Private forest school Grunewald

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Private forest school Grunewald
Photo-request.svg
Image wanted BW
type of school Montessori school
founding 1930
closure 1939
address

Hagenstrasse 56

place Berlin-Grunewald
country Berlin
Country Germany
Coordinates 52 ° 28 '45 "  N , 13 ° 16' 31"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 28 '45 "  N , 13 ° 16' 31"  E

The Private Forest School Grunewald was a non-denominational private school in the Berlin district of Grunewald . It was founded in 1930 by the teacher Toni Lessler (1874–1952), and was closed in 1939. As the only or first private school in Germany at the time, the school was based on the educational concept of Maria Montessori , was open to girls and boys and offered co-educational lessons , which were still modern at the time, according to the curriculum of the Reform Realgymnasium and Lyceum .

history

Wilmersdorf, Uhlandstrasse 161

Toni Lessler had been looking after private school circles for children and young people with more intensive care needs at Uhlandstrasse 161 since 1912 in order to encourage them to learn and do their homework.

Grunewald, Brahmsstrasse 17/19

The new school was founded in Brahmsstraße 17/19, the building has been preserved to this day. For the first time at a German private school, a day care center with full board was added to it, in which pupils could also stay in the afternoons if required and were looked after with their homework and studying, for example. The term forest school referred to a curative educational trend of the time to enable city children to have a direct relationship with nature. At that time there were many wealthy families of academics, bankers, artists and entrepreneurs settled in the villa area of ​​Grunewald, many of them of Jewish origin. Another clientele of this school were children of foreign diplomats. Between 1930 and its general ban in April 1933, the school had its own Montessori class with 32 students. On this occasion, the school was founded by the German Montessori Society, led by Clara Grunwald from 1925 . V. (DMG) to hold a large reception there on the occasion of Maria Montessori's first visit to Germany (presumably 1931 or 1932). Toni Lessler's younger sister Clara Heine (born February 29, 1876) was a member of the school's teaching staff.

Grunewald, Hagenstrasse 56

Due to the success of the newly founded school in Brahmsstrasse, a larger school building was required as early as 1932. Lessler therefore moved with her entire school into a large villa, which was not far away at Hagenstrasse 56 on the corner of Teplitzer Strasse . Their extensive garden was also suitable for breaks, for the creation of flower beds by the students in the various classes and for sports. There was a tennis court there that was flooded in winter so that the students could use it as an ice rink. The school was now unofficially referred to as "Schule am Roseneck " after the nearby square. Until December 23, 1933, the majority of the students consisted of Christian children.

The first ordinance on the law against overcrowding in German schools and universities of April 25, 1933 limited the number of new admissions of Jewish students to higher public schools (and universities). Jewish pupils and teachers were generally marginalized in the state schools, which particularly affected school beginners and younger pupils, because they were not yet able to counter what was inconceivable to them. Parents therefore tried to protect their children from such traumatic experiences by sending them to Jewish schools, of which there were initially not enough or their capacity was initially insufficient.

The content of the lessons changed, and Jewish schools now had to urgently prepare their students for a life after emigrating abroad. Language acquisition, primarily English and Hebrew , gained in importance, but so did the learning of practical everyday skills and the celebration of identity at Jewish festivals, since many German students of Jewish origin came from families who had converted to Christianity or had a secular background.

Toni Lessler, who did not want to hand over her private school to an “ Aryan ” operator, feared that her educational institution would be closed at the end of 1933. The teachers and pupils described by the National Socialists as "Aryan" - thus the vast majority of the pupils - had to leave school on the last day of school before Christmas, on Saturday, December 23, 1933, and immediately register for public schools. The schoolchildren concerned turned up on that day with their parents for the school Christmas party, which Toni Lessler, as a Jew, was no longer allowed to attend. Only one "Aryan" girl was allowed to stay with a special ministerial permit until she graduated from school on Easter 1934. During this period, 140 new Jewish pupils were enrolled in the private school who could no longer stand their exclusion from the public schools. Because of its Jewish headmistress and operator, the school had to call itself the “Private Jewish Forest School Grunewald” and the educational Montessori approach was forbidden. The state-imposed addition “Jewish” was typed into certificates by the school administration, for example.

From January 4, 1934 until the school was forced to close by the Nazis in 1939, the headmaster was Kurt Landsberg (1892–1964).

In 1936 the school had to be expanded again and therefore also used the building at Kronberger Straße 18, which is adjacent to the school premises. The Grunewald forest school was given a capacity of 425 students including the upper level. The authorization for the Abitur followed. As the first and only Jewish school in Prussia, the Grunewald Forest School received approval to add a women's school to its educational establishment. The school was certified from 1937 as an examination center for admission ( Matric Exam ) at the University of Oxford . Jewish students who were able to leave the German Reich before the Shoah were thus able to prepare for study in the United Kingdom.

At the end of August 1937 the school celebrated its 25th anniversary. For the two-day festive events with theater performances and choir singing, a sports festival on the community sports field and a rowing regatta in Berlin-Grünau in cooperation with the Jewish Brothers Association ( Welfare ) and the (since 1936: Jewish) rowing club 'Welle-Poseidon', an extensive anniversary festival was published . Around 1,500 guests were counted in addition to the students and teachers in the garden of the forest school.

During the pogrom night of November 9, 1938, the school was spared from Nazi attacks.

According to a circular issued by the Reich Minister for Science, Education and Public Education, Bernhard Rust , on November 15, 1938, all Jewish students were expelled from state schools as a result of the pogrom. As a result, the number of students at the Private Jewish Forest School in Grunewald rose again.

In 1939, the Private Jewish Forest School in Grunewald was closed by order of the National Socialists. Toni Lessler emigrated to the United States shortly before .

The new building of the Qatar Embassy has been located on the property of the former villa or the former private school Hagenstrasse 56 since 2004 .

Known students

Known teachers

principal

  • Toni Lessler, 1930-1934
  • Kurt Landsberg, 1934–1939

literature

  • Kurt Landsberg (Hrsg.): Festschrift on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the private Jewish forest school Grunewald . Self-published, Berlin 1937.
  • Jörg H. Fehrs: From Heidereutergasse to Roseneck. Jewish schools in Berlin 1712–1942 . Edition Hentrich 1993, Ed. Working Group Pedagogical Museum e. V. ISBN 978-3-89468-075-6 .
  • Friedrich Wißmann / Ursula Blömer (eds.): "It has become fashionable to send children to Lessler school". Documents on Toni Lessler's private forest school in Berlin Grunewald , Oldenburg, BIS Verlag der Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg 2010. ISBN 978-3814220475 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Short biography of Toni Lessler. In: Berliner Morgenpost , September 2, 2003, at: morgenpost.de, accessed on July 20, 2015
  2. ^ Toni Lessler: Autobiography Mein Leben in Deutschland before and after January 30, 1933 , p. 14
  3. ↑ Grunewaldrampe on: berlin-judentum.de
  4. ↑ Hartmut Bomhoff: Ehrlich, Ernst Ludwig. Formative years - a biography . P. 24
  5. ^ Toni Lessler: Autobiography Mein Leben in Deutschland before and after January 30, 1933 , p. 14
  6. ^ Everyday school life after 1933. Crusade against children . From: swr.de , accessed on July 20, 2015
  7. ↑ Youth 1918–1945. Jewish youth . From: jugend1918-1945.de , accessed on July 20, 2015
  8. ^ Toni Lessler: Autobiography My Life in Germany before and after January 30, 1933 , p. 21
  9. ↑ Neighborhood walk November 9, 2002 - From Roseneck to Hagenplatz. From: berlin.de , accessed on July 20, 2015
  10. ↑ Neighborhood walk November 13, 2004 - From Roseneck to Hagenplatz. From: berlin.de , accessed on July 20, 2015
  11. ↑ Certificate of the private Jewish forest school Grunewald 1937/38. From: jmberlin.de , accessed on July 20, 2015
  12. ↑ Address by Kurt Landsberg on August 29, 1937, in: Kurt Landsberg (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the private Jewish forest school in Grunewald , Berlin 1937, p. 113
  13. ^ Toni Lessler: Autobiography My Life in Germany before and after January 30, 1933 , p. 24
  14. ^ Private forest school Grunewald . In: Berliner Bezirkslexikon → Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. From: luise-berlin.de , accessed on July 20, 2015