Höhere Mädchenschule or Höhere Töchterschule were names of historic schools for the

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

of girls in German-speaking countries between the beginning of the 19th century and 1908. The names may mean higher education, but also education of girls (or daughters) of the upper classes. Some early institutions of higher education for girls were called

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...

, while the term Gymnasium was first used only for boys' schools.

History

The term Höhere Mädchenschule was used for schools which promoted education of the mind ("geistige Bildung") beyond

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary ('' ...

(elementary school). They were sometimes reserved for (literally: "higher daughters"), girls from the wealthy bourgeoisie. The Mariengymnasium in Papenburg, for example, was founded around 1835 for the female youth from upper estates ("die weibliche Jugend höherer Stände"). The first schools providing higher education for girls were founded at the beginning of the 18th century. The Gymnaecum, founded in 1709 by August Hermann Francke, is regarded as the first such institution. In 1717, Catholic "Englische Fräulein" of the Congregation of Jesus founded institutions for girls in Bamberg. In 1802, the first municipal school for girls was founded in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, the "Städtische höhere Töchterschule". One of its teachers, , founded in 1806 a private institution for girls in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

, which existed until 1871. In 1808, "Madame Wippermann", the wife of a merchant and manufacturer in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

, founded the first private Höhere Töchterschule for 40 students, which expanded to the Städtische Höhere Töchterschule in 1863 and to today's . Education at these schools aimed primarily to prepare the girls to become wives and mothers. For more scientific education, wealthy families sent their girls to a finishing school (''Mädchenpensionat''). Many girls from poor families left school as soon as compulsory education was served, to fulfil other duties. At the end of the 19th century,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

had 213 public höhere Mädchenschulen and 656 private ones. The höhere Mädchenschulen had no leading to the Abitur, a prerequisite for university studies. Girls, who usually left them aged 15 or 16, could only study at seminaries to be teachers (""). In the 1890s, the first high schools for girls () were founded, which enabled girls to study.

Helene Lange Helene Lange (9 April 1848 in Oldenburg – 13 May 1930 in Berlin) was a pedagogue and feminist. She is a symbolic figure of the international and German civil rights feminist movement. In the years from 1919 to 1921 she was a member of the ...

achieved in 1908, in collaboration with the responsible Prussian cultural politician

Friedrich Althoff Friedrich Althoff (1839-1908), was head of the university department in the Prussian Ministry of Education, and played a leading role in developing the research university in Prussia. This system became the model for research universities in the U ...

and other reformers, that schools for girls were fundamentally restructured.

Literature

: ''Die höhere Mädchenschule und ihre Bestimmung.'' 1887.

References

External links

* Sabine Doff
Weiblichkeit und Bildung. Ideengeschichtliche Grundlage für die Etablierung des höheren Mädchenschulwesens in Deutschland
goethezeitportal.de (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hohere Madchenschule School types Defunct girls' schools Defunct secondary schools