Schnepfenthal institution
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Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal Salzmann School Schnepfenthal |
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| Location | |
| Klostermühlenweg 2 99880 Walterhausen Gotha district Germany |
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| Coordinates | 50°53′0″N 10°34′26″E |
| Information | |
| School type | Public boarding school for highly gifted students |
| Established | 1784 |
| Headmaster | Dirk Schmidt |
| Teaching staff | 46 (2009/10) |
| Years offered | 5-12 |
| Gender | co-educational |
| Number of students | 393 (2009/10) |
| Average class size | 16 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 8:1 |
| Abitur average | 1.4 |
| Website | [1] |
The Schnepfenthal Institution (Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal) is a boarding school in the district of Gotha, Germany, founded in 1784.
While adhering to national educational guidelines on science and mathematics, it is also one of the top schools in Germany for the study of foreign languages. In addition to compulsory education in English and German, students in 6th grade have to choose between Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Latin is being teached in year 5 and the student may continue studying Latin throughout his education at the Salzmannschool, if he wishes to do so. In year 8 they must choose between French, Italian, Russian and Spanish. In 9th grade they have to choose between three of those four languages again, depending on which language they've started studying in year 8.
It is amongst a handful of government supported schools specifically catering to the academically talented in Germany, along with institutions such as Pforta and the Landesgymnasium für Hochbegabte Schwäbisch Gmünd. To gain admission to the school, prospective students have to pass a special entrance examination facilitated by faculty from the University of Erfurt.
Located on the northern slopes of the vast 5,500km2 Thuringian Forest, the school is in Walterhausen in the district of Gotha, near Castle Reinhardsbrunn. Gotha is best known as the ducal capital of the Saxe-Coburg Gotha dynasty, today's British royal family. Reinhardsbrunn was built by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, father-in-law to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and was also where Queen Victoria met Prince Albert for the first time.
It is 50 km southwest of Erfurt and 200 km northeast of Frankfurt.
The linguist and theologian Christian Gotthilf Salzmann founded the school in 1784, with the intention to focus on languages, practical work and physical exercise. Salzmann was an influential theorist in childhood education, and his treatise 'Elements of Morality' was translated into the English language by the 18th century British feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft. In the book Child of the Enlightenment, Rotterdam University professors Arianne Baggerman and Rudolf Dekker stated;
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