Abstract

School attendance rose dramatically in Prussia at the end of the nineteenth century. Industrialization, urbanization, and rising literacy rates were directly tied to educational advances. The traditional agrarian character of Prussian society meant that the transformation was all the more rapid.

Public Schools in Prussia (1864-1911/13)

Source

I. Public Primary Schools

Year	Schools	Classe (grades)	Teachers	Pupils	Pupils per class (grade)	Pupils per teacher	Pupils per 100 inhabitants
1864 1871 1878 1882 1886 1891 1896 1901 1906 1911	25,056 33,120 32,299 33,040 34,016 34,742 36,138 36,756 37,761 38,684	– – – 65,968 75,097 82,746 92,001 104,082 115,902 128,725	30,8051 48,2112 59,493 59,917 64,750 71,731 79,431 90,208 102,764 117,162	2,825,322 3,900,655 4,272,199 4,339,729 4,838,247 4,916,476 5,236,826 5,670,870 6,164,398 6,572,140	– – – 66 64 59 57 54 53 51	(92) (81) 72 72 75 69 66 63 60 56	15 16 16 16 17 16 16 16 16 (16)

Source: Jahrbuch für die Amtliche Statistik des Preußischen Staates [Yearbook for the Official Statistics of the Prussian State] 1883, pp. 540, 550-559 (1864-1882); Statistisches Jahrbuch für den Preußischen Staat [Statistical Yearbook for the Prussian State],1913, pp. 392, 393; 1915 p. 6 (Population). Table reprinted in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka, and Gerhard A. Ritter, eds., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch: Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreichs 1870-1914 [Social History Workbook: Materials on Kaiserreich Statistics 1870-1914]. Munich, 1975, vol. 2, p. 157.

II. Public Secondary Schools

Year	Schools	Classe (grades)	Teachers	Pupils	Pupils per class (grade)	Pupils per teacher	Pupils per 100 inhabitants
1864 1871 1878 1882 1886 1891 1896 1901 1906 19111	508 – 336 – 576 550 604 669 729 632	– – – – – – 4,482 5,701 6,760 5,951	2,233 – 2,328 – 4,015 4,310 4,904 6,306 7,699 6,134	90,899 – 72,039 – 134,937 131,270 143,097 188,221 216,786 180,729	– – – – – – 31.9 33.0 32.1 30.4	40.7 – 30.9 – 33.6 30.5 29.2 29.8 28.2 29.5	0.47 – 0.27 – 0.47 0.43 0.44 0.54 0.57 (0.45)

Source: Schwarz, O., Der Staatshaushalt und die Finanzen Preußens [The State Budget and the Finances of Prussia], vol. II: Die Zuschussverwaltung [The Administration of Subventions]. Berlin 1900, pp. 380-381 (1864-1896); Statistisches Jahrbuch für den Preußischen Staat [Statistical Yearbook for the Prussian State] 1904, p. 139 (number of classes in 1896); 1910, pp. 215–216 (1901 and 1906); 1913, p. 406 and 407. Reprinted in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka, and Gerhard A. Ritter, eds., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch: Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreichs 1870-1914. Munich, 1975, vol. 2, p. 158.

III. Public High Schools

Year1	Schools	Teachers2	Pupils	Pupils per teacher	Pupils3 per 100 inhabitants
1864 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1896 1900 1906 1910 1913	264 414 454 493 525 549 576 627 745 824 881	3,810 5,941 6,669 7,502 8,724 – 8,365 8,852 11,119 12,549 13,731	78,718 119,641 135,777 145,575 151,541 156,7964 156,4725 176,268 227,349 260,019 275,165	20.7 20.1 20.4 19.4 17.4 – 18.7 19.9 20.4 20.7 20.0	0.41 0.49 0.53 0.53 0.54 0.52 0.48 0.51 0.60 0.65 –

Source: Jahrbuch für die Amtliche Statistik des Preußischen Staates [Yearbook for the Administrative Statistics of the Prussian State] 1883, p. 397 (1864-1880); Schwarz, Der Staatshaushalt und die Finanzen Preußens [The State Budget and the Finances of Prussia] p. 228 (1885) and p. 226 (1890); Statistisches Jahrbuch für den Preußischen Staat [Statistical Yearbook for the Prussian State] 1913, p. 416.

Repinted in Gerd Hohorst, Jürgen Kocka, and Gerhard A. Ritter, eds., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch: Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreichs 1870-1914. Munich, 1975, vol. 2, pp. 159-60.

Notes

1 Only full-time male teachers; it is not possible to divide the female teachers (for 1864 there were 2815 and for 1871 there were 3848) into full-time and part-time assistant teachers; after 1878 the data include both full-time male and female teachers.

2 Including part-time assistant teachers, approximately 2,000 in number.

The population data refer to the data collected for the respective territories; only in 1864 and 1871 was a census taken; the data employed were derived by the Prussian Statistical Office by means of “arithmetic interpolation;” for the year 1911 there was no data available: the data from 1910 was used and the resultant number appears for this reason in parentheses.

1 Furthermore 12,638 children receive instruction in the upper grades that have been accommodated in the public primary schools; for this year there is no data for the number of schools, classes, and teachers.

1 The data given for each year refer to the statistics gathered during the first semester of that year and the following year.

2 Until 1885 the data include both full-time and part-time teachers; after 1896 only full-time teachers are counted.

3 Regarding the population data, see the corresponding notes above for table 4a in this chapter; in this column the results of the census were utilized, except for the years 1895 and 1905.

4 Schwarz made a mistake in addition for this statistic which in his text reads: 166,796.

5 Schwarz (p. 226) lists here the number of pupils as 165,060, for which no sources can be found, while his data for the year 1893 coincide with our sources.

Translation: Richard Pettit

Recommended Citation

Public Schools in Prussia (1864-1911/13), published in: German History in Documents and Images, <https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/wilhelmine-germany-and-the-first-world-war-1890-1918/ghdi:document-740> [September 26, 2025].