Horst Philipp BauerDie Höhere Handelsschule in Preußen

About this book deutschenglish

This research work deals with a special and relatively unknown type of full-time commercial school: the Higher Commercial School in Prussia. Within the more modern types of vocational schools, the higher commercial school is most likely to claim to be a vocational school with tradition. Today it has either fallen into insignificance or is visible in a different form with a completely new area of responsibilities in the old federal states.

The period under investigation for this reconstruction begins roughly with the founding of the German Empire in 1871 and ends with the end of the Weimar Republic in 1933, but also includes developments in the National Socialist state. This draws a line from developments in the Kingdom of Prussia to the Prussian Republic. Basic questions from around 1900 are also presented. The school sponsorship by private companies or associations is also included, as are the various paths from seminary to academic to commercial teacher training.

This type of school had to strike a balance between the primacy of general education and commercial training. The “classic” higher commercial school saw its primary task as preparing students for advanced commercial professions or an administrative career. For young men, it was a vehicle to shorten their apprenticeship period or, after passing the secondary school leaving examination, to start studying at a commercial college. For girls, however, who usually did not complete a commercial apprenticeship, the higher commercial school was full-fledged preparation for later work in the office. In order to be admitted to the higher commercial school, it was mandatory to have completed an upper secondary school leaving certificate or an intermediate level of education – until 1918 the entitlement to one-year voluntary military service was required. The regulations for the establishment of public commercial schools and higher commercial schools of April 8, 1916, which stood the test of time and were still valid in the old federal states until the early 1950s, set the trend.

There are hardly any descriptive publications for this type of school from the turn of the last century. The historical dimension and the constitutive effect of this complex structure on the present were often neglected in the discussion. A historical, systematic view can provide clear inspiration and support for current considerations.