Neulehrer (literally "new teacher") was the name given to educational personnel graduating from a course not integrated in a degree, introduced by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in the four occupation zones of Germany from 1945 to 1949. The Allies' goal was to substitute all teachers influenced by

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

ideology in German schools and guarantee that German youth would receive a pro-democracy education ( reeducation and

denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

). For the recovery of education after the end of the Second World War in Germany, the path to teaching was opened to graduates through short courses, and in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

also to young workers. All persons who could demonstrate having an academic degree were accepted into the program, as long as they had no link with the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

or with its state organs. The program mainly taught

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

as it was known at the time, so that in a few months the students could work as teachers. In the Soviet occupation zone the courses normally lasted 4 to 8 months, often in specially designed schools, where young workers were specially promoted. In the western occupation zones all universities opened pedagogy courses that graduated new teachers in one year or less. ZeugnisNeulehrerpruefung

Although in the first school year a few teachers with a Nazi past were still tolerated, the directives for their stay in their jobs gradually became more strict. In the western occupation zones starting from 1947 some teachers with Nazi ties could return to teaching after "Entbräunungskursen" (

courses), while in the Soviet occupation the programme was so extensive that a large part of the existing teacher corps was replaced with approximately 40,000 new teachers. Although the old teachers questioned the quality of a professional retraining of at maximum one year, thanks to the general academical formation of the new teachers the result was good enough and allowed for a stable job for members of professions that had no other alternatives in

post-war Germany In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

. The large majority of the new teachers remained for a long time in their new jobs. In the Soviet occupation zone the introduction of new teachers also served to guarantee the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED) control over school education. In 1949 already 67.8% of teaching positions were filled by new teachers. 47.7% of these teachers belonged to the SED, 13% to the Liberal Democratic Party and 10% to the east German Christian Democratic Union, the later two being bloc parties under SED control. In that way the SED achieved ample control over school education.Martin Broszat, Gerhard Braas, Hermann Weber (Hrsg.): ''SBZ-Handbuch. Staatliche Verwaltungen, Parteien, gesellschaftliche Organisationen und ihre Führungskräfte in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone Deutschlands 1945–1949.'' Oldenburg, München 1993 (2nd edition), , page 233.

References

{{Authority Control Education in Germany Allied occupation of Germany