Big administration reforms against Catholic reformist traditions: fusion of state and church mid-level school administrations in early nineteenth-century Prussian Silesia

Abstract

ABSTRACT In what are often described as modern Western school systems, the supervision of elementary schools generally shifted from the hands of clerical administrators to genuine state officials during the nineteenth century. The Prussian state, like other predominantly Protestant states, relied on clerical personnel and church supervision structures to establish its school supervision administration. Yet, this was also true for the more Catholic parts of the Prussian monarchy, where integration of church structures into state administration caused friction between state and church authorities. Hence, this contribution focuses on appointments of school inspectors in early nineteenth-century Prussian Silesia, when friction arose between the state and the prince-bishop concerning appointment rights. These frictions are reflected in the process of newly introduced mid-level state school administrations taking over episcopal appointment rights, which has been described as a nationalisation or secularisation of Silesian school administration. The article proposes a more nuanced approach to the restructuring of Silesian school administration, driven by consecutive administration reforms resulting in a fusion of church and state administration, rather than a traditional secularisation narrative. It traces the subtle ties between the Prussian state, episcopal administration, and clerical inspection personnel that led to the gradual assertion of state over ecclesiastical structures.