Leipzig School Museum celebrates 25 years of educational history

Most schoolchildren in Leipzig already know it from their own experience: the school museum is celebrating a milestone birthday. "For 25 years, the Leipzig School Museum has been showing how exciting educational history can be," said Saxony's Minister of Culture Conrad Clemens (CDU) in Leipzig.

The building on Goerdelerring has become one of the city's most popular extracurricular places of learning. Around 25,000 people visit it every year, many of them with their school class. According to the city, around 73 percent of Leipzig's schoolchildren are familiar with the museum and around 55 percent have already visited it - more than any other museum in Leipzig.

A treasure trove of educational history

With around 25,000 pieces of historical school furniture, maps, teaching aids, photographs and documents, the school museum has the largest special collection of educational history in East Germany. A specialist library with around 25,000 titles also supports research, teacher training and exhibition design.

The museum is supported by a cooperation between the City of Leipzig, Leipzig University and the University of Applied Sciences (HTWK). Since opening at its current location in 2000, students have been regularly involved in projects and exhibitions - including the new anniversary show "FreiRäume für Bildung. School and Architecture in Dialogue".

A place to convey values

Mayor Burkhard Jung (SPD) praised the school museum as a "living learning laboratory that goes far beyond traditional museum work". It plays a central role in democracy education, historical learning and conveying values. The new exhibition shows such developments "exemplified by innovative school architectures".

The school museum is also represented at cultural events such as the Museum Night, the Jewish Week and the Festival of Lights. Its supra-regional significance was highlighted by its inclusion in the list of "Places of Democratic History".

In future, the museum wants to expand inclusive, digital and diversity-sensitive formats and position itself more strongly as a democracy laboratory - as a place where historical reflection and the school of tomorrow come together.