Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects of Curricula in Prussian Grammar Schools During the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries and their Relation to the Development of the Sciences

The period under study covers, on the one hand, that pre-reform era of the absolutist Prussian State in which the economic activity of the state was expanded due to the interest - augmented by the results of the Seven-Years-War - in increasing state revenues. In this connection - that is, in order to increase the effectiveness of economic policy - the State made organizational efforts which also aimed at a rationalization of the administration. In comparison to the development in England and France, Prussia obviously was, and despite these efforts still remained backward in economy. By the end of the 18th century there were only just the beginnings of a “departure from the pre-industrial mode of production”. (Henning 1976)