School with school museum, Prätis near Pöllau

On the ‘Schiesterhof’ farm in Prätis No. 63 there was an easily accessible Brechelstube, which was originally built entirely of wood and protected by a thatched hipped roof. Over time, the roof became a saddle roof with a more resistant shingle covering. The attic was used as a storage area and features the typical regional wooden ‘Gangl’ on the south gable, which was used to dry fruit, for example. The typical three-part house was entered on the eaves side via the central ‘Labn’. To the left of this was originally a small stable with a shed, which was later converted into a chamber and now houses a small school museum. To the right was the ‘hair parlour’ with small windows, only two of which have been preserved. Flax was broken here when needed.

When compulsory schooling was introduced by Empress Maria Theresa in 1774, it took a few more years before teaching facilities could be found everywhere, and schools often moved from farm to farm. Peter Faist, the ‘Schiesterbauer’, finally made his ‘Haarstube’ available for teaching, which was used intermittently from 1799 to 1880 until a new school was built. The number of pupils fluctuated from just 10 to 20 during the summer to 100 children in the winter months. After the opening of the new school building, the old Brechelstube was converted into a ‘Söldner’ or Austragshäusl and was given the character of a residential building thanks to the enlarged windows and the gable extension. A small school museum was set up in the utility part of the house, which offers an insight into the development of the trivial and primary schools.

When we find older documents and certificates, letters and postcards from our grandparents, we come across a script that seems difficult to read. Difficult to read because most of us no longer learnt it at school. From the beginning of the modern era until the middle of the 20th century, Kurrent script was the common script used throughout the German-speaking world. Palaeographically, the German Kurrent script belongs to the broken scripts (Kanzleibastarda). It differs from the round, ‘Latin’ script by its acute angles (‘pointed script’), although Kurrent also has many curves. With minor modifications, it was also known as ‘Gotisk skrift’ in Scandinavia (in Denmark and Norway) and was used until 1875.

A variant of German Kurrent script introduced in the 20th century as the basic script for school lessons in Germany is Sütterlin script (after Ludwig Sütterlin), which was developed for writing with an equal-tension nib with an even stroke width. Since the middle of the 20th century, especially after its abolition in schools in 1941 by the National Socialists' Normalschrifterlass, German Kurrent script (including its Sütterlin variant) has been used less and less. Historians and academics from other disciplines, as well as those interested in genealogy, had to master it in order to be able to read documents written in German Kurrent script. Around 1960, many primary schools and grammar schools in Austria were still teaching Kurrent as part of their handwriting lessons.

Characteristics

German Kurrent script is slanted to the right and has loops on the ascenders. The shafts of the letters f and s are extended downwards. Numerous letters are written in a single stroke. The letters h and z have continuous loops on the lower slurs. The e has its own characteristic shape, which is reminiscent of the n. Historically, the umlaut dots in the German alphabet originated from this form of e.

Example

"Patenschaft" in Kurrent script: