During the research of the education of Hungarian aristocracy[1] I gave attention to the phenomenon of the secondary school student mobility. University peregrination has been spread – and still active – since the Middle Ages and its practice is a matter of research in both Hungary and abroad (see Szögi 2005, Fata 2006). However, mobility towards the secondary school has hardly ever been examined. In my research I complement the work of Julia Komleva (2009) with this special aspect, who analysed the social background of Viennese grammar schools.

By the research of the history of the Jesuitenkolleg of Kalksburg near Vienna – now part of the capital – and that of the Theresianum in Vienna I concluded that the Hungarian elite did not give up on its habit of having their children study in Vienna or the nearby schools after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise either. Therefore, I extended my research to examine not only the above mentioned two schools but other secondary schools in Vienna: the Benedictine, the Academic grammar school and that of Josefstadt. These are the oldest secondary schools of the city and all of them are somewhere in its inner district. The Benedictine Grammar School that is in District I. was founded in the Middle Ages and after some decades of break it opened again from 1807. The Academic Grammar School founded in 1553 was the first Jesuit school in the Habsburg Empire. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order it was maintained by the state and then by the Piarist. It got under the state in 1852. The Josefstadt Grammar School was founded in 1697 and was under the Piarists until 1870. After that it was maintained by the state for financial reasons. The Theresianum was founded by Mary Theresa in 1746. She had the Jesuit order lead it. It was in the hands of the Piarists from 1797 until 1849 when it was secularized. That time its aristocratic nature was disposed. However, the aristocracy were over representative among the students. The boarding school of Kalksburg was founded in 1856 by the Jesuit order with a purpose of education of the elite; it did not have publicity rights. It was established especially for the education of the children of aristocratic families.

In my research I wanted to see the order of choice from the Viennese or nearby Vienna schools of the students born in Hungary; what were their reasons in the background and whether their preference was changed between 1867 and 1918. I was curious to see the reaction of schools to the presence of the Hungarians. I wanted to explore that how many years Hungarians spent in the certain schools – whether the lower or the higher grade they took. I wanted to see the differences in school in this aspect and if yes, what the reason could be.

The purpose of the presentation is to present a bit of my aristocratic history researches which has international interest.

[1] The research was supported by the János Bolyai Scholarship of the Hungarian Science Academy and the ’Collegium Hungaricum’ Scholarship of MÖB.

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