Hermann Lietz (28 April 1868, in Dumgenevitz on

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

– 12 June 1919, in Haubinda) was a German educational progressive and theologian who founded the German ''Landerziehungsheime für Jungen'' (country boarding schools). In 1898 he taught at the progressive

Abbotsholme School Abbotsholme School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school. The school is situated on a 140-acre campus on the banks of the River Dove, Central England, River Dove in Derbyshir ...

for boys, founded in Derbyshire, England, in 1889 by

Cecil Reddie Dr Cecil Reddie (10 October 1858 – 6 February 1932) was a reforming English educationalist. He founded and was headmaster of the progressive Abbotsholme School. Early life He was born in Colehill Lodge, Fulham, London, the sixth of ten child ...

. Lietz was impressed by the Abbotsholme system of education, which combined comprehensive individual instruction with physical exercise and recreation. By 1904 he had founded three Landerziehungsheime, based on Reddie's model, for boys of different ages, in

Ilsenburg Ilsenburg () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six nort ...

, Haubinda, and Bieberstein. Lietz eventually succeeded in establishing five more Landerziehungsheime. Like the Abbotsholme model, Lietz emphasized sports, crafts, modern languages and science, while de-emphasizing rote learning and classical languages.Neufeld, M.J. ''Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War.'' New York: Knopf, 2007. p 22. He was a student of Wilhelm Rein, and was himself an influence on Gustav Wyneken,

Elisabeth Rotten Elisabeth Friederike Rotten (15 February 1882, Berlin - 2 May 1964) was a Quaker peace activist and educational progressive. Life As daughter to the Swiss couple Moritz and Luise Rotten, she attended the "höhere Mädchenschule Luisenschule" d ...

, and

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886 – 14 December 1974) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the U ...

. His school was also attended by

Elisabeth von Thadden Elisabeth Adelheid Hildegard von Thadden (29 July 1890 – 8 September 1944) was a German progressive educator and a resistance fighter against the Nazi régime as a member of the Solf Circle. She was sentenced to death for conspiring to com ...

. Lietz's liberalism extended to education and criticism of class privilege only. He was otherwise politically right wing and distrusted

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, parliamentary politics, and the influence of urban life.

George Mosse Gerhard "George" Lachmann Mosse (September 20, 1918 – January 22, 1999) was a German-born, Jewish-American social and cultural historian, who emigrated from Nazi Germany to Great Britain and then to the United States. He was professor of hist ...

The Crisis of German Ideology
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964

Oliver Rathkolb Oliver Rathkolb (born 3 November 1955 in Vienna) is an Austrian historian and professor for contemporary history at the University of Vienna. Career Rathkolb studied history and law at the University of Vienna and achieved his doctorate in 198 ...

and John Heath (trans.) "Baldur von Schirach: Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth", 2022. Chapter 2.

References

1868 births 1919 deaths People from the German Empire 19th-century German educational theorists German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German educational theorists {{Germany-theologian-stub