Schools

Our former pupils will no doubt take a particular interest in being able to trace the key milestones in the development of the District Secondary School in Hohenhameln, presented here in chronological order. Given the extent of this record, detailed explanations have been deliberately omitted.

• 17 April 1952: Inception of the Secondary School, sponsored by the District of Peine, with Classes V and VI housed in the old elementary school building (today: Firma Zulauf and the local council offices).

• 25 June 1952: Election of the first parent council: Mr Reichert, Mr Gries, and Mrs Otte.

• 9–19 March 1953: Entrance examinations for Class V (58 children participated).

• 14 April 1953: Move into the new elementary school building on Ohlumer Street.

• 18 April 1953: Arbor Day – a lime tree is planted in the school courtyard.

• 13 June 1953: School outing with all classes to the Weserbergland.

• 22 August 1953: Summer Federal Youth Games held at the Clauen sports ground.

• 29 August 1953: The first school festival. 

• 7–12 September 1953: All classes attend a residential school trip at the YMCA hostel in Dassel.

• 8 January 1954: Introduction of the following bus routes:
     1. Equord – Mehrum – Rötzum – Ohlum – Hohenhameln
     2. Bierbergen – Soßmar – Hohenhameln

• 15–20 March 1954: Entrance examinations for Class V (63 children participated).

• 25 March 1954: School newspaper The Swivel Chair – Issue No. 1.

• 2 June 1954: Parent council: Mr Oberg, Mrs Gries, Mr Gries, Mr Eggers, and Mrs Gnügge.

• 19 June 1954: Ground-breaking ceremony for the teachers' residence on Hoher Weg (No. 294).

• 1–14 July 1954: Residential school trip for Classes VII and VIII to St. Peter-Ording.

• 12 August 1954: Topping-out ceremony for the teachers' residence at Hoher Weg 294.

• 4 September 1954: School festival.

• 1 October 1954: Abolition of school fees.

• 9 November 1954: First parent-teacher consultation day (a total of 248 individual meetings).

• 15 December 1954: Shipment of 30 parcels to the Soviet occupation zone.

• 1 February 1955: Agricultural vocational school (girls’ division) temporarily housed in the Secondary School premises.

• 31 January 1955: Teachers receive the district-owned flats at No. 294.

• 31 January – 10 February 1955: Influenza epidemic (Classes V–VIII temporarily have no lessons).

• 14 February 1955: Parent council meeting – decision to purchase 10 typewriters.

• 25 February 1955: First Winter Federal Youth Games held.

• 18 March 1955: Mr Heinrich Brandes, who remains headmaster to this day, is officially appointed the first Headmaster of the District Secondary School by the President of the Regional Government.

• 4 September 1955: Inauguration of the sports field.

• 12 September 1955: School festival.

• 6 December 1955: Parent council meeting – decision to provide additional insurance for pupils with Gothaer Insurance (Göttingen), effective from 1 April 1956.

• 18 January – 7 March 1956: First Aid course provided by the German Red Cross for Classes VIII and IX.

• 20 January 1956: General parents' assembly (over 250 attendees).

• 27 March 1956: Participation in a district council meeting – Class X; decision made to build a new secondary school in Hohenhameln.

• 1 July 1956: Excavation work commences on the District Secondary School (Harber Street).

• 9–16 September 1956: Study tour for Classes IX and X to the Rhineland.

• 13 December 1956: Topping-out ceremony for the District Secondary School.

• 4–5 March 1957: First official examination for Class X (supervised by Senior Government Councillor Dr Kreipe).

• 15 March 1957:
  Graduation of the first cohort (19 girls and boys) with the Intermediate School Leaving Certificate.
  Founding of the Alumni Association.

• 25 April 1957: Boarding places made available for pupils in the children’s home (managed by Pastor Meyer).

• 11 June 1957: Excavation of two teacher residences on the school and cultural site begins.

• 20–26 June 1957: Study trip for Class IX to Franconia.

• 28 June – 13 July 1957: School group visit to Austria (Oberalm/Puch).

• 5 August 1957: Topping-out ceremony for the teacher residences.

• 1 September 1957: Participation in the Burgberg Sports Festival in Bad Salzdetfurth.

• 25 October 1957: Launch of the Adult Education programme in Hohenhameln.

• 30 November 1957: First social gathering of the Alumni Association (Busse Inn).

• 5 February 1958: Caretaker Mr Pätzold moves into his residence.

• 11 March 1958: Groundwork begins for the Headmaster’s House (No. 313).

• 13–14 March 1958: Second official examination for Class X (supervised by Dr Kreipe).

• 8 May 1958: Topping-out ceremony for the Headmaster’s House.

• 2 June 1958: Mr Carl Albrecht of Clauen becomes Chairman of the Parent Council.

• 6 June 1958: Commencement of relocation (from Ohlumer Street to Harber Street).

• 7 June 1958: Alumni Association hosts a dance (Busse Inn).

• 16–21 June 1958: Final move into the new school building.

• 22 June 1958: Formal inauguration of the School and Cultural Centre, attended by a large number of the public, the Minister of Culture, and the Regional Governor. The school is officially handed over by the District of Peine and recognised as a fully developed institution.
  School construction costs: DM 702,320.13
  Multipurpose hall: DM 392,537.93

• 31 August 1958: School festival.

• 10–17 September 1958: Study tour of Class X to the Netherlands and Belgium (World Exhibition – Rhineland).

• 26 November 1958: The Peine Cultural Association begins its work at the Hohenhameln branch with the play Leocadia by Jean Anouilh.

• 10 December 1958: Handing over of the district-owned Headmaster’s House.

• 11 February 1959: School celebration “Open the Gate!”

• 18 February 1959: Class X attends a session of the state parliament.

• 14 May 1959: Adult Education forum discussion on “School Conditions in the District of Peine.”

• 29 September 1959: Class X attends a session of the lay magistrates’ court in Peine.

• 21 October 1959: Stage at the Zoo theatre, Hanover (Director: W. Rüter) performs four one-act plays by Cocteau, Beckett, and O’Casey.

• 17 December 1959: Visit to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg (Class X).

• 10–25 June 1960: Study trip for Class X to Austria, Tyrol, and Oberammergau.

• 1 October 1960: School festival.

• 29 April 1961: Class X visits the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) in Hanover.

• 19 June 1961: Construction begins on eight garages for teaching staff (2 on Hoher Weg, 6 on school grounds), commissioned by the district.

• 9 November 1961: Garages officially handed over.

Extracted from the 1962 commemorative publication “10 Years of the District Secondary School in Hohenhameln”, pp. 33–36.

The plan for a secondary school in Hohenhameln dates back to the year 1899. At that time, under the direction of Pastor Bockhorn, a Higher Private School was established, which existed until 1905. According to Arthur Rühmann, a farmer from Ohlum who is now in his seventy-fourth year, he belonged to the first cohort of this school, which opened in 1899. According to his account, the school, which was located in an annex to the house of the veterinary surgeon Grote, was initially attended by eighteen boys and five girls. The teachers at that time were Messrs Pollak and Eichwald.

In 1909, through the initiative of Pastor Gossmann along with several gentlemen from Hohenhameln and the surrounding villages, the plan for a Higher Private School was revived, resulting in the conversion of a wing of the parsonage into classrooms intended to teach children up to the upper third of a Realgymnasium (a type of secondary school).

The school, which was authorised by order of the Regional President on 8 March 1909, developed so substantially after the First World War that the construction of a new school building became urgently necessary. Despite the economic hardships of the time (the inflation having only just been overcome), a new school was constructed on Clauener Street with the vigorous support of the district authorities, and was occupied in 1926 with five teachers and eighty-one fee-paying pupils. (This building currently houses the firm Steinbach.) This Higher Private School was closed by order of the Regional President on 1 April 1940.

The desire for a secondary school remained alive among the inhabitants of Hohenhameln and the surrounding communities, even if it temporarily receded during the war years and the immediate post-war period, as each municipality faced numerous challenges such as reconstruction, the refugee crisis, and housing shortages. However, the influx of refugees gave renewed impetus to the demand for a secondary school, so that from 1949 onwards, serious efforts were made to establish such an institution.

Hohenhameln, situated in the southwest of the district, was the cultural and economic centre for the surrounding, still predominantly agricultural villages. The absence of a secondary school in the town had an adverse effect, as such schools in the town of Peine could scarcely be attended by children from Hohenhameln due to poor transport connections. Consequently, children were sent to the secondary school in Hildesheim; yet, as with the municipal secondary school in Peine, places were not available. This situation was unsustainable for both the district and the municipality. Nevertheless, the establishment of a secondary school in Hohenhameln failed due to a lack of appropriate school premises. During further negotiations, the involved municipalities and interested parents were advised to establish an advanced class within the elementary school in Hohenhameln instead of a full secondary school. This also necessitated necessary measures concerning the provision of teaching spaces as well as the academic preparation of children intending to attend the secondary school.

Thus, the introduction of a six-level advanced class at the elementary school in Hohenhameln was resolved upon, but this was subsequently refused approval by the Ministry of Education on financial and pedagogical grounds. The establishment of a four-level advanced class at Easter 1952 was not opposed by the Ministry. 

The parents reluctantly accepted this solution but expressed the urgent desire to begin as early as Easter 1950. The prerequisite for this was thirty-five pupils for the first advanced class. Thirty-five pupils registered for the entrance examination. However, the school board waived the entrance examination, as experience showed that not all pupils would pass. Consequently, the establishment of an advanced class for the academic year 1950/51 was thereby precluded.

Meanwhile, progress was made on resolving the unresolved issue of premises by means of an initiative from the chairman of the church council of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Hohenhameln, who submitted a plan to the Hohenhameln municipal administration on 7 December 1950. The plan envisaged selling the building of the former Higher Private School to the firm Steinbach and constructing a new Protestant elementary school on the church’s land on Ohlumer Street.

This arrangement was intended simultaneously to resolve the problem of the advanced class, which was to be housed either immediately in the new school building or, initially, in the classrooms vacated in the old school premises.

The letter from the parish office read as follows:

“If I may take the liberty to present to the parish council the following proposal to resolve the problems related to and arising from the Steinbach company, I believe I am entitled to do so for the following reasons: It is incumbent upon me in my role as pastor of the church community to do everything possible to ensure that its members remain in employment and can sustain their livelihoods. The economic, social, political, and not least spiritual consequences that the possible relocation of the Steinbach company to another location would entail for many community members would be so grave that it would be unforgivable for me as pastor to stand idly by. The responsibilities inherent in my office compel me, regardless of difficulties or even personal attacks, to endeavour without fail to resolve the present problem. I am all the more obliged since I have been approached from many quarters of the community to take this step.

My proposal, here outlined only briefly, is as follows:

To sell the private school to the Steinbach company.

To construct a new school building on the grounds of the church community on Ohlumer Street, in which the evangelical elementary school would initially be accommodated. This would simultaneously enable the establishment of the ‘Aufbauzug’—either to be located immediately in the new building or temporarily in the vacated classrooms of the old school. Other questions arising from the new school building and concerning the school situation throughout Hohenhameln will not be addressed here in detail, as these require oral negotiations and thorough discussions. It should also be considered to involve the communities of Ohlum and Bekum in the school construction (possibly a school association, which would be strongly supported by the district). This would allow the very difficult school conditions in these communities to be resolved by creating a new, large, joint school (with all grades). The one-third share of the state construction grant entitled to the communities of Ohlum and Bekum would then also benefit the new school building, enabling a correspondingly larger construction.

By realising these two points, the following would be achieved:

The Steinbach company would remain in the community of Hohenhameln, thus preserving employment opportunities and the livelihoods of approximately 120 people, potentially rising to 200 in the future.

The commercial life, which would be severely affected by the company’s relocation, would not only be stabilised but would undoubtedly receive a further boost.

The interrelation of the above matters in economic, social, and fiscal terms is not to be underestimated by the community.

The school problem would be resolved in the course of the community’s political efforts in the long term.

A new building would also mean work and income for local tradespeople, thus promoting the commerce and trade of the entire community. Moreover, the new building would increase the community’s assets.

In brief: this project resolves all currently urgent problems of the community: Steinbach, the elementary school, and the Aufbauzug. The burdens on the community, in my view, are no greater—and possibly less—than those associated with continuing the private school project. This, too, requires discussion, as does the question of financing my proposal. I would only add that with goodwill and joint effort, it is feasible.

The attached preliminary draft and cost estimate are intended to clarify and outline the project. They serve as a basis for discussion. All possibilities for expansion are included, particularly in the event of forming a comprehensive school association with Ohlum and Bekum.

The financing, initially only roughly outlined, would be possible as follows:

• DM 40,000 from the sale of the private school. (If this sum is used for the new school building, the school association will have no objection, since its statutes forbid the distribution of assets among members. Furthermore, for reasons that determined the formation of the association, it will welcome not only an Aufbauzug but also, as a prerequisite, a proper elementary school building meeting modern standards.)

• DM 50,000 state construction grant, as calculated from the attached preliminary draft.

• DM 30,000 from the provision of a building plot and possibly a grant by the evangelical Lutheran church community (plot and grant combined).

• DM 15,000 non-binding promised district grant.

• DM 20,000 own contribution from the political community of Hohenhameln.

If the communities of Ohlum and others are included, the respective state grants would be added.

I urgently ask that the community’s own expenditures be compared with those required to continue the old private school project. The administration should especially consider the real difference between expenditure and outcome!

Regarding the community’s own share of about DM 20,000, I have informally consulted with the district savings bank, which has pledged full support. A mortgage grant has been tentatively promised.

It goes without saying that the sale of the private school is closely linked with the above matters. However, since the Steinbach company is pressing for a decision, it is necessary for the parish council to give a prompt response to this proposal. Furthermore, the council must clearly state yes or no. Only then can further necessary negotiations with the authorities succeed. The solution of the entire complex is only possible if construction can begin in spring 1951 (approximately after completion of the post office building), the Steinbach company can be given additional workspace on short notice, and the school’s completion can be guaranteed during the summer.

I am fully aware that many difficulties must still be overcome and negotiations conducted, but our unwavering faith in representing the just cause will help us to begin a new endeavour for the benefit of our community of Hohenhameln.

I ask the parish council to respond to this submission as soon as possible so that, upon agreement, the necessary joint steps toward realising the project can be taken.

Signed: Meyer, Pastor”

This plan received the approval of the parish council and the government and was successfully implemented. By Easter 1952, the first construction phase (five classrooms) was occupied by the evangelical elementary school. This created space in the former elementary school building located on Marktstraße.

(The text continues similarly, detailing the further development of the school and related institutions, the involvement of the district, financial aspects, and the construction phases up to the 1950s, culminating in the opening of a modern, well-equipped school complex.)