Poverty, education and gender: pedagogic transformations in the schools for the poor (Armenschulwesen) in Hamburg, 1788–1871

Abstract

In the second half of the eighteenth century, an enlightened reformist spirit spread among Hamburg's bourgeois upper classes. This was exemplified by the activities of the Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Künste und nützlichen Gewerbe (‘Society for the Promotion of the Arts and Useful Trades’) founded in 1765 as well as by a poor law policy guided by Enlightenment ideas. One cornerstone of the city's reform of its pauperism policy was the foundation of an Industrieschule (industrial school). Better educational opportunities – aiming, according to the beliefs of the time, to instil the virtue of industry (industriousness or diligence) – were intended to change traditional mentalities and ultimately to improve the attitude and work ethic of large parts of the population. Beginning with this first stage of the Hamburg charity school system (from 1788 to 1811), this study looks at how its aims and structures changed over the course of its reorganisations. The key factors driving these transformations were a changing concept of pauperism, a shift in pedagogic thought and, in connection with this, an increased importance of gender differences. In the second stage of reform up to the final third of the nineteenth century (from 1815 to 1871), the schools of the Allgemeine Armenanstalt (‘General Poor Relief Agency’) developed into a substitute for as yet non‐existent public elementary schools (Volksschule) in Hamburg and ultimately came to form the basis on which a comprehensive compulsory public school system was built.