The Musterschule ("model school") is a gymnasium in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany. It was founded on 18 April 1803 by Wilhelm Friedrich Hufnagel as a ''

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

'' and is Frankfurt's second oldest higher school after the Lessing Gymnasium. It received the name ''Musterschule'' due to being an experimental and progressive school based on

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking r ...

's educational ideas. In accordance with this tradition, the school has been named a "center for

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

and

gifted education Gifted education (also known as gifted and talented education (GATE), talented and gifted programs (TAG), or G/T education) is a broad group of special practices, procedures, and theories used in the education of children who have been identified a ...

" by the Hessian ministry of culture. Since the 19th century, it has been renowned throughout Germany and abroad as a progressive ''

Realgymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being ''Hauptschule'' (lowest) and ''Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymnas ...

''. The Musterschule is a neighbour of the

Philanthropin The Philanthropin (Greek for "place of humanity") is a Jewish elementary school and gymnasium in Frankfurt, Germany. It was founded in 1804 by Mayer Amschel Rothschild. History Formally, the school was established by Siegmund Geisenheimer, the c ...

, the renowned Jewish school founded by

Mayer Amschel Rothschild Mayer Amschel Rothschild (23 February 1744 – 19 September 1812; also spelled ''Anschel'') was a German-Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Referred to as a "founding father of international finance", Rothschild w ...

, which is found on the other side of Eckenheimer Landstraße.

History

The school was founded as a private school, after Wilhelm Friedrich Hufnagel, Friedrich Maximilian von Günderrode and Simon Moritz von Bethmann had collected funds for this purpose. Its first teacher was Friedrich Vertraugott Klitscher (1772–1809), a supporter of Pestalozzi. The school initially had nine pupils and was located in Rotkreuzgasse–6. From its foundation the school was

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

al and thus had both male and female pupils. The initial tuition fee was 15 Gulden, from 1807 25 Gulden.Heinrich Meidinger, ''Frankfurt's gemeinnützige Anstalten : eine historisch-statistische Darstellung der milden Stiftungen, Stipendien, Wittwen u. Waisen-, Hülfs- und Sparkassen, Vereine, Schulen &c. ; nebst einem geschichtlichen Ueberblick der in dieser Stadt erschienenen periodischen Schriften und Lokalblätter ; von der ältesten bis auf die gegenwärtige Zeit'', Frankfurt am Main 1845, In 1805 Klitscher was succeeded by

Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

as the school's head teacher. In 1806 the school moved to ''Große Friedberger Gasse''. As of 1805, the school had 130 pupils, as of 1812 it had 350 pupils and as of 1819 it had 555 pupils, including 212 girls. In 1819 the ''Musterschule'' became a state school in the then independent

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Frankfurt, and its teachers became state officials. The school was located in the ''Mauerweg'', in the buildings of the current Klingerschule, from 1880 to 1901. In 1901 the school moved to its current location in Frankfurt-Nordend. The

, Frankfurt's most renowned Jewish school, shortly after moved into a neighbouring building across the street. The Musterschule also had a high proportion of Jewish pupils, around 20%, until the 1930s when they were gradually forced out by the Nazis. Most of them belonged to families who had been living in Frankfurt for an extended period of time. The school has a close cooperation with the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

and with the Elisabethenschule, a gymnasium formed in 1876 as a higher girls' school from the girls' department of the Musterschule.

Notable teachers

* Friedrich Vertraugott Klitscher (teacher 1803–1809) * Heinrich Wilhelm Seel (director from 1810) * Anton Kirchner (teacher 1804–1807) *

(teacher 1805/1811) *

Adolph Diesterweg Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg (29 October 1790 in Siegen7 July 1866 in Berlin) was a German educator, thinker, and progressive liberal politician, who campaigned for the secularization of schools. He is said to be precursory to the reform ...

(teacher 1811–1820) * Georg Hassel (teacher 1818–1821) * Wilhelm Heinrich Ackermann (teacher 1820–1847) * Carl Kühner (teacher 1851–1867) * Gustav Weinberg * Eduard Ziehen (teacher 1925–1945)

Alumni

* Rudolf Jung (1859–1922), historian *

Arthur von Weinberg Arthur von Weinberg (11 August 1860, in Frankfurt am Main – 20 March 1943, in the Theresienstadt Ghetto) was a German chemist and industrialist. He was a co-owner of Cassella and later a co-founder, co-owner and member of the supervisory board a ...

(1860–1943), industrialist and honorary citizen of Frankfurt *

Theodor Ziehen Georg Theodor Ziehen (12 November 1862 – 29 December 1950) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Frankfurt am Main. He was the son of noted author, Eduard Ziehen (1819–1884). Education and career As a gymnasium student, Ziehen s ...

(1862–1950), psychiatrist and philosopher * Julius Ziehen (1864–1925), pedagogue * Franziska Braun (born 1885), first regular female student at the TH Darmstadt (1908–1912) *

Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack (11 July 1893, in Frankfurt-am-Main – 7 January 1965, in Allambie Heights, in Sydney) was a German-born Australian artist. His formative education was 1912–1914 at Debschitz art school in Munich. He studied at the ...

(1893–1965), painter *

Nahum Goldmann Nahum Goldmann ( he, נחום גולדמן) (July 10, 1895 – August 29, 1982) was a leading Zionist. He was a founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president from 1951 to 1978, and was also president of the World Zionist Organization from ...

(1894–1982), founder and president of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

* Ernst Fraenkel (1898–1975), political scientist *

Ernst von Salomon Ernst von Salomon (25 September 1902 – 9 August 1972) was a German novelist and screenwriter. He was a Weimar-era national-revolutionary activist and right-wing Freikorps member. Family and education He was born in Kiel, in the Prussian prov ...

(1902–1972), author *

Wolfgang Abendroth Wolfgang Walter Arnulf Abendroth (2 May 1906 – 15 September 1985) was a socialist German jurist and political scientist. He was born in Elberfeld, now a part of Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia. Abendroth was an important contributor to the c ...

(1906–1985), political scientist * Armin K.W. Kutzsche (1914–1995), bacteriologist * Herbert Hess (born 1933), jazz musician * Dieter Bartetzko (born 1949), editor of ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'' * Tobias Utter (born 1962), CDU politician * Stephan Zind (born 1964), pianist and co-founder of the Frankfurt Music AcademyStephan Zind
br
Frankfurt Music Academy
/ref> * Etienne Gardé (born 1978), TV presenter * Hila Bronstein (born 1983), singer, known as a member of

Bro'Sis Bro'Sis was a multicultural R&B/ pop group from Germany, which was formed through the TV series '' Popstars – Du bist mein Traum'' in 2001. The group comprised the singers Ross Antony, Hila Bronstein, Shaham Joyce, Faiz Mangat, Indira Weis, ...

Literature

* ''Festschrift zur Hundertjahrfeier der Musterschule (Musterschule und Elisabethenschule) in Frankfurt a. Main 1803–1903''. Frankfurt, 1903 * Max Walter: ''Erziehung der Schüler zur Selbstverwaltung am Reform-Realgymnasium "Musterschule" Frankfurt am Main'', Weidmann, Berlin, 1919 * Peter Müller (ed.): ''Vom Werden, Wirken und Wesen der Musterschule zu Frankfurt a. M.: Festgabe zum 125jährigen Jubiläum 1803–1928'' * Kuno Banholzer (ed.): ''Festschrift des Realgymnasiums Musterschule zur 150-Jahrfeier 1803–1953.'' Rauch, Frankfurt, 1953 * Dieter Kallus, Eberhard Aulmann (ed.): ''Musterschule 1803–2003: Festschrift zum 200-jährigen Bestehen des Gymnasiums in Frankfurt am Main'', Frankfurt, 2003

References

External links

Official site

Förderverein der Musterschule
{{Authority control Schools in Frankfurt High schools in Germany 1803 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 19th-century establishments in Germany Educational institutions established in 1803