Burgher Schools

higher elementary schools that existed in German cities during the 17th and 18th centuries for the sons of artisans, small merchants, and so forth.

The schools satisfied the needs of the urban petite bourgeoisie for higher elementary education and practical knowledge (German language, mathematics, the rudiments of geography and natural science, and certain applied skills, such as bookkeeping). The burgher schools made it possible for the nobility to keep the secondary schools (Gymnasiums) solely for their own estates, without allowing access to children of other estates. During the 19th century, the burgher schools were turned into higher elementary schools with four-year programs of instruction (following the four-year primary schools) or into six-year Realschulen.