Schulmuseum Nordwürttemberg

About the museum

The impetus came from an exhibition on "Schule früher" (school in the old days), which Kornwestheim showed in 1981 for the town's 1,200th anniversary. This gave rise on October 3, 1984 – as the second school museum in Baden-Württemberg – to a small permanent display, set up by the retired headmaster of the Schillerschule, Willy Haiges. A year later a friends' association was founded, whose chairman Gerhard Weiß took over management after Haiges' death in 1990. That same year the exhibition space grew to almost 400 square meters, and the museum was given its current name.

The museum is housed in the listed Schillerschule, which was inaugurated in 1908. Since 1992 it has been run by professional staff: first by historian Irmgard Sedler, who also became director in 2000, and since 2018 by Saskia Dams. Since then the focus has been on regional school history and its connections to cultural history and the history of childhood; the museum collaborates with universities of education and other museums.

The collection comprises more than 18,000 objects, including around 10,000 schoolbooks, more than 1,000 primers and first readers from four centuries, around 400 scientific teaching instruments, historical writing implements and almost 800 piggy banks. The permanent exhibition leads from monastery schools to the 20th century, showing the paths of girls and boys through the village school, the development of script and writing implements, and the often strict school discipline. The highlight is a historic classroom, complemented by a newly designed forest classroom for families.

Highlights

• Historic classroom with old school desks, slate and slate pencil
• Talking teacher figure with the voice of the first museum director
• Exhibition on primers and learning to read over four centuries
• Punishment donkey and cane: school discipline of days gone by
• Forest classroom with nature trail for playing and crafts

Permanent exhibitions

• Historisches Klassenzimmer – Schoolroom with old desks where you can relive a school lesson from around 1900; a talking teacher figure tells of the daily life of schoolchildren.
• Geschichte der Schulbildung – A tour through Württemberg's school history from the Reformation to 1945, with topics such as script and writing implements, primers, school discipline and the role of the village schoolmaster.
• Waldklassenzimmer und Naturlehrpfad – Newly designed hands-on room for families where children learn interesting facts about nature and the forest through play.

Founded

1984

Operated by

Stadt Kornwestheim (Städtische Museen Kornwestheim)

Director

Saskia Dams

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Playground / play area

In the historic classroom, children can write on a slate with a slate pencil. In the forest classroom with its nature trail, a large creative table invites them to play, do puzzles, read, make crafts and draw.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Museum shop with slates, postcards, classic children's books and publications on school history.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit