Maria Theresa addressed the audience at the ‘When school began’ event

Ljubljana, 22 May 2024 – To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Maria Theresa’s General School Ordinance, we held an evening cultural event entitled “When school began”. The aim was to show to the general public the importance of the Ordinance at the time of its promulgation and its echoes in the present. A real Maria Theresa visited the event and addressed the audience. We are particularly proud to have displayed the newly restored museum item – the German-Slovenian edition of the General School Ordinance of 1777, which is kept in the museum.

The General School Ordinance of 1777 was the first state law on primary education in force in the territory of present-day Slovenia. Its promulgation was a milestone in the educational and cultural history of Slovenia and Central Europe.

To celebrate the anniversary, a real Maria Theresa visited the museum and addressed the audience. She read out some of the key highlights from the Ordinance:
“Children of both sexes /…/ must all, without exception, be enrolled in school soon as they reach the age of 6. From then on, they must attend German schools until they have fully learned everything they need for their future social status and for life: they will hardly have learned this thoroughly before the age of 12. /…/ Every teacher must teach all the pupils of the same class together, and especially teach them to read together. /…/ Where opportunity permits girls’ schools, girls are obliged to attend one, and if there is opportunity, they should learn sewing, knitting and other skills appropriate to their sex. Where there are no girls’ schools, girls should attend a common school, where they should not mix with boys, but should sit in separate benches and be taught the same things as boys, appropriate to their sex.” (From Articles 8 and 12)

Restored copy of the General School Ordinance of 1777

The Slovenian School Museum is proud to hold a German-Slovenian copy of the General School Ordinance of 1777. This year, it was brought under the scrutiny of two restorers and conservators from the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, Blanka Avguštin Florjančič and Lucija Planinc. At the event, they presented their work in a discussion moderated by Klara Marija Keršič.
Blanka Avguštin Florjančič explained that when she receives a book in her hands, what interests her most is the structure, the materials, the way it is bound, and the ideas about the people who not only wrote the book, but also made it. “In a book, as a three-dimensional object, we can see much more than just the written word. We can see the culture of a nation, the craftsmanship and the level of development of the time.”
The restorer noticed some interventions in the binding of the General School Ordinance, which is kept in the museum. She is interested not only in the originality of the book but also in what has happened to it. She pointed out that restoration work requires a very wide range of skills.
This year, a replica / model of the book was also made and included in the permanent exhibition School Rules!

Presentation of Ordinance contents at the permanent exhibition School Rules!

Curator Dr Simon Malmenvall then presented the contents of the General School Ordinance. He emphasised the importance of the Ordinance at the time of its promulgation and its legacy, which continues to the present day: education as a state concern, access to basic knowledge for all children, group teaching and attention to the moral formation of pupils.

Curator Mag Marjetka Balkovec Debevec outlined the period of the creation of the Ordinance, i.e., enlightened absolutism, and illustrated it based on our new, interactive permanent exhibition School Rules!