Ignaz Thomas Scherr
Ignaz Thomas Scherr (born December 15, 1801 in Rechberg ; † March 10, 1870 in Zurich ) was a Swiss pedagogue , pioneer of the Zurich elementary school system and author of numerous textbooks and educational publications.
Beginnings
Thomas Scherr was the son of the teacher Franz Scherr and his wife Cäcilie, née Nüding. Thomas also became a teacher and after 1818 devoted himself particularly to the education of the deaf. After a short activity as an elementary teacher, Scherr was employed in Gmünd in 1821 as a teacher for the deaf and the blind. In 1825 he was called to Zurich to take over the management of the institute for the blind there. Scherr founded an institution for the deaf and dumb and connected it with the institute for the blind; both institutions showed significant successes under his leadership. In addition to his work as director and teacher at the two institutes, Scherr dealt with general educational issues and with the reform of the Zurich elementary school.
Textbooks and curricula that he published in 1830 made his name known in wider circles. After converting to the Reformed faith and marrying a woman from Zurich, Scherr was naturalized in 1831 . In the same year he was elected to the education council of the canton, where he participated in the elementary school reform. The drafting of a new elementary school law was entrusted to him.
Seminar director
In 1832 the position of director of the newly founded teachers' college in Küsnacht was advertised. The 31-year-old Scherr was elected for life by the Zurich government council with twelve against one vote. Scherr hadn't applied; He wrongly feared that he had spoiled the Küsnachtern because he had previously stood for Greifensee as the seat of the seminar. Scherr and his family moved into an apartment in the “zur Traube” house on Wiltisgasse. There was room for teacher training in the "Seehof" house (today the CG Jung Institute) owned by Captain Nägeli, directly on Lake Zurich . Two rooms were available for teaching on the ground floor and two on the first floor.
The first years
The educational movement spread rapidly across the entire canton. Scherr developed an activity that is hardly comprehensible today. He taught most subjects himself, took care of the management, offered further training courses for teachers, wrote pedagogical writings, attended - on foot - village schools throughout the canton and was also still a member of the cantonal education council.
Scherr writes: « The life and goings-on as it currently prevails in Küsnacht cannot be described. Not a day goes by without inquisitive guests showing up. Every day that a village school is on vacation, the teacher rushes to the seminar to get instruction. I was able to teach 6–10 lessons during the day, then continue with organizational work and pedagogical writings at night until the next day, and start the circle again in the morning, cheerful and happy. Or I could rush to the meeting of the Education Council in Zurich late in the evening in the storm and rain and, after a laborious walk home, get the corrections to the written essay. Those were the best days of my life; I felt the power and strength of taking up a creative idea. »
The Küsnacht seminar was considered to be the most exemplary and best run in Switzerland. In spring 1834, the seminar moved to the year before vacant position house, the main building of the former Commandery of St. John . In 1837 Scherr was able to acquire the «Seehof» privately.
Scherr's dismissal
In his position as director of the seminar, Scherr led and reformed the elementary school system that was subordinate to him almost without restriction. As much as he was successful and admired on the one hand, on the other hand he was an enemy of the conservatives . In particular, the clergy who had previously controlled the school saw their authority threatened. She heralded him as a prophet who endangered the true faith, whose liberal-colored Christianity was spread over the country by his students and whose new teaching aids could proclaim the new unbelief . The threats against Scherr are said to have become so massive that when he hurried home late at night from the meeting of the Education Council in Zurich, he was accompanied by an escort of strong seminarians. Scherr also arose from circles of manufacturers because of a proposed ban on night work for children ; During his visits to the village schools, he had seen how many children slept during class because they had to work six hours in the factory during the night. In response to Scherr's report, the government council actually issued an ordinance against the abuse of children in factory work. Scherr represented his pedagogical views in the "Pedagogical Observer" published by him.
After the victory of the reactionary circles in the Züriputsch on September 6, 1839, Scherr fell victim to the reshuffling of the most important authorities in which conservatives took a seat. Although elected for life, he was suspended in office in the summer of 1839 and placed on a third of his salary. He had to vacate his office by November 1, 1840 and was released on May 1, 1840. In an appeal to the government council against his unlawful dismissal, he was defeated.
On his release, Scherr wrote:
- « What did I do wrong?
- 1. I wanted to raise the elementary school to a free, independent institution, but the hatred of many clergy punishes me for this.
- 2. I wanted an elementary school from which a noble, reasonable people emerged, which is why the aristocrats hate me.
- 3. I wanted to provide the poorest child with a path to school and a cheerful youth, which is why I am haunted by the self-interest of many factory owners and the brutality of unscrupulous parents. »
On August 17, 1840, a second pompous opening ceremony took place in Küsnacht, at which Scherr's merits were not mentioned; instead there were assurances to the conservatives and the church.
Further work in Winterthur and Thurgau
In 1842 Scherr sold his “Seehof” to the canton, which allowed him to buy the “Obere Hochstrasse” estate in Emmishofen near Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau . In 1843, together with his younger brother Johann , he opened a private institute for the deaf and dumb on the Sonnenberg in Winterthur, which he had bought in 1840, and as a preparatory school for boys for university studies. Since the situation in the canton of Zurich had meanwhile changed in favor of a freer teaching system, Scherr was able to continue working on the implementation of his educational ideas there until his death. In Winterthur he also gave lectures on German literature, gave revolutionary history in French and taught adults in German. There he also received an address of thanks signed by 4,763 canton citizens and a gold medal. From 1852 to 1855 Scherr was President of the Thurgau Education Council.
Scherr's last years were marked on the one hand by long journeys through Europe, numerous correspondence with friends and visits to schools and homes, on the other hand overshadowed by an ear disease that made him hard of hearing. Thomas Scherr died on March 10, 1870 of a heart attack. A street in Küsnacht and a primary school in Zurich District 6 are named after him.
Private
Scherr was married to Anna Lattmann von Hütten . Of their eight children, only the two daughters Cäcilia and Elise survived, none of the boys lived to be older than two years. After the death of his wife, who died at the age of barely 30, Scherr married Wilhelmine Feez from Frankfurt in 1844. The second marriage was childless.
Scherr was the brother of the well-known cultural and literary historian Johannes Scherr .
literature
Primary literature
- Precise instructions to teach deaf-mute children without artificial facial expressions skills to understand and use written language; Gmünd, Stahl, 1825
- Organization of elementary school; 1847
- Elementary language education, Zurich 1831
- Handbook of Pedagogy, 1839–1841
- My observations, aspirations and fates, St. Gallen 1840
- The Swiss popular speaker. Contains: Instructions for writing and delivering public speeches / in addition to a comprehensive collection of speeches, votes and toasting in New High German and in Swiss dialects, applicable in an official position, in civil life and in social associations. Schulthess, Zurich 1845.
- The education friend; a reader for the domestic community and for higher elementary schools; Zurich 1856
There are also numerous smaller publications on general issues relating to school organization, various subjects and the fundamental importance of language teaching.
Secondary literature
- Bänninger, J [ohann Jakob]: The school reformer Doctor Thomas Scherr. His life and work. J. Herz, Zurich 1871. PDF
- Binder: Scherr, Ignaz Thomas . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, p. 123 f.
- Christian Schmid: The Küsnacht Seminar, its history 1832 to 1982 , Küsnacht Seminar, 1982
- Peter Ziegler: From the history of the Küsnacht seminar 1832–1957 , catalog of the exhibition 125 years of Zurich teacher training in Küsnacht
- Küsnachter annuals 1971, 1983, 2001, 2002 with contributions by Hansjörg Beck, Walter Bruppacher, Alfred Egli and Christian Schmid
Web links
- Literature by and about Ignaz Thomas Scherr in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ^ Canton of Zurich: Short biography
- ↑ https://www.kuesnacht.ch/page/18
- ↑ Scherr School . Zurich city. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ↑ Jacob Achilles Mähly: Scherr, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 125-130.
- ↑ Full text in Google Book Search
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Scherr, Ignaz Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss educator and author of educational publications |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 15, 1801 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rechberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 10, 1870 |
| Place of death | Zurich |