Einheitsschule

Comprehensive School (Einheitsschule the introduction of a comprehensive school has called for ) since the 2^nd half of the 19^th century to stop the growing diversification of the educational system. In isolated cases, this demand was realised by merging the Unterstufe (the first four years at Austrian Gymnasium schools) and Realschule, the result was "partielle Einheitsmittelschule" (partial comprehensive schools, which were turned into the Gymnasium-school type Real-Gymnasium in 1864), later the Einheitsschule was introduced as an additional school type under the name "Gesamt-Mittelschule" (intermediate comprehensive school) combining arts and science curriculum requirements (became Realgymnasium in 1908), the Einheitsschule was also the core of the education reforms promulgated by the Social Democrat O. Glöckel (guidelines of 1920), which aimed at a comprehensive school for all children between 10 and 14 years (Allgemeine Mittelschule). Today, the Einheitsschule is still one of the main points of controversy in the field of education policy between the Social Democrats and the conservatives (Gesamtschule).

Literature: H. Engelbrecht, Der Einheitsschulgedanke in Österreich im 19. Jahrhundert, in Österreich in Geschichte und Literatur 15 (1971); idem: Die Diskussion um die Einheitsschule in Österreich zwischen 1897 und 1919, ibid.