Stipendienstiftungen, Fonds und Legate als Unterstützungsformen von Handwerkern und Gewerbetreibenden in Beuthen (zweite Hälfte des 19...
Foundations providing scholarships, funds and legacies as forms of support offered by representatives of crafts in Bytom (the second half of the 19...

Summary/Abstract: Establishing foundations offering scholarships in Prussia, in the 19th and the 20th centuries, had the social and public dimension. The need for social advancement had a significant influence on the systematic increase in the number of students of secondary and higher schools. The lack of material means, which was a consequence of the low material status of many families, brought about a visibly evident necessity. The development of the interest in social problems undoubtedly was a manifestation of the rising level of social awareness, especially among representatives of the urban establishment. Scholarship-offering foundations secured to many young, gifted inhabitants of Bytom and its environs the chance of pursuing education and realizing career opportunities. In this way the postulate of accessibility of education to all strata of society was realized. Nevertheless, it was the number of foundations which – primarily – made the phenomenon of the local character and took on the form of a collective activity, as well as an individual one. In the years 1842–1939, in Bytom, there functioned 53 foundations providing scholarships, including 10 designed for youth pursuing education in the spheres of crafts and trading. Guilds, associations, and – first and foremost – individual citizens – members of the urban community took initiatives worthy of note, making donations to charities, including foundations that provided scholarships for the young. The economic development of Upper Silesia, progressing in many directions, determined the necessity of preparing highly-qualified personnel. Thus, it became a direct premise to construct a vocational education system which would satisfy those postulates and also to prepare tools which would motivate the need to obtain knowledge in the form of foundations which facilitated pursuing education and – as a result – changing the social status to male youth from families of lower material status. Thus, the priorities of the educational and social policy of the turn of the 19th and the 20th century were realized.

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