Schule am Meer

The boarding school was operated by Stiftung Schule am Meer, a private foundation whose board of trustees consisted of the Swiss educator Rudolf Aeschlimann [de] (1884–1961),[1] the Austrian painter Fritz Hafner,[2] the German industrialist, art collector and patron of the arts Alfred Hess from Erfurt in Thuringia, the progressive educator Martin Luserke from Berlin,[3] the social scientist Elisabeth Jaffé, née Freiin von Richthofen originating from Lorraine, and the chemist Paul Reiner [de] (1886–1932) from Nuremberg in Franconia.

[13] Due to its open air status, in some cases it was chosen by parents of children and youth with health issues like bronchial asthma, which for instance affected the Austrian mountaineer and S.a.M.

In contrast to most state-run schools, it placed a special emphasis on training its students in the visual and performing arts, sports,[17] crafts and gardening.

In the simplest of settings and with sincere artistry he leads his pupils to lose themselves or find themselves in the spirit of a play and to give their own interpretation of a character or a mood.

Boys and girls must be of Spartan mold to face the austerity of life in the "School by the Sea," [sic] where every member of the community labors at his share of necessary chores even when winter storms sweep the surrounding ocean and threaten the security of the island dwellers.

Within the limitations of the school theater he sees rich opportunities for children and young people to discover the essential beauty of dramatic masterpieces and to unfold their own emotions and abilities in re-living human experiences from other times and places.

Music, the dance, and the arts of color, form, and design, all contribute to the beauty of the plays Luserke presents, but never does he forget that it is the human voice and figure which are the soul of the drama.

[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] It got support by senior guest students and teachers from England, France and the United States,[31][32][33][34][35][36] especially for language classes and stage plays, the latter performed in German, English and French.

Those comradeships were named as Bears, Bulls,[44] Dolphins,[45] Foals,[46] Seals,[47] Penguins,[48] Pinnipeds, Vultures[49] and Wolves,[46][50] created their logos and raised their own pennants.