Chapel school Ruckersfeld
The former chapel school in Ruckersfeld has existed since 1710. It consists of two rooms: the chapel room was downstairs and the classroom upstairs. In 1878, a new school was built. The schools in Oechelhausen and in Ruckersfeld were centralized, so that classes were only taught in Ruckersfeld.
In the 1950s, the school increasingly failed to meet the requirements for a safe schoolhouse. Consequently, a new school building was built in 1959. In 1966 that building was closed and the children then attended school in Hilchenbach. The old school was renovated by the residents and now houses the village community center.
Chapel school Ruckersfeld photograph
Ruckersfeld in: The Chapel Schools' Book
Chapel schools form a solitary architectural type for the Siegerland and its neighboring regions.
As stand-alone buildings and conspicuous in their surroundings, like the one in Ruckersfeld, they reveal the connection between religion and school education starting from the domain of Count William I of Nassau-Katzenelnbogen (1487-1559) and his son John VI of Nassau, Katzenelnbogen and Dietz (1536-1606). The hybrid used buildings existed until the end of the 19th century and in parts even until the 20th century.
Chapel Schools a solitary architectural type
The Siegen fine art photographer Thomas Kellner recognized the historical and cultural value of these buildings and set himself the task of preserving and recalling this typical regional cultural asset through a new medium. By means of photography he transfers the chapel schools into an artistic context and gives the historical topic a new dimension in the present (art).
Just as the chapel schools united in themselves two spheres of life, this publication also conveys different contemporary perspectives on the history and genesis of the chapel schools. While Kellner tries to rethink the type of building, which oscillates between profane and sacred, with his artistic realization, Chiara Manon Bohn, Isabell Eberling M. Sc. Dr. Andrea Gnam and Dr. Stefanie Siedek-Strunk provide an insight into the historical, architectural and religious classification of the chapel schools up to the pictures of Thomas Kellner in text contributions.
