- National Political Institutes of Education
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National Political Institutes of Education (German: Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten; officially abbreviated NPEA, commonly abbreviated Napola for Nationalpolitische Lehranstalt meaning National Political Institution of Teaching) were secondary boarding schools in Nazi Germany. They were founded as "community education sites" after the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933.
Contents
Overview
The goal of the schools was to raise a new generation for the political, military, and administrative leadership of the Nazi state. Therefore, life at the NPEA's was dominated by military discipline.[1] Only boys and girls considered to be "racially flawless" were admitted to the boarding schools. This meant that no children with poor hearing or vision were accepted. "Above-average intelligence" was also required, so that those looking to be admitted had to complete 8-day entrance exams.[2] The official descriptor (rank) of a Napola cadet was “Jungmann” (plural "Jungmannen"), used similarly to the term “Cadet” in military schools in other countries. Napola cadets were between 11 and 18 years of age.[citation needed]
Life in boys' Napolas was often very competitive and frequently brutal. Approximately one fifth of all cadets washed out or were sent home because of injuries sustained in training accidents.
The percentage of Jungmannen who eventually entered the SS was 13%, much higher than the 1.8% in the general German population.[3] The National Socialist world view was considered paramount in Napola education. A prominent belief among the cadets themselves was that of "Endsieg" or Final Victory. Many of them were utilized as child soldiers, and were killed in the last months of the war.
The first three NPEA's were founded in 1933 by the Minister of Education Bernhard Rust in Plön, Potsdam, and Köslin. The schools responded directly to the Reich Ministry for Education, rather than to any state like regular schools. From 1936, the NPEA's were subordinated to the Inspector of the National Political Institutes of Education and SS Obergruppenführer August Heissmeyer. From 1939, they were part of the Hauptamt Dienststelle SS-Obergruppenführer Heißmeyer. Therewith the schools were under the direct influence of the SS, and Heißmeier pressured teachers to join this organization. He also considered introducing uniforms and ranks similar to the SS among students and teachers. By 1941 there were 30 NPEA's with 6,000 students enrolled in all of Nazi Germany. In 1942 there were 33 schools, 30 for boys and 3 for girls. By the end of the war there were 43 schools.
School Locations
City Official Title Region Date of founding Building’s Former Use NPEA Plön
1. May 1933
Stabila (abbr. Staatliche Bildungsanstalt/National Education Facility)
NPEA Potsdam
26. May 1933
Stabila
NPEA Köslin
Pomerania (Today Poland)
15. July 1933
Stabila
Berlin-Spandau
NPEA Berlin-Spandau
Berlin
30 January 1934
Prussian Academy for Gymnastics; school for teachers
Naumburg
NPEA Naumburg
Prussian Province of Saxony
15. March 1934
Stabila/Military school
Ilfeld
NPEA Ilfeld
Prussian province of Hanover/Prussian Province of Saxony
20. April 1934
Cloisters/Seminary
NPEA Wahlstatt
Silesia (Today Poland)
9. April 1934
Stabila
Oranienstein
NPEA Oranienstein
Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau
1934
military school/Realgymnasium/Castle
NPEA Stuhm
East Prussia
(Today Poland)
1. October 1934
Barracks
Ballenstedt
NPEA Anhalt
Anhalt
May 1934
City Gymnasium (secondary school)
Dresden Klotzsche
NPEA Dresden Klotzsche
Saxony
1. April 1934
Landesschule
Backnang
NPEA Backnang
Württemberg
2. May 1934
Teacher Seminary
Bensberg
NPEA Bensberg
Prussian Rhine Province
1. June 1935
military school/Castle
Schulpforta
NPEA Schulpforta
Prussian Province of Saxony
1. July 1935
Landesschule zu Pforta (state school Pforta, currently "Landesschule Pforta" in Saxony-Anhalt)
Rottweil
NPEA Rottweil
Württemberg
1. April 1936
Catholic Seminary
Neuzelle
NPEA Neuzelle
Mark Brandenburg
1934/1938
Abbey (Stift), Boarding school for girls
Wien-Theresianum
NPEA Wien-Theresianum
Vienna
(Austria)
13. March 1939
Academy
Wien-Breitensee
NPEA Wien-Breitensee
Vienna
(Austria)
13. March 1939
Austrian Federal School (Bundeserziehungsanstalt) (Kommandogebäude Theodor Körner part of the Breitensee Barracks in Vienna)
Traiskirchen
NPEA Traiskirchen
Lower Danube
(Austria)
13. March 1939
Austrian Federal School (Bundeserziehungsanstalt)
Ploschkowitz
NPEA Sudetenland
Sudetenland
(Today Czech Republic)
10. October 1940
Castle
Reisen
NPEA Wartheland
Warthegau (Today Poland)
1940
Polish boarding school for boys in Rydzyna Castle
NPEA Loben
(East-) Upper Silesia (Today Poland)
1. April 1941
School for children with speech impediments
Putbus
NPEA Rügen
Pomerania
1. September 1941
Pädagogium (Stift)
Reichenau
NPEA Reichenau
Baden
1941
Hospice
St. Wendel
NPEA St. Wendel
Saarland
1. September 1941
International School of the Steyler Mission
Weierhof b. Marnheim
NPEA am Donnersberg
Bavaria (Saar Palatinate)
1941
"Gau-Oberschule" (Reich regional secondary school?)
St. Paul/Lavanttal
NPEA Spanheim in Kärnten
Carinthia (Austria)
1941
Benedictine Abbey
Vorau
NPEA Gottweig
Styria (Austria)
January 1943
Augustine Abbey
Seckau
NPEA Seckau
Styria (Austria)
1941
Benedictine Abbey (Stift)
NPEA Rufach
Alsace (Today France)
Oktober 1940
Hospice
Haselünne
NPEA Emsland
Prussian province of Hanover
17. October 1941
Cloister/Seminary for the Ursuline Order
Neubeuern
NPEA Neubeuern
Bavaria
May 1942
Castle and state boarding school
St. Veit
NPEA St. Veit
Carinthia (Austria)
July 1942
Catholic Seminary and Gymnasium
Mokritz
NPEA Mokritz
Styria (Austria)
1942
Castle
Achern
NPEA Achern
Baden
August 1943
The Illenau Sanatorium and Hospice
Kuttenberg (Kutna Hora)
NPEA Böhmen
(Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) Czech Republic outside of Sudetenland
22. April 1944
Jesuit College and Barracks
Well-known former students
Well-known former students of National Political Institutes of Education include:
- Lothar-Günther Buchheim (author and painter)
- Heinz Dürr (businessman)
- Jörg Andrees Elten (journalist)
- Manfred Ewald (athletic official)
- Alfred Herrhausen (businessman)
- Horst Janssen (printmaker)
- Hellmuth Karasek (journalist and author)
- Hardy Krüger (actor)
- Johannes Poeppel (general)
- Theo Sommer (journalist)
- Rüdiger von Wechmar (diplomat)
- Heinz Hitler (nephew of Adolf Hitler)
- Wilhelm Konstantin Kleist (Brazilian author and businessman)
Movie
Napola (also known as Before the Fall), a film set in an NPEA, was released in 2004. It was directed by Dennis Gansel and starred Tom Schilling and Max Riemelt. Gansel's grandfather had been a former Napola student.
References
- ^ (German)Kleinhans, Bernd:Das Erbe der NAPOLA - von Christian Schneider in shoa.de. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
- ^ Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten in Austrian Lexicon. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
- ^ Die Elite-Schule der Nazis
Notes
- This article incorporates information from the revision as of October 1, 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.
External links
Categories:- Schools in Germany
- Boarding schools in Germany
- High schools in Germany
- Nazi Germany
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