NAPOLA Oranienstein

Thanks for the interesting links Rob:thumbup:

They certainly chose impressive buildings !

Nick
 
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I never went to school anywhere that looked like that! I guess it was part of the "future elite" programming to have a feeling of superiority. Wonder if anyone caved their initials on any of the desks! :tongue_smilie:
 
There is a good book on NPEA Oranienstein for those who can read german: 'Neuer Stil im alten Schloss - Die NAPOLA/NPEA Oranienstein 1934-1945' by Adolf Morlang. More than happy to pull info from it if anyone needs any info translating.
 
There is a good book on NPEA Oranienstein for those who can read german: 'Neuer Stil im alten Schloss - Die NAPOLA/NPEA Oranienstein 1934-1945' by Adolf Morlang. More than happy to pull info from it if anyone needs any info translating.

Hi Garry,
I am looking for this book but I cannot find it because it is rare......
 
Just found out about another book today " NAPOLA-die letzten 4 Jahre der Napola Oranienstein" by Harald Schäfer. This one's rare too, Checking the internet
I've seen copies for sale between $150-$375 U.S. It's only avaliabe in German as well...

Rob
 
Anything you need from it in particular W?


Is there anything that describes the daily routine? Like what time things started in the morning? Curriculum? What time the Jungmannen were finished at night? I've been trying to track down info on this particular NPEA, but without much luck.

Thanks

Rob
 
Thanks for sharing and nice to see it has some connection to our royal family
 
Is there anything that describes the daily routine? Like what time things started in the morning? Curriculum? What time the Jungmannen were finished at night? I've been trying to track down info on this particular NPEA, but without much luck.

Thanks

Rob

It doesn't go into timings but I've translated an interview with a gentleman who was a Jungmann at NPEA Plön which gives us a good indication of how things were organised:

Let's say that the first class starts at 8, I'm not 100% sure of the timings for the first class, that would mean getting up at 06:30. You're in a dormitory with 100 boys and the Hundertschaftsführer is shouting 'get up!'. You have to jump out of bed straight away because you know you have so little time to get ready. You can't think oh, just one more minute and I'll get up.. You were up, pyjamas off, tracksuit on and then down the stairs quickly to form up in platoons outside on the square. Then a squadded run down to the open-air swimming pool at the lake and after the swim an individual best-effort run back up the hill to the castle.

Next it was into the ablutions. There was no time to shower but you still needed to make sure that you were spotless. Wash quickly and then rush back to the dormitory, make your bed and get into your uniform. Before you knew it the bell would ring again - time to parade for morning inspection. 3 Platoons are formed up in the corridor waiting for the Jungmann-Gruppenführer to inspect the rooms. If there were any problems like lockers left open or anything out of place the whole platoon would be told to run up the stairs to the top and back down. Breakfast would begin and end with a gong. There was no rushing around here though and we had around twenty minutes. Noone left the room until everyone was finished eating. Finally we sang the song and made our way to the square to parade for our first class. Woe betide anyone who had forgotten to pack something the previous evening!

Classes began at 8. At lunchtime we marched back to the castle in our respective platoons singing as we went. 'Halt!', 'fall out!' The platoon leader changed daily and it went in alphabetic order. We all took turns. Then it was time for lunch. Boots off, shoes on and it was up to the dormitory to drop your school bag off. After another check that the dormitory was in good order the bell rang and it was back down the stairs for a cleanliness parade. Anyone with dirty fingernails or uncombed hair was sent away and the platoon would have to remain in formation until he returned. Such failures were viewed as an embarrassment for the whole platoon.

During the war there was a rest period after lunch brought about by the fact that we simply didn't have enough to eat. The dormitory was also moved into the air-raid shelter. That was horrible. During peacetime the normal routine for the afternoon was classes until 4 then two hours where we would be given a task to complete by the platoon leader. This could be a field exercise or some type of physical activity - athletics or football for example. After this we returned sweating and dirty and prepared ourselves for dinner. After dinner there would be some activity planned but these were rarely dull. We sometimes had saturday afternoon free. Sunday afternoon was usually a free afternoon and there was normally some form of organised activity which again was usually very interesting. Then the whole process began again on Monday morning.



As far as subjects and timetables are concerned there were 31 periods/week for the youngest boys rising to 34 for the older students in the following subjects:

Religion
German
History
Geography
English
Latin
Greek
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Mathematics
Sport
Music
Art

The curriculum at the NPEA was, until 1937, essentially the same curriculum as used in the higher schools prior to April 1933 (the date of institution of the first NPEA at Plön, Potsdam and Köslin) and so between 1934 and 1937 NPEA Oranienstein modelled its curriculum on the Deutsche Oberschule. An education reform in 1937 cut the total amount of years spent in schooling generally to 12 and Oranienstein introduced streaming. One stream had its emphasis in the languages with the other concentrating especially on mathematics/sciences. Streaming was not exclusive to Oranienstein however and also could be found in normal higher state schools but the similarities between the NPEA and normal schools of course ended there.
 
It has quite a few images W. Anything you're looking for in particular?
 
It has quite a few images W. Anything you're looking for in particular?

I look for in particular photos of the castle and the details of the uniforms of the NPEA pupils.:001_rolleyes:
I recommend you the book of Hans-Günther Zempelin : "Des Teufels Kadett" , Napola-Schüler von 1936 bis 1943
 
The picture quality isn't great but here are two group shots including an external view of the Kameradschaftshaus:

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The picture quality isn't great but here are two group shots including an external view of the Kameradschaftshaus:

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Hi Garry,
thank you for the photos.I'll buy this book if I can find it !.
Best regards
 
Any pictures of the school with a flag? Did they fly a HJ diamond flag or a standard NSDAP flag?
 
Great piece of reading!

Managed to pick up an NPEA Oranienstein triangle the other day.

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