Loosdorf

Geschichte

Loosdorf is a little town in the district of Melk in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. One of its historical buildings is the Hohe Schule (translation: the high school) founded in 1574 or a few years earlier by the Austrian nobleman Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein (translated: "John William of Losenstein"), the lord of the nearby castle Schallaburg. It served as a Lutheran grammar school (gymnasium) from about 1574 until 1627.Another historical building is the Ledóchowska house, where a.o. blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska and Julia, the later Roman Catholic saint Ursula Ledóchowska, were born and where they lived until 1874.Loosdorf at the end of the 16th centuryAround 1574 Hans Wilhem of Losenstein, who lived on the nearby castle Schallaburg, opened a school in Loosdorf, called 'die Hohe Schule' ('the High School'). It started as a private school, esp. for the children of the Lutheran nobility. The statutes of the Lutheran German gymnasium of Loosdorf were printed in Augsburg in 1574. Two original copies still exist. Ytong also printed facsimiles of it in 1974. The school statutes are an important source for the study of the history of pedagogy in Austria. It is regarded as original, although some parts show much resemblance to that of the Lutheran gymnasium of Strasbourg, which in 1621 became the University of Strasbourg. Somer passages are literary the same.