Johannes Guthmann Collection of Historic School Books
The Johannes Guthmann Collection of Historic School Books at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg is a collection of historical textbooks. Along with the Schulmuseum Nürnberg’s (School Museum Nürnberg) collection of school materials, it comprises the “Schulgeschichtliche Sammlung” (School History Collection), or the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg’s (FAU) collection of materials related to school history. The collection serves as the central documentation center for the historical development of schools and teaching methods in southern Germany from the 18th to the 21st century. It is an important platform for research, academic teaching, and educational work.
The collection is named after its founder, Honorary Professor Dr. Johannes Guthmann (1892-1976). In 1952, Max Liedtke, a professor of education, took responsibility for it. Funded by his chair, the Bavarian state, the FAU, and the Erlangen University Association, the collection was systematically expanded in subsequent years. By the late 1970s, it had established itself as the third most significant academic facility, alongside the Library of the Georg Eckert Institute (today: Leibniz Institute for Educational Media | Georg Eckert Institute) and the Library for Educational History Research of the German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF; today: DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education).
The Johannes Guthmann Collection of Historic School Books comprises 20,000 books, most of which were donated privately. The collection illustrates the development of textbooks from the early nineteenth century onward and is systematically arranged by period and school subjects. Currently, approximately 8,000 un cataloged textbooks are being added.
Access is available via the Educational Science Branch Library after prior arrangement.
School Libraries in the University Library
Even in early monastery libraries, there were separate collections of “libri scolares” for students and teachers. In the 16th century, the Reformers called for the establishment of schools, along with school libraries. These libraries contained editions of the Bible, biblical commentaries in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, Latin and Greek classics, as well as titles on history and geography. In the 19th century, school libraries developed into working libraries for teachers, initially geared towards the needs of teachers and pupils.
In 1962, the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture decided to transfer books published before 1850 in historical school libraries to the care of academic libraries. Due to a lack of space in grammar schools, some school libraries in Middle Franconia were transferred to the university library, where they were stored as a closed collection in the magazine.
In 1877, the municipal agricultural and trade school was converted into a royal Bavarian secondary school for boys. By 1929, it had expanded to become a secondary school. In 1939, it was named after physicist Georg Simon Ohm. The library is fully cataloged and organized as a single entity.
Before the 19th century, teaching was a secondary occupation overseen by the local clergy. It wasn’t until 1809 that the Kingdom of Bavaria established a state-organized teacher training program. A seminar was founded in Nuremberg and moved in 1824 to the vacant building of the defunct University of Altdorf. Protestant teachers for the entire state of Bavaria were trained in Altdorf until 1924. The library was transferred to the teacher training college in Erlangen, the predecessor of the Christian Ernst Gymnasium Erlangen. In the 1990s, the university library took over the historic library.
As early as 1720, the “Ritterakademie” (Knights’ Academy), the Gymnasium Fridericianum’s predecessor, had a study library. Margrave Friedrich von Bayreuth founded the Gymnasium Fridericianum in 1745. However, records of a Gymnasium library only become more frequent from 1790 onwards. The library was intended to lend literature to students in need, and its collection consisted mainly of Latin and Greek textbooks and editions of classical works. In 2009, the historical library was handed over and is fully documented in the catalog.
The “Königliche Landwirtschafts- und Gewerbeschule” (Royal School of Agriculture and Trade) in Fürth was founded in 1833 and elevated to the status of Royal Trade and Commerce School in 1849. In 1920, it became a higher secondary school, meaning graduates were eligible to attend university. Since 1966, the school has been known as the Hardenberg Gymnasium. Its most famous alumni include Dr. Ludwig Erhard, the architect of the German economic miracle; entrepreneurs Dr. Gustav Schickedanz and Dr. Otto Seeling; and poet Jakob Wassermann. The library’s holdings are listed in the catalog.
The Friedrich-Alexander-Gymnasium was founded in 1567 by Margrave Georg Friedrich von Ansbach-Bayreuth as a Latin school. In 1732, it was elevated to a princely city school, enabling students to enroll in a university upon graduation. On April 13, 1772, Margrave Carl Alexander of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth named the school “Friderico-Alexandrina” as a sign of goodwill. In the mid-19th century, a new building was constructed that allowed the school to offer a secondary education program. Works published before 1850 were transferred to the university library in 1962 and have been fully cataloged.