Technikatörténeti szemle 23. (1997-98)

TANULMÁNYOK - Efmertová, Marcela: Major Anniversaries of Prague’s Czech Technical University and its Support from the Secondary School System in the Past

sity until the latter half of the 19th century. The history of the Prague Engineering School is quite interesting both in its early days, at the time of its foundation by the first three generations of its headmasters but also during its further development after Gerstner's reorganization. The founder of the school was Christian Joseph Willenberg (16o%-1730), his followers included the artistically oriented Johann Ferdinand Schor (1686-1767), and the science-minded Franz Anton Linhart Herget (1741-1800). The fourth generation of headmasters and professors at the school was represented by Franz Joseph Gerstner who, linking up to the work of his predecessors, succeeded in modernizing education to meet the specific needs of practical life in the country, while maintaining a European level. Christian Willenberg

1 settled down in Prague as an exserviceman of the French army, then noted for its high technical standards. A native of the town of Lehnice in Silesia, which still belonged, in the middle of the 17th century, to the countries of the Crown of Bohemia (Maria Theresa lost Silesia in the war for Austrian heritage), Willenberg decided to exploit his rich military technical skills (especially in the construction of fortifications) and strategic expertise, and offer them not only for the training of sons of aristocratic families but also for public education throughout the land. With this goal in mind, on January 30,1705 Willenberg sent a letter in Czech to the Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705) containing a request for the establishment of a technical school in Prague to be staffed by"... six teachers from the gentlemanly class, four from the nobility and two burghers"

2 and working for salaries to be provided by the estates. Willenberg had to wait quite long for an answer, which he eventually received from the Emperor's successor Joseph I (1678-1711), almost exactly two years later, on January 18,1707. In a rescript, the emperor permitted the establishment of the school and charged the Czech estates to enter into negotiations with C. J. Willenberg, an imperial engineer tested in 1706 by the Court War Council, to discuss his proposal for the formation of a public school teaching the art of engineering. But due to lack of finances the Czech Estates turned a deaf ear to the Emperor's rescript. That was why actual instruction commenced only following an order by Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740), issued on May 14, 1717, urging the Estates to "give serious consideration"

3 to Willenberg's proposal. This time the land assembly did start to act, having elected a committee which presented a report on the organization of the school to the Estates. This was duly approved and the assembly instituted Willenberg's professorship of engineering, granting him an annual salary of 1, 200 gold pieces. Willenberg began to give German-language classes in his own house at Prague's Lesser Town in today's Mostecka Street. His lessons covered military