Military Orphan-House at Potsdam.
This institution was founded in 1724, by Frederick William the First of Prussia. The reputation of Franke’s Foundations induced this monarch to rival the benevolence of the clergyman, and to establish on a scale proportioned to his greater means, a house for the education of the orphans of his soldiers. While, however, the recipients of Franke’s bounty are free to choose their career in after life, and only so far bound to the institution, as a sense of gratitude may prompt, the youth who passes through the Military Orphan-house of Potsdam, must enter the military service for twelve years. Three of these, indeed, are the term of service of every citizen, and I believe the three years in the non-commissioned officers’ school are now counted as part of the twelve, and thus the actual number of extra years of service is reduced to six. The institution began with one hundred and seventy-nine children, both girls and boys being received; this arrangement continued until a few years since, when the girls’ school was removed from Potsdam, and the establishment at present is for male pupils only. There are between three and four hundred in the elementary or boys’ department. In the early history of the orphan-house two attempts are recorded to introduce manual labor, as a profitable speculation; neither of which appears, however, to have succeeded. The first of these, the manufacture of Brabant lace, was introduced in 1743, and after various modifications of the mode of applying the labor of the children, it was finally abandoned in 1795. In 1744, the culture of silk was introduced extensively throughout the kingdom, and especially enjoined at the orphan-houses; but this attempt was not more successful in the end than the other, and the culture is not kept up in this institution.
The present spacious buildings were chiefly constructed under the reign of the founder and of Frederick the Great. Additions have, however, been made from time to time since, and the whole plan is hardly yet completed. The institution may be considered as divided into three departments or schools; an elementary school, (called the Boys’ House, das Knabenhaus,) a trade school, and a music school. The buildings for the elementary school are erected about a spacious court, which serves as an exercising and play-ground. On the ground floor are the refectory, in which all the youth from the different schools composing the institution, meet three times a day, and the study and play-rooms, lavatory, &c. The study-rooms form a long range, and when the doors of communication are opened, one teacher can superintend the whole of the classes. The school-rooms are on the first and second floors, and are calculated for divisions of forty boys each. There are six dormitories, furnished with wooden or iron bedsteads, the latter having been more recently introduced and found to answer well. The bedding consists of a straw bed beneath, and a mattress of hair above. Each dormitory is superintended by a teacher, who sleeps at one end of it. There are also dwelling-rooms for the teachers, officers, &c., and in the court a very large wash-house, with a drying-room above it.
The buildings occupied by the trade and music schools are separated by a street from the others, and with the dwellings of the officers, a room for gymnastic exercises, and musical practice, and the workshops, form a second immense series of structures. The infirmary is near to them, and is under a separate direction; subordinate, however, to the general executive body. It is divided into rooms assigned to patients suffering from different complaints. A schoolmaster gives instruction to the convalescent. The arrangements in the dormitories of the trades’ school, are similar to those used in the army, and the Superintendence and discipline are strictly military.
The part of the building occupied by the music school, contains separate rooms for practicing by individuals, class-rooms, and dormitories. There are rooms in the main pile for the meetings of teachers, for a small library, &c.
The executive board of this school depends partly on the ministry of war, and partly on that of public instruction; the former, however, is the controlling authority. Under this board is the military superintendent, or director, to whom the chaplain, the secretaries, the economist, the military superintendent of the day, the teachers, commandants of companies, the inspectors of the trades’ and music school, and other officers, are directly responsible. The clergyman is the superintendent of the elementary school, and has a general charge of all the intellectual and religious instruction.
The orphan children of soldiers are received for maintenance, at any age, by the authorities of the establishment, but if under six years, are boarded with their friends or others until six, and then admitted into the house at Potsdam; they remain there until fourteen or fifteen years of age, and, if of sound constitution, are transferred to the trade, or to the music school, where they remain four years, and whence they pass, if their conduct has been good, to the school for non-commissioned officers. I have never seen a body of young men all so well physically developed as the pupils of the trade school, a result produced by constant attention to their education on this point. Children who are not healthy, or who have failed in the elementary school, are apprenticed at fourteen, and the institution ceases to have the charge of them.
In the Elementary School, the usual branches taught in the common schools of Prussia are pursued, including reading, writing, arithmetic, the German language, geography, drawing, religious instruction, and a little natural history. The boys are divided into four classes, according to their proficiency, and all the classes below the first are subdivided into two sections, each being under the charge of a teacher, and having a separate recitation room. These sections contain about forty pupils each. A monitor of order from among the pupils, has charge of a section on entering and leaving the school-room, and render such service as the master requires during the lesson; he is assisted by one of the class in the distribution of the books, slates, and other implements of instruction. The teachers keep each a roll, upon which the character of the recitation and conduct of the pupils is entered, and which is examined weekly by the chaplain, and submitted to the board of teachers at their meetings. No youth, who is below a certain grade upon this roll, is permitted to enter the trades’ school. There are about five hours of instruction on four days of the week, and about twenty-three in the whole week. The holidays are, a week at Easter, four days at Michaelmas, a fortnight in the latter half of July, and from the twenty-third of December, to the second of January. For those who have no friends to go to, the Christmas festivities are kept up in the school, as in the private families of the country.
The board of teachers meet once every fortnight, and the director, or his substitute, or the chaplain, presides. At their meetings, all matters relating to instruction and discipline are discussed.
The form of the discipline of the school is military, but a spirit of mildness tempers it, suiting it to the age of the pupils. The boys, in general, are divided into four companies, each of which has a commandant, (a non-commissioned officer of the highest grade,) who has charge of the instruction in military exercises, and ranks with the teachers of the school. These companies form a battalion, and are drilled without arms, and inspected by the director, or an officer appointed by him. In turn the commandants of companies, acting as officers of the day, have general charge of the military and police duties. Two of the teachers, also, in turn, act as inspectors of the day, and have the general superintendence of the pupils in study and recreation hours, in the duties of personal police, at meals, and in the dormitories, relieving each other at different parts of the day. They are co-ordinate in authority with the officer of the day, and he is expected to relieve and aid them in the maintenance of order. These officers report immediately to the director.