Stenographic Institute
The Royal Saxon Stenographical Institute in Dresden was for a long time the only German-speaking institution for the maintenance of shorthand .
The Stenographic Institute was founded in 1839 by Franz Jacob Wigard . Wigard was a student of Franz Xaver Gabelsberger and had been head of the state school for the training of Saxon stenographers since 1834.
The work of the institute straightened out
- the shorthand lessons,
- the shorthand recording and verbatim reproduction of negotiations and speeches in public matters, in particular the sessions of the state parliament,
- especially the examination of all new developments in the field of shorthand.
The institute published numerous important publications on the history, systematics, teaching, nature and meaning as well as statistics of shorthand. While the Stenographic Institute was initially obliged to maintain the Gabelsberger stenographic system , it quickly became a central point of contact for shorthand in general. At the end of the 19th century, the institute had a library of more than 7,000 volumes covering all systems and national characteristics. The library began in 1850 and was set up as a public library from 1854, which could also lend copies to those outside the institute.
The institute played a major role in the so-called “Dresden Resolutions” of 1857, which brought the Gabelsberger system into a modern form. Since 1875 the institute was the examination authority for the teaching of shorthand.
Since 1906 the institute was called the State Stenographic Office ; it was dissolved in 1966. The remaining library has belonged to the Saxon State Library in Dresden, Department of Special Collections, as a "stenographic collection" since January 22, 1996 .