Marist Connections in Germany
By Maria Rauscher (Assistant Director of Marist Education)
One of the things that mattered to me most when I took up the position of Assistant Director of Marist Education was to visit all the Marist schools in Germany, to get to know the core teams and principals at each of the four schools, to exchange ideas, to hear about the great Marist work that’s been done in each place but also to talk about possible challenges and to find ways to deepen the Marist cooperation throughout Germany.
My first stop was Mindelheim where I visited the two schools (grammar school and secondary school) of the Maristenkolleg (Marist College). The special thing about Mindelheim is that there are two schools under one roof - and both schools also work very independently.
The principals of the Realschule, Nicole Hofmann and Martin Wenger, gave me a very warm welcome and over coffee I learnt a lot about the many Marist projects that exist at the Realschule, as the core team is well developed and there is a close connection with the Marist youth centre, which is located directly opposite the school on the other side of the street. After having lunch together with the Marist team led by Brother Michael Schmalzl, we had an in-depth discussion about the current situation and challenges of Marist work at the secondary school.
The situation at Mindelheim grammar school is a little different at the moment, as principal Karin Dobrindt explained to me during a very open and pleasant conversation. Marist values are the basis of living and working together at the school, but a lot of Marist work is currently taking place indirectly. ‘I have a very enthusiastic staff for the Marist cause,’ Karin Dobrindt was pleased to say, and the school is considering whether to implement a core team to coordinate and expand Marist work at the grammar school in the next school year.
In December, I was able to visit the Marienrealschule in Cham - a fantastic new building with a small school chapel. The last few years have been very eventful in Cham, as in 2021 two religious schools, the Gerhardinger Realschule and the Maristenrealschule, merged and became one school, the Marienrealschule. The joint school motto is: ‘Ears and eyes, hands and heart open to God and all people - like Mary’. The head of the Marist team and the Marist House, Hans Staudner, gave me a tour of the school and also of the neighbouring Marist House. I was particularly pleased that all three principals took the time for a constructive dialogue with me and that I had the opportunity to briefly introduce myself to the staff in the staff room. Many thanks to the three principals Christian Haringer, Johannes Dieckmann and Alexander Sperl for their very attentive welcome to Cham.
I had the longest journey at the beginning of January when I left Bavaria and made my way to the Maristenrealschule in Recklinghausen (North Rhine-Westphalia) - accompanied by an unusual amount of snow (for this part of Germany). Being cold outside, the atmosphere inside was all the warmer, as I was warmly welcomed by principal Stefan Schulze Beiering and vice-principal Stefanie Fiene, who took the opportunity to show me round the school themselves. We also dropped in on the substitute lesson of a Year 7 class, that was very curious and interested and wanted to know more about my ‘home school’ - Maristen Gymnasium Furth - and the German Marist network. The school is currently being remodelled and many classes have been moved into containers as a new building is being constructed, which will hopefully be ready to move into in a year's time. Later, Brother Franz, who still works at the school on an hourly basis, and the two coordinators of the Marist work, Ulrike Weber and Lena Puthen, joined us for an exchange. I was also able to exchange ideas with some colleagues in the staff room.
All the visits were great experiences and provided me with many great encounters and incredible hospitality - in keeping with the Marist sense of community!
