Travelling Around Austria with a Local - #017 Tales from the Bear Village: Study like an Egyptian

Ever been to Pompeii to study? Picture by Wikimedia Commons / Thomas Ledl

Welcome to the Egyptian classroom

Hi, servus - and welcome to my blog Travelling Around Austria with a Local!

I'm Theodora from Austria. Together with friends from abroad, I'm exploring my home country - and I talk about its beauty and its curiosities. The seventeenth episode will be about - me! Well, at least to some extent. This article is going to be about the primary school I attended - a school that you won't find anywhere else in this world. This is an ode to my hown town Berndorf, some insights into growing up in a small Lower Austrian town - and a history of nearly everything. This is just the beginning of a seven-episode-miniseries about Berndorf - enjoy!

From Ancient Egypt to Medieval times in a minute

The small town of Berndorf, located about 40 km outside of Vienna, offers sights that none of its visitors have seen anywhere else in the world: Business tycoon Arthur Krupp, who made a thriving and still well-known city out of Berndorf, built - amongst other infrastructure - two schools, which are still unique in the world: each classroom is built in a different historical style. They are now known as the Stilklassen Schulen ("style-classroom schools") and are still the first school children in Berndorf attend. (Which, trust me on this one, leads to a lot of disappointment once you get into high school and you realise that not all schools are beautiful.) And they also double as a tourist attraction.

The Pharaoh's cobra watching over choir practice

The holy scarab and the red sun disc symbolising Egyptian gods are watching over us as we start our choir practice. A cobra wearing the Pharaoh's crown is climbing up the door where I've just come in. Inscribed in the door with hieroglyphs are the names of long-dead Egyptian rulers. A Sphinx replaces the doorhandle. A typical Thursday afternoon at primary school - at least for me.

(Nearly) identical twins inspire children

In 1909, when the schools were opened, Arthur Krupp aimed to inspire young people and help them develop a sense for art and beauty. His way of doing so was to build two schools, which are nearly identical twins, each classroom of which had a different historical theme.

The Egyptian classroom is just one example of this. Children were also able to attend school in Byzantine, Pompeii with its rich frescos and the typical red colour, in Versailles, ancient Greece, amongst Moorish-Iberian architecture, in the Rococo, the Romanesque or the Roman renaissance classroom, the baroque classroom which resembles Vienna's Belvedere castle, the empire classroom - or delve into the Dark Ages in the Gothic classroom with a beautifully carved ceiling made by Tyrolean masters.

A carpet is hanging from the door of the Moorish classroom. Picture by Wikimedia Commons / Thomas Ledl

Innovation made in Berndorf

While the rest of the monarchy was still going about business as usual, Arthur Krupp wanted to do more: he opened the first dental clinic at a school - and the children, who attended those unique schools were the first in the whole Austrian-Hungarian Empire to get free dental healthcare.

How a dead factory owner influenced generations of children

So was all of this purely altruistic? Probably not. Krupp had a metal factory, where he needed skilled workers with a good sense for details - and art. What is admirable, though, is that he already knew he had to spark children's curiosity. Working-class children at that time would have never had the chance to travel the world - so why not deliver it to their doorstep - or rather: to their school?

One thing he did for sure, however, is that he inspired many children to embrace art and history. To soak up all the details of each and every classroom. To go and explore the wall paintings of Ancient Egypt, the frescos of the entombed city of Pompeii - and to look at the small details.

To me, it's not particularly surprising that just out of my class from primary school alone, at least four out of about 20 children have grown up to work in the creative industry - as writers, musicians, photographers, PR or marketing people. Having said that, I'm not in touch with all of them - so there may be even more of us. Thank you for all the inspiration, Mr. Krupp!

My first year at primary school in the Roman renaissance classroom with Romulus, Remus, and their wolf mother watching us closely doing our tasks - and getting photographed, of course. I look a lot less impressed than I actually was. An old school picture of - nah, I'm not gonna tell you the year.

Visiting the Stilklassen schools

Alright, so this is the tricky part (and don't forget: this is the information as of today so always be sure to double-check this information if you come back later):

• The schools are open to visitors all year round with the following times:

• April-October:
  Mon-Fri 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
  Sat, Sun + bank holidays: 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

• November-March:
  Sat, Sun + bank holidays: 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

• Guided tours take place on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

• If you'd like to visit with a group of 10 persons or more, get in touch with the office for culture and tourism.

You can find their contact details and up-to-date opening hours on the Stilklassen Schulen's webpage.

Tips from a local

• Definitely make sure you get there before 4 o'clock. If you arrive later than 4 p.m. (as in: even if it's 4:03), they won't let you in.
• The Volksschule (primary school), the former school for girls, has one extra classroom that the Hauptschule (middle school) does not have.
• One more difference: the middle school (formerly the school for boys) has different wall paintings in the Egyptian classroom. While in primary school you will mainly see craftspeople and farmers, the wall paintings on the middle school display Egyptian soldiers.

The schools are even pretty from the outside. Picture by @theodora.austria

Coming up next

• Episode 1: Study like an Egyptian
• Episode 2: Berndorf - a love story
• Episode 3: All Berndorf's a stage
• Episode 4: The helpful bear
• Episode 5: Analogue photography isn't dead
• Episode 6: Konnichiwa, Lower Austria!
• Episode 7: Anton vs. Napoleon: a story about resistance