Passionate Historian Presents a Lecture and Chronicle to Mark the Anniversary

Willi Stehling? The one who teaches the wind instrument class…? The one from the ski course…? The one who writes books…? The one who gives lectures? The one who taught geography…? The one from the 5th-grade choir…? The one who taught swimming…? The one who works as a tour guide?

– That’s all correct. The versatile retired teacher returns to the Steinmühle regularly—to have coffee with other alumni, but also to give lectures. History is what fascinates him, and to share the history of Marburg and take people on a journey into the past of our university town, Stehling also works as a city tour guide. He has already written several books to share his wealth of knowledge, preserve details, and give readers a sense of just how many interesting events have taken place in our historically rich city.

Historian Stehling’s connection to the Steinmühle, his former employer, virtually inevitably led him to compile a chronicle to mark its 75th anniversary. It was obvious that Stehling would put the earliest details of the Steinmühle into words: the history of the Steinmühle building, the origins of the rural school camp, and the prehistory and early history of the school and boarding school.

The Steinmühle celebrated its anniversary as a school on May 10, 1049. 75 years and two days later, Willi Stehling stood in the Steinmühle auditorium and gave a lecture on “Dr. Joseph Müller and His Private Schools in Marburg”—a historical retrospective tracing the school’s origins, without which it is difficult to understand Steinmühle.

Founder Joseph Müller and educator Gerhard Buurman were brought together through their activities in the Association of German Private Schools. Buurman invested 40,000 Deutschmarks in Steinmühle, which had 123 students on May 10, 1949. As an independently operated school and boarding school, the then “Landschulheim Steinmühle” received state recognition in 1955. In 1973, the Steinmühle had 226 boarding students—more than ever before and more than ever since.

 

Excellent research

To compile a work that not only presents facts spanning 75 years but is also an enjoyable read, one needs not only historical research but also archival work done with passion. This was accomplished by Edeltraud Buurman, the wife of Frerich Buurman, the son of Gerhard Buurman. It was a magnificently accomplished—and by no means easy—task that brought to light just how much activity, life, and movement have taken place on the Steinmühlen campus over the past 75 years.

 

Direction, Organization, Overview

The lead role in conceptualizing this 187-page work was entrusted to the person who already keeps track of everything in day-to-day school life: Principal Björn Gemmer. Alongside Willi Stehling and numerous individual authors, he also contributed a great many pieces to the overall work, ensured the correct sequence and proper alignment of text and photos, and made the layout process run smoothly.

After a busy anniversary season filled with numerous events, the Steinmühle is now taking a summer break before kicking off its “75 plus 1” year.

Currently, the school has a total of 820 students, of whom about 100 live in the boarding school and the rest are day students from the city. There are currently about 1,000 people on campus, including all staff members.