Antagonisms between German states regarding the status of mathematics teaching during the 19th century: processes of reconciling them

摘要

In earlier studies, I have shown that two entirely different conceptions and realities of mathematics instruction coexisted in the various German states from 1815 until the constitution of the German Empire in 1871: neo-humanist Prussia, with a modern conception of general education—with mathematics as one of the key pillars of the curriculum, and “old”-humanist other countries where the classical humanities still dominated. Since these studies focused on Prussia, the open question is not only how the other states eventually adapted to the neo-humanist system, but also how far the Prussian system had to adapt to more classical orientations. Case studies on such adaptation processes, which occurred essentially in the second half of the nineteenth century will be presented here, based on archival research, for the states of Bavaria, Kur-Hessen, and Schleswig.