EDUCATION, TECHNICAL, IN SAXONY. 



in a manufacturing district in the center of 

 the German Empire, Saxony being taken as a 

 t'uir type of North Germany. Mr. Felkin is a 

 native of Nottingham, England, and has, since 

 1861, carried on at Chemnitz the manufacture 

 of hosiery, which is also the staple trade of his 

 native place. Besides hosiery, woven fabrics 

 of various kinds are produced; and where 

 water-power was formerly largely employed, 

 steam-engines are now generally in use. Hand- 

 looms and frames are also almost entirely su- 

 perseded by the latest improvements in me- 

 chanical contrivances. Chemnitz is readily ac- 

 cessible by railroad from all parts of the empire, 

 and has large and flourishing factories for loco- 

 motives, steam-engines, engineering tools, etc. 

 The workshops of the Saxon Government rail- 

 roads are placed there, and give employment 

 to five thousand hands. Mr. Felkin points out 

 the significant fact that, in the manufacture of 

 gloves, the Chemnitz workmen have literally 

 destroyed the trade of Nottingham, and, fur- 

 ther, that they not only sell their wares in the 

 United States and South America, but have 

 established an agency in Australia. The popu- 

 lation of Chemnitz has increased from 40,000, 

 twenty years ago, to 90,000 in 1879 ; and the 

 surrounding villages have a population of about 

 the same number. 



Elementary education here, as everywhere in 

 Germany, is compulsory ; and the children of 

 the very poorest class attend the public ele- 

 mentary schools until at least the age of four- 

 teen. After they have left these schools and 

 gone to work, they are still obliged to attend 

 the evening (Fortbildung) school two evenings 

 in each week for two more years. They then 

 become eligible for voluntary attendance in the 

 schools for foremen, for the building trades, 

 and for instruction in elementary drawing. 

 These elementary schools do not receive assist- 

 ance from the state, and the school-fees vary 

 from $1.75 per annum in the lowest division, 

 to $6.35 in the highest class of the highest 

 division. These fees cover about one fourth 

 the cost of maintaining the schools ; the other 

 three quarters are borne by the municipality. 

 There are also schools of the same grade, at- 

 tended by children of wealthier parents, with 

 fees varying from $11.52 to nearly $15.00. 

 Children passing through these schools may, if 

 qualified by examination, enter the classical 

 school (Gymnasium), or the modern school 

 (Real Scbule), at the age of ten ; or they may, 

 after completing the elementary course, con- 

 tinue their education in one of the technical 

 schools. 



The regular course of instruction in the ele- 

 mentary schools includes moral and doctrinal 

 religion, arithmetic, geometry, grammar, com- 

 position, history, natural history, geography, 

 and gymnastics. The school board has in it 

 always a clergyman and three of the head mas- 

 ters of the schools. Chemnitz school district, 

 including a suburban area, contains 152,000 

 inhabitants, of which one sixth (about 25,000) 



attends the elementary schools. Private schools 

 and teaching are almost unknown in Germany. 

 The Gymnasium of Chemnitz, a tine structure, 

 erected at a cost of about $63,000, is attended 

 by 850 scholars, who receive instruction from 

 a rector, a sub-rector, and 20 masters. Be- 

 sides classical instruction, its curriculum in- 

 cludes modern languages and physical science ; 

 and students pass from this to the university. 

 The modern school (Real Schule) cost about 

 $87,000. It receives a subsidy from the state 

 of nearly $3,000 per annum. It has a director 

 and 26 masters, and is attended by 430 scholars. 

 In place of classics are taught natural history, 

 chemistry, physics, mathematics, mechanical 

 and free-hand drawing, so as to prepare the 

 pupils for the polytechnic and mining schools. 

 The fees in each of these schools are nearly 

 $30 per annum. Chemnitz has also a public 

 commercial school, with appropriate studies 

 and 170 scholars. In addition there is an even- 

 ing (Fortbildung) school, established by a work- 

 men's union, at which about 1,900 scholars 

 attend. 



All the preceding schools are under the di- 

 rection of the Minister of Education and Pub- 

 lic Worship. The three technical schools, viz., 

 the Technical Institute, the Higher Weaving 

 School, and the Agricultural School, are under 

 the Minister of the Interior. Of these, the 

 Technical Institute is carried on in a building 

 erected by the state at a cost of about $400,- 

 000. It is partly supported by fees, the bal- 

 ance of the income needed being made up by 

 the state. The Higher Weaving School was 

 erected by the municipality, and is maintained 

 by fees and subsidies of $726 each from the 

 state and the town. The Agricultural School 

 is a recent foundation, and has a small grant 

 from the state. Mr. Felkin has fully de- 

 scribed, and illustrated by plans, the labora- 

 tories, lecture-room, libraries, and museums of 

 the Technical Institute, which may fairly com- 

 pare with the more celebrated schools of Ger- 

 many and Switzerland. It has four depart- 

 ments the Higher Technical, the School for 

 Foremen, that for the building trades, and the 

 Art School. The Higher Technical School has 

 three branches, one for mechanical engineer- 

 ing, a second for chemical technology, and 

 a third for architecture. Its courses extend 

 over seven semesters (a semester = six months). 

 The first three are general, after which special 

 subjects are studied. These courses qualify for 

 industrial employment and for the profession 

 of an architect; students, however, who seek 

 for employment in architecture by the state 

 must complete their education in the Bau- 

 Academie of Dresden, or in some institution of 

 equal rank. The fees are $14.50 per semester, 

 and there are 150 students. The School for 

 Foremen has two winter courses of six months 

 each, and two branches of study, viz., one for 

 mechanical and the other for chemical indus- 

 try. Students are admitted at the age of six- 

 teen, and must have worked for two years at 



