Cologne From the outside, the Upper Bavarian Ettal Monastery looks like a baroque rock in historical surf. Solemnly consecrated in 1370, Benedictine monks founded a “knight academy” for the sons of noble families here in the early 18th century. In 1900 it became a Catholic boys’ high school with an attached boarding school – one of those church educational institutions in which cases of sexual abuse have been uncovered in recent years.
The scandal that came to light in 2010 severely damaged the reputation of the school in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district. In 2024 the boarding school will end: There are simply too few registrations. The fact that the monks tried to come to terms with things and even broke with an iron tradition five years ago and admitted girls was not enough to restore the trust that had been lost. At least the normal high school operation is maintained.
Catholic boarding schools in particular have had an image problem since the abuse of children in church institutions became a public issue. But looking at extreme individual cases such as Ettal is deceptive: The demand for private schooling has been increasing for years, and it is also unbroken at denominational schools.
A large number of private schools in Germany are church-sponsored. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, it is around 53 percent, according to the Ministry of Education. According to the Federal Statistical Office, one in eleven pupils now attends a private school, ten years ago it was one in thirteen. The proportion is particularly high in eastern Germany: Here one in eight pupils is taught at general or vocational schools at a private institution.
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There are many reasons for this development. Many parents complain about the inadequate equipment and the absence of lessons at public schools and are looking for alternatives. In addition, many private schools score with smaller classes and better individual support.
At boarding schools there are plus points in terms of social skills: The students learn to integrate into a group, they live, eat and play together. And last but not least, boarding schools also relieve the parents, especially when both parents are busy at work.
Church-run private schools and boarding schools are often given another argument: More and more parents attach importance to teaching their children Christian values, says Peter Nothaft, director of the Bavarian Catholic Schools Association. The demand for places in Catholic schools is “very stable” despite the scandals. “Some schools cannot accept all of the students who want to register.”
The situation is similar at Protestant schools, reports Martin Fricke, Synodal Assessor at the Evangelical Church District Düsseldorf (see interview on the right).
In any case, the Schäftlarn Abbey high school and boarding school south of Munich has no worries about the next generation. 50 of the 576 students are in full boarding, they live and study in the baroque monastery building. Director Wolfgang Sagmeister has registered increasing numbers of registrations for 15 years. For boys and girls, the boarding school run by Benedictines is “more than just a school,” he emphasizes. “This is her home.”
And for them, education is more than just training. The boarding school in particular is about the “school of life”, in line with the ideals of the founder of the order, Benedict of Nursia. “A Christian school is easier to find a uniform educational goal in the teaching staff,” suspects Sagmeister.
His grammar school also cooperates with schools in Senegal and India. “This is how we ensure that our students get in touch with students from other countries. With charity runs they also learn how to take responsibility for others. “
Good reputation despite the scandals
The abuse discussion in the Catholic Church has hardly any effect apart from the institutions concerned, explains Schulwerksdirektor Nothaft. “Most of these terrible acts were not committed in the schools, but in the adjacent boarding schools.” The church private schools as a whole continue to enjoy a very good reputation.
In Bavaria alone, around 80,000 children and young people attend Catholic educational institutions, which is almost five percent of all schoolchildren. Like other private schools, denominational schools also receive financial subsidies from the state governments. In Bavaria, depending on the type of school, these cover around 80 to 85 percent of the costs, Nothaft estimates.
The remainder must be financed by the church sponsors themselves – and the parents through the school fees, which at Catholic grammar schools and secondary schools in Bavaria averages around 40 to 50 euros per month. A boarding school with board and lodging is of course considerably more expensive; in Ettal Abbey, for example, it costs 1,250 euros per month.
But with the decline in religiosity in society, the financial basis of church schools is also shrinking, which poses considerable problems for many. Because more and more people are leaving the church and the church tax revenue is falling, fewer and fewer funds are available to finance Christian educational institutions.
“In general, the Protestant Church doesn’t have as much money as it used to,” says Synodal Assessor Fricke, who is himself a Protestant pastor at Düsseldorf’s Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium. “Schools also have less budget as a result.” In the eastern countries in particular, church schools are therefore more and more often financed through foundations.
“Church schools are blooming”
Another problem is the nationwide shortage of teachers, which private schools are also increasingly feeling. “We have enough students,” says Sagmeister, the school director in Schäftlarn. “Only teachers could we use a few more.”
In order to make the denominational school model, especially with boarding schools, fit for the future, the facilities should reflect on their strengths, advises school works director Nothaft. “The schools have to define their profile precisely.” Then it is also a question of “communication and branding” whether potential customers recognize the specific strengths of this profile.
“Christian values and religious references can be communicated well and honestly,” says Nothaft. “And they also arrive – regardless of whether the parents themselves are particularly religious or not.” The church is going through a difficult time, he says, and that is partly homemade. “But the church schools that are blooming.”
More: Academic children have three times the chance of a bachelor’s degree.