The concept of “metropolitan pedagogy” got foothold in larger urban areas in Central Europe during the years before the First World War. The advocates of this loosely organized reform movement – predominantly progressive primary school teachers in rapidly growing German speaking towns like Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg and Vienna – emphasized urban space as a learning environment of outmost importance. They experimented with excursions, object lessons and new textbooks to “adjust” the official school curriculum to real life situations and demands. They also sought to practice the conviction that the city could serve as a vehicle for democratic culture, community awareness and economic realism, and function as a negotiation platform to tackle the knowledge inflation of modern society.

          In focus of the educators’ practice stood the pragmatic integration of working class children in a dynamic society characterized by equal means of labour and knowledge. At the same time they addressed questions that have not until today lost their topicality: What is the relationship between school as a static institution and the city as a constant transformer? Does big city life cultivate a radically different ethical relationship between humans, and if so, in what way could this promote both individual as well as public welfare?

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