburg 1982
Klaus R. Schroeter: Studying without a high school diploma - course and academic success of students without a higher education entrance qualification. (= Sociological work reports 24). Christian Albrechts University, Kiel 1998, ISSN 0939-5253 .
Walburga Katharina Freitag: Second and third educational path to university. (= Working paper 253). PDF , Hans Böckler Foundation, Düsseldorf April 2012 (detailed overview of research results and projects).

Web links

Search for the gifted test in the German Digital Library

Individual evidence

↑ Petra Kipphoff, Thomas von Randow, Dieter E. Zimmer (eds.): Hochschulführer Teil IV. Academic dictionary, keyword test for talented students , DIE ZEIT books, Nannen-Verlag Hamburg, 1964 p. 341.

↑ Federal Statistical Office: key index , student and examination statistics (key for university entrance qualification), acquisition of the HZB in Germany, general higher education entrance qualification (aHR). Status: Winter semester 2008/2009 and summer semester 2009, Wiesbaden 2009, pages 1 and 2

↑ Federal Statistical Office: key index , student and examination statistics (key for university entrance qualification), acquisition of the HZB in Germany, subject-related higher education entrance qualification (fgHR). Status: Winter semester 2008/2009 and summer semester 2009, Wiesbaden 2009, pages 2 and 3

↑ Wolf-Dieter Scholz, Andrä Wolter: Exclusivity or permeability of university access? - An educational sociological contribution to university studies by former workers without a high school diploma in Lower Saxony. In: Jost v. Maydell (Hrsg.): Educational research and social policy - Wolfgang Schulenberg for his 60th birthday , Oldenburg (Heinz Holzberg Verlag) 1982 there p. 142–166: The university entrance examinations for employed persons without a secondary school leaving certificate in Lower Saxony as a model of the third educational path

^ Andrä Wolter, Wolf-Dieter Scholz, Jost von Maydell: Studying without high school diploma at the University of Oldenburg - The opening of university entrance in the educational controversy. In: Jürgen Lüthje (Ed.): University of Oldenburg - Development and Profile Oldenburg (Heinz Holzberg Verlag) 1984, there: pp. 303–309 On the history and organization of the Z-examination

↑ Torsten-Clemens von Roetteken: Legal framework for university examinations according to the university framework law. Frankfurt am Main (Dissertation [jur.], Johann Wolfgang Goethe University) 1985.

^ Thomas Oppermann : Kulturverwaltungsrecht Mohr Siebeck (habilitation thesis) Tübingen 1969, ISBN 3-16-629852-5 , pp. 316-318.

↑ Johann Joachim Becher : Foolish wisdom and wise folly. Frankfurt am Main 1686, quoted from Gerhardt Petrat: The targeted opening of the university entrance qualification for all social classes in the Weimar Republic. In: Manfred Heinemann (Hrsg.): Socialization and education in the Weimar Republic. (= Publications of the Historical Commission of the German Society for Educational Science. Volume 1). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-12-926980-0 , p. 75.

↑ quoted from Gerhardt Petrat: The targeted opening of the higher education entrance qualification for all social classes in the Weimar Republic. In: Manfred Heinemann (Hrsg.): Socialization and education in the Weimar Republic. (= Publications of the Historical Commission of the German Society for Educational Science. Volume 1). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-12-926980-0 , p. 75.

^ Andrä Wolter , Ulf Banscherus, Caroline Kamm, Alexander Otto, Anna Spexard: Permeability between vocational and academic education as a multi-level concept: balance sheet and perspectives. In: Contributions to University Research, Volume 36, 4/2014 p. 22

↑ The targeted opening of the higher education entrance qualification for all social classes in the Weimar Republic. In: Manfred Heinemann (Hrsg.): Socialization and education in the Weimar Republic. (= Publications of the Historical Commission of the German Society for Educational Science. Volume 1). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-12-926980-0 , p. 89.

↑ Karin Storch : The Second Education Path - Opportunity or Illusion. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1974, ISBN 3-436-01709-4 , p. 114.

↑ Sections 7 and 8 (1) no.2 letter a) of the procurement ordinance of May 22, 1975 (GVBl. I p. 99)

↑ On the relationship between university and state, social or state institution, see Dietmar Rimmele The University Reform in Prussia 1918–1924 - A Contribution to the History of Educational Policy of the Weimar Period Dissertations in the humanities and social sciences 47, Hartmut Lüdke Verlag Hamburg 1978, p. 13 ff.

^ Maria Rosa di Simone: Admission to the University. In: Walter Rüegg (Ed.): History of the University in Europe, Volume II - From the Reformation to the French Revolution 1500–1800. CH Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-36956-1 , p. 235 ff. Digital copy (partially)

↑ Encyclopedia of the Entire Education and Teaching System, Volume 6, 1885, p. 252

↑ No. II Rescript to the magistrates and inspectors of the Churmark, in which they are aware of the edict of December 23, 1788, issued with regard to the students going to the universities and the Churmärk Higher Consistory, because of the examination of these, also the collation of scholarships and other beneficiaries is made on Jan. 8, 1789, in: Novum Corpus Constitutionum Prussico-Brandenburgensium Praecipue Marchicarum (NCC) VIII (= Volume 8) Col. 2376 ff. (= image: 8 of 237) ; also reprinted by Paul Schwarz: The Prussian Academic Schools under the Oberschulkollegium (1787–1806) and the Abitur graduate examination , II. The introduction of the Abitur graduate examination (Monumenta Germaniae Paedagogica, Volume XLVI) Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1910, A. Regulations for the examination of the scholar Schools, p. 122 - B. Regulations for the Examination at Universities, p. 128.

^ Department for Cult and Public Education in the Ministry of the Interior: Instruction of June 25, 1812 . In: Friedrich Schultze (Hrsg.): The high school graduation exams, primarily in the Prussian state, A. Document collection, Eduard Anton, Halle 1831 p. 7

↑ Edict on the examination of students going to the universities . In: Friedrich Schultze (Ed.): The high school graduation exams, mainly in the Prussian state, A. Document collection, Eduard Anton, Halle 1831 p. 6

^ Department for Cult and Public Education in the Ministry of the Interior: Instruction of June 25, 1812 . In: Friedrich Schultze (Hrsg.): The high school graduation exams, mainly in the Prussian state, A. Document collection, Eduard Anton, Halle 1831 p. 8

↑ II 12 § 1 ALR (General Land Law for the Prussian States, Part Two, Title Twelve )

^ Provisional resolution on the measures to be taken with regard to the universities , of September 20, 1819, XXXV. Session, §. 220, printed in: Philipp Anton Guido von Meyer: The Basic Laws of the German Confederation or German Federal and Final Acts, united according to the order of the Federal Acts; in addition to the most important territorial regulations and the organic laws of the federal government. Ferdinand Boselli, Frankfurt 1845 p. 65 f.

^ Wolfgang Neugebauer: The education system in Prussia since the middle of the 17th century. In: Otto Büsch (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Prussischen Geschichte, Volume II: The 19th Century and Great Subjects of Prussian History , B. Great Subjects of Prussian History No. III., De Gruyter, 1992 p. 635 ff., ISBN 3-11-008322-1 .

^ Ordinance on the examination of the maturity for the purpose of academic studies. dated January 19, 1825, Grand Ducal Hessian Government Gazette (Nro. 3) Darmstadt 1825 pp. 23-26 and 1832: § 3 of the ordinance, attendance at grammar school, the Matura exams and the relationship with the university on October 1, 1832 ( Published October 17, 1832.), Archive of the Grand Ducal Hessian Laws and Ordinances, edited under the direction of the ministries, Volume Six, from January 1832 to the end of 1834, Im Verlage der Großherzoglichen Invalidenanstalt, Darmstadt 1838, pp. 359-369

↑ § 2 No. 1 of the laws for students at the University of Marburg (today: Philipps University of Marburg ) of December 10, 1819: Matura certificate or examination before Collegio scholarcharumin: Collection of laws, ordinances, announcements and other general provisions for Kurhessen from 1819. Court and orphanage printing works, Cassel, kurhess GS 1819, p. 83 ; also in: Wilhelm Möller, Karl Fuchs (Hrsg.): Collection of the legal provisions still valid in the Electorate of Hesse from 1813 to 1866. Elwert'sche Universitäts-Buchhandlung, Marburg / Leipzig 1866, p. 232 f. and § 6 para. 1 of the ordinance of April 11, 1820, the certificates of maturity for academic studies in: Collection of laws, ordinances, notices and other general orders for Kurhessen from the year 1820. Court and orphanage printing house, Cassel, kurhess GS 1820, p. 49 f. ; also in: Wilhelm Möller and Karl Fuchs (eds.): Collection of the legal provisions still valid in the Electorate of Hesse from 1813 to 1866. Elwert'sche Universitäts-Buchhandlung, Marburg and Leipzig 1866, p. 255 f.

^ Collection of laws, ordinances, announcements and other general orders for Kurhessen from the year 1820 Hof- und Waisenhaus-Druckerei, Cassel, kurhess GS 1820, p. 49 f .; also in: Wilhelm Möller, Karl Fuchs (Hrsg.): Collection of the legal provisions still valid in the Electorate of Hesse from 1813 to 1860. Elwert'sche Universitäts-Buchhandlung, Marburg / Leipzig 1866, pp. 255 f.

↑ Otto Benecke , foreword to the 2nd edition of studies without a secondary school leaving certificate in Prussia - official regulations Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1925, p. 1 f.

↑ Announcement of the State Ministry, because of the submission of certificates of maturity for academic studies of September 25, 1828. In: Collection of laws, ordinances, announcements and other general orders for Kurhessen from the year 1828. Hof- und Waisenhaus-Druckerei, Cassel, 1828 P. 40

^ General German real encyclopedia for the educated classes. Conversation Lexicon. Ninth original edition in fifteen volumes. Ninth volume, Maturitätprüfung , FA Brockhaus 1846, pp. 403–405.

↑ Report of the Education Commission of the House of Representatives on the petition on the extension of the permissions to which the first-order secondary schools are entitled , namely the admission of secondary school high school graduates to university studies in the legal and medical faculty with the same rights as high school high school graduates. In: Centralblatt for the entire teaching administration in Prussia (Centrbl. Or CBlU), Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz (Bessersche Buchhandlung), Berlin 1869, p. 154

↑ Report of the Education Commission of the House of Representatives on the petition on the extension of the permissions to which the first-order secondary schools are entitled , namely the admission of secondary school high school graduates to university studies in the legal and medical faculty with the same rights as high school high school graduates. In: Centralblatt for the entire teaching administration in Prussia (Centrbl. Or CBlU), Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz (Bessersche Buchhandlung), Berlin 1869, p. 155

↑ Renke Suhren Professional qualification and university entrance - models for study preparation and support at the specialist conference of the Hans-Böckler-Foundation from October 29th to 30th, 1987 in the Technical University of Darmstadt (AG 3), typescript p. 3 f.

^ Wilhelm Schrader (Provincial School Council in Königsberg): Permissions. In: KA (= Karl Adolf) Schmid (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia of the entire education and teaching system. First volume, 2nd edition. Rudolf Besser, Gotha 1876, p. 573 ff.

↑ Ignaz Jastrow gives a legal historical overview of the authorizations of the secondary school leaving certificate and the right of the minister of education to allow exceptions : The right of the secondary school leaving certificate - a forgotten corner of Prussian administrative law. In: Legal weekly. (JW) 1925, p. 14 ff.

↑ Ministry of Spiritual, Educational and Medicinal Affairs (ed.): Legislation in the field of teaching in Prussia from 1817 to 1868 - pieces of files with explanations. Wilhelm Hertz - Bessersche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1869, pp. 162 ff. [185]

↑ z. B. § 1 of the law of February 22, 1856 for the free city of Frankfurt

^ Friedrich Kluge : Etymological dictionary of the German language 22nd edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1989, Lemma Abitur : matriculation examination, leaving examination, so actually : "Examination for those who want to leave (from school to university )."

^ Sylvia Paletschek : The permanent invention of a tradition: The University of Tübingen in the German Empire and in the Weimar Republic. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart ( habilitation thesis 1997) 2001, ISBN 3-515-07254-3 , p. 123 ff.

↑ A report is provided by the course leader E. Löffler: A contribution to the question of promoting the gifted in the non-official section of the Central Gazette for Teaching Administration (ZBlU) under Announcement No. 429 1923, pp. 322 ff. And No. 446, 341 ff. And announced that a similar attempt had also been made in Hamburg.

↑ Wolfgang Bauer: Special cases of the higher education entrance qualification for working people (A contribution to the problem of the gifted examination). Nuremberg ( typescript , dissertation University of Economics and Social Sciences) 1952, p. 33 ff.

^ Eduard Spranger: University and Society. BG Teubner, Leipzig 1917, reissued with detailed annotation in: Gesammelte Schriften. Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Heidelberg 1973, pp. 432-440.

↑ Announcement No. 485 Recognition of the gifted examination for admission to study at the Prussian universities and technical colleges - UI 2546 - from December 1, 1928. In: Central Gazette for the entire teaching administration in Prussia (Zentrbl. Or ZBlU), 1928 p. 367

^ Deutsches Philologen-Blatt Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1930 p. 525

↑ Wolfgang Bauer: Special cases of the higher education entrance qualification for working people (A contribution to the problem of the gifted examination). Nuremberg ( typescript , dissertation University of Economics and Social Sciences Nuremberg ) 1952 pp. 229–235.

^ Wilhelm Hehlmann: Pedagogical Dictionary, 3rd edition, Kröner, Leipzig 1942 p. 253

↑ Hans Huber, Franz Senger (ed.): Studying without a secondary school leaving certificate at German universities - official regulations (1st edition) Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938, p. 7.

^ Hermann Giesecke: Hitler's Pädagogen - Theory and Practice of National Socialist Education , 2nd revised. Edition, Part II: Pedagogical Fields, Juventa-Verlag, Weinheim 1999 p. 149

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, German Science Education and National Education, Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry of Science, Education and public education and the education administrations of the federal states (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 p. 365 f.

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Appendix A Examination Regulations , German Science Education and National Education, Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry for science, education and popular education and the educational administration of the federal states (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 pp. 366–368 ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a secondary school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Annex B Implementation Regulations , German Science Education and National Education, Official Journal of the Reich Ministry for science, education and popular education and the teaching administrations of the federal states (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 p. 368 f. ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a secondary school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Appendix 1 List of the Fachschulen Deutsche Wissenschaft Erbildung and recognized for the special maturity examination Volksbildung, Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and the Education Administrations of the Länder (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 pp. 368–372 ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Annex 2 questionnaire (including religious affiliation and ancestry) German science education and Volksbildung, Official Journal of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and the Education Administrations of the Länder (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 p. 372 f. ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Annex 3 Certificate form German Science Education and Public Education, Official Journal of Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and the Education Administration of the Länder (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 p. 373 f. ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a high-school diploma, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Appendix C Order of the examination for admission to studies without a high-school diploma the German universities (gifted examination), German Science Education and National Education, Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and the State Education Administration (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 pp. 373-375 ;

↑ Announcement No. 419 Examination for admission to studies without a school leaving certificate, special maturity examination from August 8, 1938 - WJ 2670 E III, E IV, EV (b) / 38 -, Appendix D Implementation provisions (to the gifted examination regulations), German Science Education und Volksbildung, Official Gazette of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education and the Education Administrations of the Länder (RMinAmtsblDtschWiss.), 4th year / 1938, Weidmannsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1938 p. 375 f.

↑ § 6 Paragraph 3 of the regulations for the gifted examination

↑ Wolf-Dieter Scholz / Andrä Wolter : University entrance as a biographical cut : In: Paul Kellermann (Ed.): Study admission and study admission, Klagenfurt contributions to educational research 15, Kärntner Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Klagenfurt 1984, ISBN 978-3-85391- 046-7 .

^ Rolf Neuhaus (editor): Documents on the university reform 1945–1959. (= Publication of the West German Rectors' Conference). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1961, there the numbers [12], [100], [264], [377], [379] and [877]

^ Official Journal of the Minister for Education and National Education of November 12, 1956. OJ. HKM p. 558.

↑ Answer of the (Hessian) Minister for Education and National Education of March 13, 1962 to the Minor Question from MPs Walz (CDU) of February 6, 1962, printed matter of the Hessian State Parliament, No. 353, p. 330

^ Dietrich Thränhardt: University entrance for working people without high school diploma . In: Democratic Education 1975 (Issue 6) p. 13 ff.

↑ Wolfgang Günther, Volker Dawal: Ability to study at a university without a school leaving certificate - About the academic success of "immatures" and high school graduates. Regional Association of Adult Education Centers in Lower Saxony, Hanover 1979.

↑ Jürgen Weißbach: University access for working people without a school leaving certificate as a task of further education. In: Trade union education policy. (DGB Federal Board), No. 10, 1984, pp. 262–265.

↑ Volker Petran: Problems of the second educational path - presented on the examination for admission to university studies without a school leaving certificate. "Only for internal use at the PH", Göttingen (General Student Committee of the Lower Saxony University of Education, Göttingen Department) 1973.

^ Georg Picht: The German educational catastrophe, analysis and documentation. German paperback publisher - dtv, Freiburg im Breisgau 1964.

↑ Bernd E. Heptner: A super high school diploma for those working later? - The examination for admission to university without a secondary school leaving certificate is to be tightened. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (FAZ), January 27, 1976.

↑ Answer of June 12, 1975, Hessischer Landtag - 8th electoral period - printed matter 8/1078 of June 20, 1975.

↑ The Hessian Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs on the draft of an agreement on the examination for university entrance for particularly skilled professionals in a letter to the Federal Association of Third Educational Pathways. V. of December 23, 1975 - IIC 3 - 339 / o -93-, p. 2.

↑ Annex to the answer of the (Hessian) Minister of Education ( Krollmann (SPD) ) to the minor inquiry from Abg. Miss Dr. Streletz regarding admission to university studies without a secondary school leaving certificate, Hessischer Landtag, 8th electoral period, printed matter 8/3852, p. 3 (attachment)

^ Resolution of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs from 27./28. May 1982 Agreement on the examination for university admission for particularly skilled professionals Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the Federal Republic of Germany, Annex III to the minutes of the 210th meeting of the Conference of Ministers of Education.

↑ E. Lenk: Union demands for the examination for university entrance of working people without a school leaving certificate. Typescript , Düsseldorf 1984.

^ Reiner Hoffmann: Unions and Second Education. In: Trade union education policy. (DGB Bundesvorstand), No. 10, 1984, pp. 260-262.

↑ Answer of the (Hessian) Minister of Education ( Krollmann - SPD ) to the minor inquiry from Abg. Hartherz , Hellwig , Heyn , Holzapfel and Rohlmann (SPD) regarding university access for working people, Landtag printed matter 9/6082 of February 24, 1982 , (Question No. 7) p. 2

↑ City of Frankfurt am Main, Office for Adult Education / Adult Education Center, Department of Politics (SfP): Information sheet on the study program as preparation for the examination for admission to university studies without a school leaving certificate - with examination regulations and registration form dated February 2, 1982, p. 3

^ Georg Büchner: Notes on the end of the gifted high school in Hessen. Frankfurt March 1985. (Reproduced typescript by lecturers at the Department of Politics e.V. in Frankfurt am Main).

↑ Bernd Runge: Preliminary remarks by the State Association of Adult Education Centers in Lower Saxony. In: Wolfgang Günther, Volker Dawal: Ability to study at a university without a school leaving certificate - About the academic success of “Immatures and Abitur graduates”. Regional Association of Adult Education Centers in Lower Saxony, Hanover 1979, p. V f.

^ Andrä Wolter , Wolf-Dieter Scholz, Jost von Maydell: Studying without high school diploma at the University of Oldenburg - The opening of university entrance in the educational controversy . In: Jürgen Lüthje (Ed.): University of Oldenburg - Development and Profile , Heinz Holzberg – Verlag, Oldenburg 1984 ISBN 978-3-87358-194-4 , pp. 301 ff.

↑ http://www.studi-info.de/studium/studienarten/wektiven/studieren-ohne-abitur

[1] Petra Kipphoff, Thomas von Randow, Dieter E. Zimmer (eds.): Hochschulführer Teil IV. Academic dictionary, keyword test for talented students , DIE ZEIT books, Nannen-Verlag Hamburg, 1964 p. 341.