History

How it all began

Around 1900, the southern part of the city grew very rapidly. Factories sprang up everywhere – Siemens-Schuckert, MAN, and all the others. Job seekers from all over Bavaria, but also from Thuringia, Bohemia, Austria, and Switzerland flocked to southern Nuremberg. What all these migrants (from the Latin "wanderer") had in common was the hope of an end to their daily struggle for survival. Naturally, many, many children came with these adults. Like their parents, they too lost their familiar surroundings and had to find their footing anew.

Numerous schools were built, but they very quickly became too small. When the Gibitzenhof school building (today's Pirckheimer Gymnasium) was bursting at the seams, construction began in 1910 on a new school building very close by – on credit, of course, because the state coffers weren't exactly overflowing back then.

On September 1, 1911, the time had finally come: The new school was named after the musician and astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel. This brilliant man had discovered Uranus and the invisible rays of infrared.
The school opened with 30 classes. In total, there were 45 classrooms, two gymnasiums and two art rooms, five staff rooms for teachers, and several workshops where future shop teachers were also trained. The students also had access to a library.

In 1913, two school barracks for the auxiliary school (today: special needs school) were built on the property in front of the north entrance, where the football field is today.
Because many people didn't have their own bathroom in their apartments, a so-called "shower room" was set up in the school's basement starting in 1912. There, people could shower at a low cost.

World War I 1914 to 1918

In 1915, the school had to close again, as it was now also being used as mass accommodation for soldiers being drafted into the war and later as a reserve military hospital. During the First World War, the children often suffered great hardship. A school meal program was provided for needy children of soldiers. Shoes were distributed for the winter, and some classrooms remained open during the holidays so the children could warm up. The average class size during this time was 48 pupils. In the 1915/16 school year, the curriculum was shortened, and each teacher had to teach two classes.
Poverty forced many mothers to work. Many children had to be placed in day care centers and orphanages. Due to the poor living conditions, numerous schoolchildren contracted tuberculosis, the disease of poverty.

Hitler and the Second World War (1939 to 1945)

In 1933, Hitler and his Nazi party seized power in Germany. A picture of the Führer was now required in every classroom. In the 1936/37 school year, a special "collective class" for severely mentally disabled children was established at Herschelplatz. Just two years later, this institution was no longer mentioned in the city's administrative report. What happened to these children? Presumably, they were all murdered. After the war, no one really wanted to remember the matter... A certain Otto Barthel, who studied the development of Nuremberg's schools, remarked on this in his 1964 book (Die Schulen in Nürnberg 1905 bis 1960, Nürnberg 1964, p. 140):After the south building has been repaired, the special needs school will also move back in; before the war, this school had a day care center for children unable to attend special needs schools, in addition to a daycare center and school garden.“

During the Second World War, our school once again had to serve as a military hospital. The students were relocated to the Gibitzenhof school building. Shortly before the end of the war, on March 16, 1945, the building was almost completely destroyed.

The collapsed floors buried an immeasurable amount of lived time beneath them.

Zero Hour –

From ruins, a viable new order emerges.

On October 1, 1945, seven surviving teachers resumed classes in the ruins. The classrooms often had neither windows nor heating. Often, only supervised instruction lasting one to one and a half hours was possible.
Many people were now homeless and tried to find makeshift shelter in the ruined school. Those who hadn't been Nazis were lucky enough to receive such emergency accommodation. Some tradesmen also set up temporary workshops.

During this time, not only did the pupils who had survived the bombing raids have to be taught, but also numerous refugee children (between 1945 and 1948, 10% of children of primary school age were refugees). After their forced migration, the Herschel School was their first stop in a new life.

In 1949/50, a pilot class for a "voluntary 9th grade" was launched in Nuremberg. In 1952/53, the 9th grade became compulsory for all those without an apprenticeship. This was particularly difficult for the Herschel School, as it had only 21 classrooms for 1200 students.
At that time, classes were held in shifts – under extremely difficult conditions: The children were said to suffer from "concentration problems" and "motor restlessness" as a result of war trauma. The teachers, too, were in poor health due to their wartime experiences. Nevertheless, efforts were made to organize school life. Parents' evenings and music evenings were arranged.

In 1964, the schoolyard was beautified with the dragon fountain. In January 1965, the special needs school moved into the north wing, where it remained until July 2007.
On May 6, 1965, the day finally arrived: the reconstruction was complete, and the shift work had come to an end. There were now 20 classrooms, two gymnasiums, and several special-purpose rooms.


Development after 1965

After the reconstruction efforts were completed, numerous renovations and expansions took place, necessitated by the arrival of a new wave of migrants in the southern part of the city in the 1970s. These people were then called "guest workers." And what about now? Well, today a large proportion of the migrant children come from Eastern Europe. But actually, nobody really notices that in our multicultural school. And that's a good thing.

Conclusion: The whole world meets at Herschel Square!

Looking more closely at the history of our school, it becomes clear that the Herschel School has always been strongly influenced by migration. Most people came here more or less voluntarily, in search of work. However, especially in connection with the Second World War, there were also many involuntary newcomers.
All migrants share a sense of uncertainty and hope. Understanding this background can certainly make it easier to empathize with troubled youth, dismantle prejudices, and judge more fairly.

Integration is a lengthy process, but nothing new for our old school building and the many people who have spent or are currently spending part of their lives here for the past 100 years.

Heyke Feigl