Prof. Dr. Christine Mayer

Universität Hamburg

Fakultät 4, Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft 1: Allgemeine, Interkulturelle und International Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft

 Christine.Mayer@uni-hamburg.de

To date, little data has been available in the history of education on the paths pupils from the lower classes took after finishing school and which vocational and educational options were open to them. The fact how these options changed in the context of the economic and social changes during the 19^th century especially in urban environments, and the patterns of gender segregation that emerged, is another aspect that has been under-researched. This question is to be investigated for the case of Hamburg, based on (1) archive materials on the schools of the Allgemeine Armenanstalt (the poor relief authority), especially the protocols of the Schulkonvent (its schools boards) between 1849 and 1870. These institutions functioned as precursors of a genuine public elementary education system (Volksschulwesen) which was not introduced to Hamburg until 1870. The second body of documents studied will be (2) the annual reports of the Oberschulbehörde, which took over responsibility for elementary schools (Volksschulen) from that time onwards, between 1871 and 1912. These provide quantitative data regarding the vocational and educational choices of both male and female school-leavers from the second half of the 19^th into the early 20^th centuries. In studying them, however, it needs to be taken into account that the data set cannot provide final evidence that the choices recorded were ultimately realised. That is why further data, such as statistics on Hamburg’s working-class population and its labour market, are used to corroborate findings. As a local case study, this work also needs to take into account the specific conditions of a major city, and of Hamburg as a port city in particular, in their decisive impact on its historical context.

Based on this historical material, we will see that traditional patterns of further training that had dominated the post-scholastic biographies of lower-class youth – apprenticeship in crafts and trades for boys and domestic service for girls – were beginning to dissolve under the pressure of rapid social and economic change. Instead, we see a more differentiated spectrum of vocational and educational options for both genders emerging, though without challenging  gender-based segregation in either education or employment. The data studied provide interesting insights not only along gender lines, but also with regard to class divides, especially in the context of an urban educational landscape that was increasingly differentiating and producing additional options of further scholastic and vocational education in the course of the 19^th century. Many of the patterns discernible then are still exerting a noticeable influence on the structure of the German education system today.

This study should tie into the discussions on the conference theme “Urban History” in network 17 “Histories of Education” in view of (1) the source material itself and the data generated and conclusions drawn from it and (2) the question whether the trends evident from this case study can also be found in the educational environments of other (European) cities.

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