Abstract
IN the beginning of the nineteenth century Napoleon crushed the spirit and power of the Germans for a time, but the nation soon recovered from the blow through the stirring appeals which their great men, many of them professors in the universities, made to them, and their politicians and wise men, men of deep thought and strong will, deliberated earnestly in what way they could rescue their country from the depression under which it lay and restore it to independence and to a high place amongst the nations of the earth. They became convinced that one of the most effective means for this purpose was education, and they formed the following plan of carrying out this education. Their eyes were fixed on the young men of the country and they thought the best way to train them for civil and political life, and for the discharge of all the highest duties of statesmanship, was to divide their education into two periods. Thus arose the gymnasium and the present form of their universities. The idea of the gymnasium was that the boys should remain at school from eleven years of age until they were about twenty, under the strict discipline of the schoolmasters and be guided by them in all their studies. In these schools the young men were to be instructed in all the important knowledge which previous generations discovered and acquired. It was deemed that young men up to that age should not be invited to specialise. They were to be the recipients of the best ideas and methods which had come down to them through tradition.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
On the Highest University Education in Germany and France 1 . Nature 92, 517–519 (1914). https://doi.org/10.1038/092517a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/092517a0