Suchergebnisse

In the summer of 2013, the Vlaams Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed (Flemish Immovable Heritage Agency) investigated a modest little school building in the vicinity of Ghent (Belgium). The old building proved to be a reconstruction of the model school in the Modern Village, a Belgian government pavilion of great social significance at the 1913 World's Fair in Ghent. The model school is the only surviving building from the Modern Village.Since this discovery, further investigations by the heritage agency have revealed the dearth of scholarly studies of either the Modern Village or the model school building. The great social importance of this Belgian rural model school is, however, becoming increasingly clear. This article is a critical assessment of that importance. A brief outline of the historical context in which the Modern Village and the model school came about is followed by a description of their social significance and the impact on Belgian and European society. The starting point is an analysis of the evaluation reports of the Modern Village published in book form by the then director general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Paul De Vuyst, and a member of parliament, Emile Tibbaut. The authenticity of the reconstruction of the model school is assessed based on recent construction history research. Finally, the question of the extent to which the model school design was adopted was explored during a field trip with the help of local cultural and archival agencies. The 1913 World's Fair in Ghent took place in a period of mass rural migration that resulted in poverty and social unrest in many parts of Europe. The Belgian government was keen to do something about this by building a new countryside with a better quality of life. To that end they exhibited the Modern Village – a practical and instructive embodiment of their policy – at the Ghent World's Fair. The ambition was to modernize the rural economy and beautify the villages. Via the introduction of compulsory education for children between the ages of six and fourteen, future generations would be taught the skills and techniques needed to modernize the economy and simultaneously achieve the edification of the rural population, central to which was a love of one's own region and traditions. The effects of the Modern Village on the modernization of agriculture and on the improvement of the quality of life were felt mainly after the First World War, not just in Belgium but in other countries, too, such as Hungary. The model school in the Modern Village was conceived as an affordable and easy-to-build school building that would facilitate the realization of this new rural culture. The construction survey has demonstrated the authenticity based on the specific roof shapes in stone dating from over a hundred years ago. Recent field research complements the latest investigations by the Flemish Government and strengthens the hypothesis that the model school was widely emulated and played an important role in the implementation of compulsory schooling in Belgium. Further research is necessary, not least to obtain clarity about the adoption of the new teaching methods presented in the model school and the significance of small primary school libraries for the general edification of the rural population.

Johannes Henricus van der Palm (1763-1840) was the most famous orator of his age in the Netherlands. He was educated as a Protestant minister, but the revolutionary movements of the 1780s and 1790s launched him into politics and he became Minister of National Education. His extreme tendency to shy away from public conflicts made him less fit for politics and he returned to academia as a professor of oriental languages and sacred rhetoric, after which he reached the pinnacle of fame by speaking about the virtues of peace and harmony at almost every important public occasion. He personified the virtues of the Restoration (1813-1840) and his magnificent voice added to his attraction. Studying the extreme popularity of his oratory and the reasons why he was praised so much helps to better understand this period which was much more devoted to (classical) eloquence than the time after his death. Only if we understand the importance contemporaries attached to oral instead of just written presentation, can historians begin to reevaluate the Restoration that has always been criticised for being dull, superficial and obsessed with reconciling the polarised society after the revolutionary age.Johannes Henricus van der Palm (1763-1840) was de beroemdste redenaar van zijn tijd in Nederland. Hij werd opgeleid als predikant, maar de revolutionaire verwikkelingen van de jaren 1780 en 1790 wierpen hem in de politiek en hij werd agent van Nationale Opvoeding. Zijn extreme neiging openbare conflicten te vermijden maakte hem minder geschikt voor de politiek en hij keerde terug naar de universiteit als hoogleraar in oosterse talen en gewijde welsprekendheid en bereikte toen het hoogtepunt van zijn roem als spreker over vrede en verzoening bij vrijwel ieder belangrijk publiek evenement. Hij verpersoonlijkte de deugden van de Restauratie (1813-1840) en zijn prachtige stem versterkte zijn aantrekkingskracht. Bestudering van de enorme populariteit van zijn welsprekendheid en van de redenen waarom hij zo hoog werd geprezen, helpt om deze periode te begrijpen die zoveel meer gehecht en gewijd was aan (klassieke) welsprekendheid dan de tijd na zijn dood. Alleen als we het belang doorgronden dat in die tijd werd gehecht aan orale in plaats van alleen schriftelijke presentatie, kunnen historici de tijd van Restauratie gaan herwaarderen die altijd bekritiseerd is als saai, oppervlakkig en geobsedeerd door de verzoening van de maatschappij na de revolutionaire tijd.ActualiteitsparagraafSpeeches in crisistijd. Verzoening met woorden in de negentiende eeuw De uitzonderlijke speech van Mark Rutte over het coronavirus staat niet in een Nederlandse traditie van spreken door gezagsdragers. Die was er echter wel aan het begin van de negentiende eeuw, toen de beroemde redenaar, minister, predikant en hoogleraar Johannes Henricus van der Palm bij grote nationale gebeurtenissen het woord nam. Hij behoorde tot de laatste generatie die de welsprekendheid leerde volgens de principes van de klassieke oudheid. In zijn artikel voor BMGN – Low Countries Historical Review (135-1) toont Henk te Velde aan dat Van der Palm door zijn redenaarstalent onvoorstelbaar populair werd. Zijn geruststellende en opbeurende toon paste helemaal in de sfeer van verzoening na de crisis van de Franse Revolutie en oorlog rond 1800. Ook zijn heldere en emotionerende stemgeluid droeg daaraan bij. In de vele beschrijvingen van zijn redes kunnen we hem bijna horen spreken. De volgende generatie keerde zich echter tegen zijn postrevolutionaire harmonie en consensus. Thorbecke nam afscheid van Van der Palms verzoenende crisisretorica: geen holle woorden, maar wetenschappelijke precisie! Hardhandig kwam er een einde aan deze traditie; de nadruk op harmonisch overleg zou telkens terugkeren, maar sinds Van der Palm kent Nederland geen traditie meer van ministeriële speeches.