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66-9828 ARNDT, Edward John, 1909- AN ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE EDUCA­ TIONAL SYSTEM OF THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC FROM 1945 TO 1964. The American University, Ed.D., 1966 Education, history University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan ii (§} Copyright by Edward John Arndt 1966 AN ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC FROM 1945 TO 1964 by Edward John Arndt Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Signatures of Committee: Chairman: ^Li < - i t ' ------ JlusnAUh> 0c &***$?- Graduate Dean: ° ^ 7 1966 The American University AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Washington, D. C. l i b r a r y MAY 19 1966 WASHINGTON. D. C. PREFACE The author gratefully acknowledges the useful criticism s and many helpful suggestions made by the following members of the Disser- ration Committee: Dr. Paul D. Leedy, Chairman, Professor of Education Dr. Carl G. Anthon, Professor, Department of History Dr. Hugo J. Mueller, Professor, Department of Languages and Linguistics Dr. Stanley V. Smith, Adjunct Professor, Department of Education Dr. Ralph Whitfield, Associate Professor, Department of Education Special thanks are due Dr. Anthon and Dr. Mueller for their careful scrutiny of all German quotations and translations. The author is deeply indebted to the Library of Congress for many courtesies which were extended. Dr. I. Sipkov of the Law Library deserves special mention. The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. Paul D. Leedy for his expert guidance of this entire project from the time of the proposal to the final version of the dissertation. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 Statement of the P roblem ..................................................... 1 Survey of Related L iterature ........................................... 7 ' Data U sed ....................................................................................... 23 Importance of the S tu d y .......................................................... 28 H. THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THE COMMUNIST EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE DDR (1945-52) . 30 The Situation in 1945 .............................................................. 31 Review at the End of 1945 ..................................................... 51 Democratization of the German School and The First Pedagogical Conference (1 9 4 6 ).................................. 55 Important Developments of this Y e a r ............................. 69 The Third Year of the Occupation (1947)........................ 72 S u m m a r y............................................................... 81 The Year of the Supreme Test (1948)............................. 83 S u m m a r y ...................................................................................... 89 Prelude to the Creation of the German Democratic Republic (1 9 4 9 )................................................................... 90 R e v i e w ........................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER PAGE The Ascendancy of Youth and Preparation for the Five-Year Plan (1950) ............................................................ 112 Significance of the Year's Educational Developments . 130 The Expansion of Education and the Five-Year Plan ( 1 9 5 1 ) ............................................................................................... 132 Review of 1951 ................................................................................. 145 The End of the Wandel Period (August, 1952) .... 146 Paul Wandel's Term of O ffice ................................................ 155 Significance of the Wandel P eriod........................................... 161 III. THE PERIOD OF REVERSALS (1952-1954) ............................. 164 The Administration of Else Zaisser (1952-1953) .... 164 Evaluation and Significance of Minister Zaisser's Administration ............................................................................ 186 The Administration of Hans-Joachim Laabs (March to November, 1 9 5 4 ) ................................................ 189 Evaluation and Significance of the Laabs Administration ............................................................................ 197 IV. INTENSIFICATION OF PARTY CONTROL OVER EDUCATION (1954-1958) .............................................................. 202 Preparations for the Fifth Pedagogical Conference ( 1 9 5 5 ) ............................................................................................... 204 vi CHAPTER PAGE Evaluation of the Year 1955 215 The Year of the Fifth Pedagogical Conference (1956) . 216 Significance of the Year 1956 224 The Great Debate on General Education (1957) .... 226 Evaluation of the Year 1957 ......................................................... 234 Direct Intervention of the Party in Education (1958) . 236 Evaluation of the Lange Adm inistration..................................... 248 Y. REORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNIFIED SOCIALIST EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM (1958-1964) .......................................................................................... 254 A New School System (1959) 256 The Importance of the Year 1 9 5 9 ........................................ 263 Re-tooling for Polytechnical Education (1960-1961) . 265 Evaluation of the Years 1960 and 1961 272 New Ideas in Education (1962) . ...................................... 274 Evaluation of the Year 1962 ..................................................... 282 Ingredients of a New Unified School System (1963) . 282 Evaluation of the Administration of Alfred Lemnitz . 291 The Administration of Margot Honecker (1963-) . 295 The Unified Socialist Educational System .................................. 298 VI. SUMMARY ...................................................................... 306 C o n c l u s i o n .......................................................................................... 331 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 336 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Schematische Darstellung der Ausbildungswege im einheitlichen sozialistischen Bildungssystem . 304 2. Graphic Presentation of Educational Channels in the Unified Socialist System of Education........................ 305 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Two world wars were fought during the first half of the twentieth century. In both instances, the military conflict was begun by Germany. As a result of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was greatly reduced in size, but she remained a single nation. Before twenty years had passed following World War I, the first stages of World War II were under way. After World War II, Germany was again greatly reduced in size, but this time she was split into two states, one loyal to the USSR and the other aligned with the West. All efforts at unifying Germany have proved of no avail. Again twenty years have elapsed since the end of the conflict. Statement of the Problem This dissertation was concerned, in point of time, with the period of almost twenty years following the end of World War H. As to location, this dissertation centered its interest on that part of Germany which was closest to the USSR. Western Germans who hoped that some day all of Germany might be reunited, called this area Mitteldeutschland or Middle Germany, thereby emphasizing that they did not accept the Oder-Neisse Line which presently marks the western boundary of Ostdeutschland or Eastern Germany, now under Polish control. The part of Germany with which this dissertation was concerned bears the name "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" (DDR), or German Democratic Republic. ^ The problem was that of gathering and presenting facts of the administrative history of the DDR's school system from 1945-1964 and of interpreting the meaning and importance of these facts, so that an accurate picture of the school system might be obtained. The qualifying term "administrative" was inserted to suggest that the emphasis would be on studying the school system in operation. This would certainly include an examination of all changes in the structure of the school system itself. Less attention was given to examining the educational philosophy or describing the curricular offerings of the school system. Similarities or differences between the National Socialist and Communist administration of education were not discussed. No effort was made to contrast the teaching of German history during the period 1933-1945 and the period 1945-1964. ^The abbreviation, DDR, will be used throughout this disserta­ tion. 3 Statement of Subproblems The meaning of the term administrative history, as used in this dissertation, was further clarified by a summation of some of the sub-problems. A considerable amount of attention was devoted to the educational and political leaders who made contributions in this field of education. Among these were Ministers of Education, members of the Deutsches Pedagogisches Zentral Institut (DPZI), or German Central Pedagogical Institute, contributors to pedagogical magazines, and the like. A further area of interest was the various means used by educational leaders to achieve their ends. Here mention should be made of conferences, commissions, institutes, workshops, speeches, laws, and publications. Problems in teacher training are directly
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