“Don’t forget the past!” is an established request in current educational research (Niemeyer 2003). In a time of fast transformations it is a demand to reflect the past in order to understand present and future educational settings. Biographies are always an integrated part of history and reflect social values. Especially in educational systems social values are presented and represented (Mollenhauer 2003). This study shows how growing-up memories reflect social values of a time and provide unique knowledge for scientific research. The “Rothschild Children Asylum” was a special kind of boarding school situated in Göstling an der Ybbs, a small village in Lower Austria. It was established by Baronesse Bettina Rothschild in the year 1878 and existed until 1945. The Rothschild family had a wide-spread manor in the area with up to 600 employees, mainly forestry workers who lived in poor living conditions in remote areas of the domain. For the children of those families it was very hard to access school. Difficulties for the families to overcome the distance to school and provide schooling equipment and proper clothes and shoes arouse. Therefore those children had the opportunity to live in the “Children Asylum”, from where they could easily attend the local village school. But not only regular schooling and proper education were made possible through this institution. The children received clothes and school equipment, obtained proper nutrition, learning aids and individual care for a very low monthly fee. Nevertheless is has to be kept in mind, that the children were age six when they startet staying in the “Children Asylum” and normally returned home just four times a year, this was a very hard challenge at a young age and influenced their whole life. The study is based on six main research questions, which were subject of a master thesis published in December 2008 (Demmer 2008). a) What was the situation in the “Children Asylum” like? b) How did unprivileged families in a remote area deal with compulsary education? c) How was the relationship with the educators and peers? d) Which role obtained the Rothschild establishment through their welfare activities in the region? e) How did the special period of time (interwar years, National Socialism, World War II) influence the educational experiences of the pupils? f) Do childhood and growing-up memories still give the field of educational research new impetus and if so, how can this impetus be characterised?

While the building of the “Children Asylum” still exists, almost no written records, except short paragraphs in older local books, were found. Up to now there was no scientific research to explore the particular institution and the specific situation of those children in that area. The lack of written or archival sources made the use of qualitative biographical research with contemporary witnesses inevitable. Therefore 14 former pupils were interviewed and their narratives and memories evaluated. The narrative interviews based conceptually on the person-centered approach according Langer (Langer 2002). Transcription and analysis followed the content analysis of Mayring and his structural method (Mayring 2003).

An aim of the investigation was, to save and preserve memories of former pupils of the “Rothschild Children Asylum” according to “Don’t forget the past!” However it has to be reflected what this study contributes to recent educational research, what is the impetus of biographical memories to educational research? As mentioned, research on past incidents is of high importance to understand current transformations all over Europe. For educational research biographical memories offer unique potential, because they always present individual learning biographies but also reflect collective memories. The evaluation exposes individual learning biographies from a special period of time and enables new controversy; for e.g. learning aid and discipline, the personality of educators, the importance of peers in children homes, the life-long significance of educational experiences at a young age or the interaction between remembrance and oblivion. Essential educational topics are pointed out and can be discussed on a European level.