The social structure and territorial origins of the Realschule in Sulechów in the period 1787—1873 on the basis of the register Sprawy szkolne fromt eh State Archive in Zielona Gora

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present the results of an analysis of a historical source regarding the social structure and territorial origin of pupils from Realschule in Sulechów over 86 years of its functioning. In 1719, an orphanage was established in the town on the border between Silesia and Brandenburg, which was soon transformed into an educational institution offering tuition at many levels. The school's curriculum referred to the patterns developed by the pietists of Halle, constituting a novelty among contemporary educational solutions. The facility operated until 1945. By means of the census of the school's pupils from 1787–1873, it is possible to quantify the impact of this small centre, the attractiveness of the curriculum proposed by the pietists of Sulechów and their importance for the development of not only local education. The analysis made it possible to identify the changes in the range of territorial impact of the school, clearly defined the social profile of its pupils and their families, and revealed a microscale process of industrialisation and some changes in the professional structure of the small town community.