The Influence of Confession and State: Germany and Austria

Abstract

The German states and parts of the Austrian Empire were known for their efforts to establish a public school system as early as the eighteenth century. It is difficult, however, to produce a consistent narrative about the German schools, since the absence of a substantive central authority in educational matters is one of the peculiarities of the German-speaking states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the wake of the splitting of the Austrian Empire in 1866 and the foundation of the German Reich in 1870, the historiography has come to reflect Germany’s federal character and Austria-Hungary’s multinational composition. This chapter will concentrate on the characteristic features of the history of girls’ secondary education, examining major differences by focusing on Bavaria, the German-speaking provinces of Austria, and Prussia. Bavaria, a state with an overwhelmingly Catholic population, shares some major traits with Austria, while Prussia represents Protestant Germany.

I would like to thank Pamela Selwyn for helping with the English version.