International studio (45.1912)

Austrian Schools for Weaving

Schools for weaving in
AUSTRIA.
In an article on the Craft Schools of
Austria which appeared in The Studio, 1905,
vol. 35, pp. 201-219, an attempt was made to give
a general idea of the work of these “ Fachschulen,”
but as this volume may not be accessible to all, it
may be as well to recapitulate a few important and
interesting facts.
In the article referred to it was explained that
these Fachschulen were originally founded for
the purpose of reviving special home industries
which had almost become extinct, and that the aim
of the authorities in establishing them was to create
superior workmen, fully equipped both practically
and scientifically, not only as far as their own
particular trade was concerned, but also branches
allied to it—that is, to give the pupils attending
the schools some interest in life over and above
the daily portion of work allotted to them in the
inner world of the school, and the greater world
lying beyond it. The Fachschulen come under the
category of “ secondary ” schools ; they stand mid-
way between the public elementary schools on the
one hand and the “ Kunstgewerbeschulen ” or
Industrial Art Schools and the Imperial Academy
on the other hand. The Fachschulen train work-
men, the Kunstgewerbeschulen and the Academy
train artists and teachers.
Formerly all the schools
were under the direction of
the Ministerium fiir Cultus
und Unterricht; but since
the founding of the Minis¬
terium fiir offentliche
Arbeiten (Ministry of Public
Works) some four years ago,
the control of the Fach¬
schulen has been one of the
functions of this new depart¬
ment, while the Ministerium
fiir Cultus und Unterricht
retains control over the other
institutions. This point is
one of considerable signifi-
cance, for it means that the
training of the future work¬
man is rightly considered a
public work.
The Fachschulen are
planted all over Austria to
the farthest end of her
dominions, and every care
130

has been taken to foster the particular industries
of particular districts. Thus, weaving is one of the
staple industries of Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and
Bohemia, and special schools have been opened in
these parts of the Empire for the furtherance of
this branch of industry. In various districts there
are special schools for pottery, jewellery, glass-
working, cabinet-making, stone-cutting, in fact for
every imaginable calling. Some of these are in the
towns, while others are located in remote mountain
villages ; but wherever they may be they are always
furnished with the best possible machinery and
other equipment necessary for the particular kind
of instruction given. The workshops are large
and airy, and each school is furnished with a good
library containing current literature on all subjects
bearing on the particular trade taught, and art
industry in general, in German, English, French,
Czech and other languages. Pupils are allowed to
take books home or they may peruse them in the
reading-room attached to every school.
Of late many of these schools have been re-
organised ; some of the former directors and
professors having retired on pension, their places
have been taken by younger men who have been
trained at the Imperial Arts and Crafts Schools in
Vienna or Prague, and who are an courant with
the modern views concerning the relation of
art to industry. The Austrian Government in


FIG. I. PLANT STUDY FROM NATURE BY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AT THE SCHOOL
FOR TEXTILE INDUSTRY (FACHSCHULE FUR TEXTIL-INDUSTRIE), LANDSKRON