Zwergschule Nordgoltern, Historical school building in Nordgoltern, Germany.
The Zwergschule Nordgoltern is a two-storey brick building with red walls and a combination of living quarters and former teaching rooms in the Nordgoltern district of Barsinghausen. The building shows typical features of 19th-century rural school architecture, with simple windows and a gabled roof covering the entire structure.
The schoolhouse was established in 1854 to provide children from Nordgoltern and the neighboring hamlet of Eckerder with a closer place to learn, after they previously had to travel to Großgoltern. In the 1980s the building underwent thorough renovation and conversion into residential use, revealing the original brickwork beneath the plaster.
The term 'Zwergschule' refers to small rural schools with only one classroom, where a single teacher instructed multiple age groups at once. This type of village school was common across the Hannover region and shaped the education system in rural communities well into the 20th century.
The building now serves as a private residence and is not open to visitors, though it can be viewed from the street outside. The historic facade remains well preserved and offers a glimpse into mid-19th-century rural school architecture.
The school initially enrolled 84 students at once, a considerable number for a single-classroom village school in the mid-1800s. The building is now protected as a monument and testifies to the importance of decentralized education in rural communities of that period.
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