Wolfgang Ratke (also Wolfgangus Ratichius or Wolfgang Ratich) (18 October 157127 April 1635) was a German educational reformer.

Biography

Early life

He was born at

Wilster Wilster () is a town in Steinburg district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. History Wilster was granted town rights under Lübeck law in 1282, and thereby counts itself among Schleswig-Holstein's oldest towns. Wilster forms the centre of the Wils ...

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

,Leichpredigt: Meyfart, Johann Matthäus: Programma Publicum In exequiis Clarissimi & Excellentissimi Viri Dn. Wolfgangi Ratichii, Didactici,... - 1635 the son of Andreas Ratke who died early and Margarete Rost who died aged 66 on 19 May 1613. He was educated at the

Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a Gymnasium (or Grammar School ) in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The school's f ...

and the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

System of education

While sojourning in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

(1603–11), he devised a new method for teaching languages quickly. His system of education was based upon

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

's philosophy, the principle being that of proceeding from things to names, from the particular to the general, and from the mother tongue to foreign languages. His fundamental idea was that the Baconian theory of

induction Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to: Biology and medicine * Labor induction (birth/pregnancy) * Induction chemotherapy, in medicine * Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...

was following nature, meaning that there is a natural sequence along which the mind moves in the acquisition of knowledge, through particulars to the general. He advocated, above all, the use of the vernacular as the proper means for approaching all subjects, and demanded the establishment of a vernacular school on the basis of the

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

Implementation efforts

He tried to enlist the Prince of Orange in his cause, but failing, he went to Germany. In 1618 he opened schools at

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

and elsewhere. In Köthen, Prince Ludwig von Anhalt furnished him with the means of opening a school to be conducted according to his own ideas; however, difficulties with the clergy led to his imprisonment for eight months. After starting another school at

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

in 1620, which failed, he became a wanderer. In addition to Augsburg and Köthen, he put his method of instruction into operation in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...

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 it ...

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, and various other places. His ideas were advanced for his time, but he lacked executive ability, and his personality alienated both assistants and patrons. His influence upon his contemporaries and posterity was much greater than would be supposed from the failure of his own attempts to put his plan in practice. His work was overshadowed by that of the more successful

Comenius John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considere ...

. He died at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in 1635.

Bibliography

Barnard Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough) __NOTOC__ People Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...

, ''German Teachers and Educators'' (Hartford, 1878) * Quick, ''Educational Reformers'' (New York, 1890) *G. Vogt, ''Wolfgang Ratichius, der Vorgänger des Amos Comenius'' (Langensalza, 1894)

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratke, Wolfgang 1571 births 1635 deaths German educational theorists University of Rostock alumni People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums 16th-century German educators