Alsfeld tilling the soil!Foundation of the “agriculture school”

Agriculture—for many centuries, this was a traditional trade shaped by practical experience, until October 1865, when the General Assembly of the Alsfeld District Agricultural Association first discussed the idea of founding an agricultural school. The goal was to make new scientific findings accessible to farmers. Initially, financial considerations prevented the rapid implementation of this idea.

Seven more years passed before the “Äckerbauschule” (Arable Farming School) was ceremoniously opened on November 4, 1872. Twenty-three students began their lessons in the upper rooms of the former Hartmann House, known today as the “Kartoffelsack” in the former Hotel Ratseck behind the Town Hall. Shortly thereafter, the school moved into the municipal Hochzeitshaus, where it remained for the next 40 years. From 1912, the old secondary school (Realschule) in Schnepfenhain served as the teaching building.

The modern era of the agricultural school began with the new building constructed in 1952 on upper Marburger Straße. After many name changes over the years—for a time it was known as the “Agricultural Winter School”—its current designation is the “Amt für Wirtschaft und den ländlichen Raum” (Office for the Economy and Rural Areas). (NH)