From the “Chalk Era” to the “Digital Age”—The Bad Mergentheim Business School Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary
When you walk through the main entrance of KSM today, students, teachers, and visitors are greeted by screens; as you continue into the classrooms, you see students hunched over their iPads, using their Apple Pencils to copy the teacher’s board notes, which the teacher transmits to the digital whiteboard via AirPlay. Students immerse themselves in virtual worlds, gain experience in digital simulation games, or engage in face-to-face discussions with their peers about topics such as the opportunities and risks of globalization. A school experience that no one could have imagined 100 years ago, but which is already a reality today. Chalk sticks have been replaced by Apple Pencils, slate boards by tablets, and overhead transparencies by digital elements. Making copies is now only necessary for class tests. And let’s not forget: we live in a democracy; freedom is the highest good, and everyone has the right to an education.
When the Bad Mergentheim Commercial School was founded 100 years ago, it happened to be at a time when the young Weimar Republic was in the throes of a severe crisis, Germany’s economy lay in ruins, and the state was bankrupt. But one thing has not changed: from its founding to the digitalized school of today, the “KSM” is still shaped by the same spirit—great openness, respectful cooperation, and a lasting motivation for change. Challenges such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic or the upheavals of the past have left their mark on the KSM, which currently is home to about 1,200 students and approximately 60 teachers. The school’s bright, highly digitized building on Wachbacher Straße was occupied in 2003. A look back at its history reveals the development of the school’s location in Bad Mergentheim.
Four years after its founding in 1923, the business department of the Bad Mergentheim Trade School, along with its first specialized business classes, was housed in the premises of the Deutschorden Castle. Interrupted by the Nazi regime of terror, classes were able to resume there in 1945 with just one teacher. With the introduction of the two-year business school in 1967 and the business-focused high school in 1969, the district was forced—due to a shortage of space caused by the establishment of the two vocational high schools and the vocational schools, as well as by the increase in enrollment at the vocational schools— the district had to begin construction work on the school building’s extension at the vocational school center as early as August 1972. After the school’s administrative authority transferred from the Mergentheim district to the Main-Tauber district in 1973, the expanded vocational school center and the new vocational college were inaugurated a year later. The laying of the cornerstone for the new school building in 2002 marked another milestone for KSM. Last year, the current building was fully equipped with digital whiteboards to usher in a new era: the transition from the chalk era to the digital age. The foundation for the digital school was laid in 2017, when the pilot project using iPads in the classroom began. This is why one-on-one instruction could continue even during the COVID-19 pandemic—albeit via online conferences. Today, KSM is an Ambassador School of the European Parliament, is committed to internationalization, and always has its finger on the pulse of the times. Respectful interaction, social engagement, and peaceful coexistence have been and remain our guiding principles—principles that have not changed in 100 years and will never change.
