1788–1835
While the term Abitur for the school-leaving examination was only put into use by the legislature after 1945 and limited to the Federal Republic of Germany, the term Abiturienten, by which the graduates of a school institution were named, already appeared in the second half of the 18th century. The oldest known record is found in 1771 in the principality of Bayreuth. In the territory of the German Confederation the academic degree of the (by this time long since called) Bakkalaureus disappeared around 1820, as the Matura, or in Prussia the Abitur, now fulfilled its purpose. In the prehistory of the school system, especially in the 18th century, the distinction between universities and academic gymnasia had become increasingly blurred.
In the 18th century, the universities alone still determined the admission of students. Prussia was the first German state to regulate the leaving examination with the Abiturreglement of 1788 by the Minister of Culture Karl Abraham von Zedlitz. The examination itself continued to be called the Maturitätsprüfung in Prussia, while the term Abiturreglement regulated the right of admission to higher education for school-leavers (Abitur students). These regulations can be traced back to Carl Ludwig Bauer, who first introduced a special examination at the Lyceum Hirschfeld in 1776, by which school-leavers were tested for their university entrance qualifications. Johann Heinrich Ludwig Meierotto also worked in the same direction at this time as principal of the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in Berlin.
The often quoted Prussian regulations of December 23, 1788 (Rescript) and of June 25, 1812 (Instruction, - expressly confirmed by royal edict of October 12, 1812), - did not have the intention [...] to absolutely prohibit the departure of a currently immature youth to the university, if his parents or guardians believed determined by some reason to be left to their conscience, then also further on a free choice shall remain unrestricted ... (§ 1 of the Instruction of June 25, 1812). June 1812), they did not prescribe a school-leaving examination, a school-leaving examination or a school-leaving certificate for pupils leaving for university, although the Prussian state claimed legislative competence for this (ALR 1794: "The university is an event of the state"); they only offered them for the information of parents or guardians about the level of performance and the presumed ability to study.
However, such stricter examinations were only introduced as a result of the Karlsbad Resolutions (31 August 1819 and the subsequent Provisional Resolution on the Measures to be Taken in Respect of the Universities by the Parliament of the German Confederation of 20 September 1819) after the assassination of August von Kotzebue († 23. March 1819) and the anti-Jewish Hep-Hep riots, some of which lasted for months (beginning August 2, 1819 in Würzburg), to prevent further politicization of students and professors were introduced in almost all states of the German Confederation in the 1820s and 1830s. Even this decision did not make a Matura examination compulsory. As before, young people who were found to be immature could also study at the university, but - according to the regulation - they no longer received benefits, free tables, etc. (scholarships). Secondary and tertian students were still accepted at the universities, and in practice the awarding of scholarships also seemed to be rather relaxed. The graduates' regulations appeared to savvy contemporaries to be a sham.
The Electorate of Hesse (Hesse-Kassel, State University in Marburg) made the beginning of stricter regulations in 1819 and the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt, State University in Giessen) in 1825: Elector Wilhelm I. (Electorate of Hesse) ordered his State University of Marburg for the state-related professions not to enroll any subject ... [who] wanted to study theology, jurisprudence, medicine or cameral sciences without presenting a ... formal certificate of maturity from any public grammar school.
- According to this, those who did not intend to be employed in the civil service in the near future, and who did not wish to devote themselves exclusively to one of the four subjects mentioned, ... e.g. ecconomists, surgeons, foresters of a lesser kind, apothecaries, cattle doctors, horse riders and the like, were exempt from the obligation to produce a Matura certificate, except when they applied for money benficiaries or for free seats, as these should not otherwise be awarded to them.
- Even those who wanted to study in the Faculty of Philosophy did not necessarily need a school-leaving certificate: here, pupils who had not (passed) the Matura examination, or persons who only wanted to listen to individual lectures for their general education or because of special training, could be enrolled and study (Artistenfakultät, admission with small matriculation). Eight years later, the Electoral Hessian regulation of 1820 was extended to include the study of political science, philosophy and philology. Those who did not aspire to a future public position were exempt from presenting a certificate.
Almost all the states of the German Confederation followed, such as Brunswick in 1826, Oldenburg in 1827, Hanover and Saxony in 1829, Mecklenburg in 1833 and Württemberg in 1834.
Wilhelm von Humboldt and Johann Wilhelm Süvern attempted to standardize the Matura examination through the directive of 1812 with examinations in both old languages, i.e. Latin and Greek, as well as in German, mathematics, the "historical subjects" as well as French and natural science, which in Prussia, however, could still be circumvented until 1834 through entrance examinations of the universities. This possibility was mainly used by young people from wealthy circles.
The Prussian Minister of Justice Karl Albert von Kamptz, among others, was opposed to the obligation to present a school-leaving certificate, because everyone should be free to enter the university without having his qualifications examined beforehand, ... and Jacob Grimm declared: "Just as the church and the theatre are kept open to those who enter, the door of the university should be opened to every young man and it should be left to him to feel and bear all the disadvantages if he enters this hall unequipped. Nevertheless, after 1835, the German states gradually tightened university admission and made the presentation of a Matura certificate a prerequisite for matriculation.
On June 25, 1834, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III approved a set of regulations for the examination of pupils transferring to universities by supreme cabinet order. According to these regulations, "every pupil - before leaving for university, whether he wishes to attend a domestic or foreign university - must submit to a school-leaving examination". The purpose of this examination was "to ascertain whether the school-leaver has attained the level of education required to be able to devote himself with benefit and success to the study of a particular scientific subject".
The increasing financial needs of universities and the recognition of other "high" schools as academic institutions (e.g. technical colleges, mining colleges, forestry colleges, etc.) in the second half of the 19th century also promoted state influence.
1835-1900: Matura certificate for state examinations only
In Prussia, a draft by the Minister of Education, Adalbert von Ladenberg, was drawn up on the basis of the Education Act provided for in Article 26 of the Constitutional Charter of 1850, but was not pursued further. In the draft, §§ 222-228 regulated matriculation. In § 223 two prerequisites for enrolment were laid down, firstly a certificate of maturity (Maturitätszeugnis) issued by a domestic (= Prussian) Gymnasium and secondly permission by the father or guardian to study at the university in question. However, this only applied to those who wished to devote themselves to theology, jurisprudence and political science, medicine and surgery, philology or another profession that legally required a university education.
The German Reich, founded in 1871, did not change anything in the previous regulations of the federal states, because educational and higher education matters remained the responsibility of the federal states. Accordingly, the word Abitur almost does not appear at all in official writings before 1945, but the word Abiturienten (= graduates: this does not mean those who had the Abitur, but those who left school). The Maturitätsprüfung (later Reifeprüfung or in Bavaria: Gymnasialabsolutorialprüfung), as the Abitur was still called in the areas of today's Federal Republic of Germany, was about admission to state examinations (usually at the end of studies), not about university admission (before beginning studies). The Maturitätsprüfung/Reifeprüfung at the Gymnasium entitled the holder to unrestricted study in all subjects at the university, while that of the Realgymnasium usually entitled the holder to study only the subjects of the Faculty of Economics and Natural Sciences and Modern Languages and History at the Faculty of Philosophy (but this varied from university to university). Often the university offered Latin courses, which could lead to the acquisition of the small or large Latinum, then a study of almost all subjects was possible (except theology, later also classical philology). Accordingly, there was also a school-leaving certificate from the (ten-class) Oberrealschule; however, it only entitled the student to study in the Faculty of Natural Sciences (from 1899, after a supplementary examination in Latin, also to study in the Faculty of Philosophy).
Around 1900: The modern Abitur
In 1896, for the first time in Prussia, six women were able to take their school-leaving examinations at the Luisengymnasium in Berlin; however, they were not allowed to study, as this required special ministerial permission.
See also: Girls' grammar school and women's studies in the German-speaking world
From 1904, the monopoly of the Gymnasium on the study of all subjects was abolished (exception: knowledge of ancient languages for studies in theology and classical philology). As late as 1908/09 (1908 women's studies, but only after approval by the minister), up to 10% of male students (at the twelve Prussian universities) were without a matriculation examination (e.g. chemists, national economists, pharmacists, dentists).
During the First World War, the term "Notabitur" was used colloquially to refer to a form of school-leaving examination that was made easier by the war, but was not used officially. The same applied during the Second World War.
Since 2005, the so-called German International Abitur Examination has been used at German schools abroad.
