Figure 1.-- Here we have a boys Volkschule in Gablenberg, a village near Stuttgart. Presumably there was another school for girls, unless the genders were educated in different classes in same school. Smaller villages had coed classes. A reader tells us that this is a hotograph of the 3rd grade class in 1939. They look like younger children to us, perhaps 1st graders. The official name of the school is simply Volkschule in Gablenberg (which means public primary school). Voksuchule was a 4-year program neginning at age 6 years. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the class.

Gablenberg was a village near Stuttgart. Gablenberg actually in 1836 became part part of the city of Stuttgart in South-West-Germany, capital of Baden-Württemberg. Gablenberg is located just 1 1/2 mile to the East of Stuttgart city centre behind a hill. It is more than 700 years old. The first public school in Gablenberg was built in 1836/37 (probably in 1836 when Gablenberg became part of Stuttgart. Here we have a boys Volkschule in Gablenberg, a village near Stuttgart. Presumably there was another school for girls, unless the genders were educated in different classes in same school. Smaller villages had coed classes. A German reader tells us, "I assume that there were separate classes for boys and girls in this school as this was common in larger cities. There were different curricula, boys more sport, girls sewing and the like. The school was a substantial building so Gablenberg may have been more of a small town than a village. The official name of the school is simply Volkschule in Gablenberg (which means public primary school). We have a photograph of an unidentified class in 1939. The children look very young. We would say First Graders which would mean that they are about 6 years old. The boys wear a variety of sweaters and jackets along with short pants and both knee socks and long sockings..

Gablenberg

Gablenberg was a village near Stuttgart. Gablenberg actually in 1836 became part part of the city of Stuttgart in South-West-Germany, capital of Baden-Württemberg. Gablenberg is located just 1 1/2 mile to the East of Stuttgart city centre behind a hill. It is more than 700 years old, first document 1275, Gabenlemberc". This was a field name, an area with vineyards. Gablenberg was a mixed housing area, workers from plants for automobile production Daimler-Benz nearby in the Neckar valley and citizens/clerks working in Stuttgart city, easily reachable with a streetcar line, with private homes in the former vineyards up the hills.

Public Schools in Gablenberg

The first public school in Gablenberg was built in 1836/37 (probably in 1836 when Gablenberg became part of Stuttgart. the people living in Gablenberg demanded a school nearby as compensation for joining the city. This meant that vthe children did not have to walk a long dustance to school. To-day there are schools of different levels in Gablenberg. There is still a Gablenberger Volksschule, now called "Grundschule. (I am not sure it us the same building. Stuttgart was heavily bombed by the Allies during World war II.) There is also the Hauptschule mit Werkrealschule Gablenberg which I believe is a secondary school.

Gablenberg Volkschule

Here we have a boys Volkschule in Gablenberg, a village near Stuttgart. Presumably there was another school for girls, unless the genders were educated in different classes in same school. Smaller villages had coed classes. A German reader tells us, "I assume that there were separate classes for boys and girls in this school as this was common in larger cities. There were different curricula, boys more sport, girls sewing and the like. The school was a substantial building so Gablenberg may have been more of a small town than a village. The official name of the school is simply Volkschule in Gablenberg (which means public primary school). It was not common to name schools in Germany, esoecially small schools as was common in America. Voksuchule was a 4-year program neginning at age 6 years. A German reader tells us, "In 1939 it was the "Gablenberger Volksschule". At this time (before and after till about 1960) a "Volksschule" had eight 8 grades, for children from 6 to 14 years of age. All eight grades were in the the same building or the same complex. There was separation for the 5th grade (10 years of age). The clever children destined for secondary efucation lreft the school to begin at their various new schools: Gymnasia, Oberschule, Mittelschule, ... . To-day it is often different, we have now the so called "Hauptschule" from 5th to 10th grade for those pupils who not change to one of the highter (secondary) schools with an academically oriennted program. Hauptschulen are difficult schools with a lot of kids from migrant families, under-educated, not much motivated to go to school). The term "Volksschule" is no longer used in Germany, it is seen as "discriminatory"!" In Gablenberg the school is now called "Grund- und Hauptschule mit Werkrealschule Gablenberg". "Grundschule" 6 to 9 years of age, general, all, "Hauptschule" 10 to 16 years of age, and "Werkrealschule " (or "Berufsschule") for older pupils who learn a profession ("Lehre") in a company, an aprentice program. They have to go to a school for one day or so per week, craftsmen, secretaries and the like. In Gablenberg today it is all in one school, In other towns and villages (most) Hauptschule and the Berufsschule may be separated, even centralized in the county capital or so where the pupils have to take a ride by train or bus to come together (from the age of 10 years up the number of pupils in Hauptschule etc is smaller (between 40percent to 60 percent) than in the first four years of the Grundschule due to the transition to Gymnasia etc."

Class

We have a photograph of an unidentified class in 1939. The children look very young. We would say First Graders which would mean that they are about 6 years old. Perhaps they are even Kindergarteners, although we are unsure if Kindergarten was held in Volkschule buildings. The photo for some reason appeared in the Stuttgarter Zietung (the major newspaper of the area).

Clothing

The boys wear a variety of sweaters and jackets. Note that one boy (front row, left) wears halter shorts with knee socks. Another boy (front row, extreme right) wears suspender shorts with white, or very light beige, long stockings. The boy sitting on the bench, third from right, also wears beige long stockings but has been crawling around on his knees and therefore has smudge marks on the knees of his stockings. All of the boys are rather nicely dressed, which suggests that they come from very middle-class families. One boy seems to be wearing a sailor suit. Their teacher is very formally dressed in a suit, white shirt, and tie. Clearly the picture was taken just in front of the school. It seems to have been a nice day so that outdoor clothes are not needed. The long stockings are more a sign of the propriety of schoolboy dress than of cold weather. One imagines that the fathers of these boys would be soon serving in Hitler's armed forces since the picture was taken on the eve of, or even slightly after, the beginning of World War II.

Gewrman Education

A German reader writes, "Our school system in Germany has been transformed and still is transformed, ("Schulreform") since the 60s continously and different in the German States. When in a new state election all 4 years the governing party changes, they make a "Schulreform". It is terrible! The left wing parties want to have only one school for all, up to the Abitur ("Gesamtschule"), the more conservative parties (do we still have them?) In Hamburg the governing CDU is now also in the boat of all together!) separation in the socalled three-structured education (Grundschule, Gymnasium, University) is still possible, for the 5th or moved to the 7th grade. Private schools are becoming more and more popular (the parents pay taxes for the state schools and the fees for the private schools!), and also the Gymnasia which begin with Latin for the freshmen are "in" again, away from the Gesamtschul-approach! Well, the highly effective school system in Germany is history! "

Navigate the German school pages
[Return to the Main individual German school uniform page]
[Return to the Main school uniform national page]
[Return to the Main German school uniform page]
[Imperial Germany] [Weimar Republic] [NAZI era] [Post-war Years] [Modern Germany]

Navigate the Relate Boys Historical Clothing Style Pages
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits] [Short pants suits] [Lederhosen] [Kneesocks] [Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers] [Blazer [School sandals]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Main School Uniform Page]
[Austria] [Czechoskovakia] [England] [France] [Germany] [Italy] [Japan]
[New Zealand] [Poland] [Scotland] [United States]

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 6:29 AM 12/3/2009
Last updated: 9:23 PM 12/10/2009