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Selektenschule

English translation: don't translate it

17:02 Aug 14, 2014
German to English translations [PRO]
History / list of exhibits museum
German term or phrase: Selektenschule
from a list of museum exhibits:

unter Bildung:
Es folgte die Modernisierung im Schulwesen mit der Einführung der Schulpflicht.
In dieser Stadt entstanden unter anderem die Selektenschule, die Stadtschule sowie die Haushalts- und Gewerbeschule. Einige Unternehmen führten eine eigene Lehrlingsausbildung entsprechend ihrer Anforderungen ein.
Janet Muehlbacher
Local time: 01:17
English translation:don't translate it
Explanation:
These won't mean anything to English-speaking readers, and the Selektenschule appears to be obsolescent. I would just say something like "a variety of educational institutions". Or, if you prefer to stay closer to the German, leave all the names untranslated.
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thanks Phil, Andrew, Teresa. In this case I did have to translate it because the various school names were displayed with photos in a gallery, so made it into "school for the academically gifted". Thanks once more
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2don't translate it
philgoddard
3 +3Selektenschule (former Domstiftsschule or Cathedral Chapter School)
Lancashireman
4a school for the gifted
Teresa Reinhardt
Summary of reference entries provided
Selektenschule explained (mostly in reference to Frankfurt)
Björn Vrooman

  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
don't translate it


Explanation:
These won't mean anything to English-speaking readers, and the Selektenschule appears to be obsolescent. I would just say something like "a variety of educational institutions". Or, if you prefer to stay closer to the German, leave all the names untranslated.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 76
Grading comment
Thanks Phil, Andrew, Teresa. In this case I did have to translate it because the various school names were displayed with photos in a gallery, so made it into "school for the academically gifted". Thanks once more

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helen Shiner: Though AS's suggestion useful if explanation in brackets poss.
1 hr
agree  Ramey Rieger (X)
14 hrs
neutral  Lancashireman: Don't forget to enter this in the glossary, Phil.
4 days
neutral  Björn Vrooman: Only to your last comment: Leave all names untranslated? Why are we translating then? Why not just learn German instead?
4 days
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1 day 12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
a school for the gifted


Explanation:
if you (or Client) want(s) a translation

Otherwise, I agree with 'not translating proper names'

Teresa Reinhardt
United States
Local time: 16:17
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Selektenschule (former Domstiftsschule or Cathedral Chapter School)


Explanation:
http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Jahrbuch_der_Selektens...

http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&qu...

After passing through the cathedral chapter school of that town, he studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, becoming a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1862.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hicks,_Henry_(DNB01)

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Note added at 22 mins (2014-08-14 17:25:29 GMT)
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http://buch-info.org/t/Jahrbuch_der_Selektenschule,_ehemalig...


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Note added at 25 mins (2014-08-14 17:27:47 GMT)
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"In dieser Stadt..."
If it's not Frankfurt, then the above solution probably won't work.

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Note added at 4 days (2014-08-19 09:37:16 GMT) Post-grading
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Re your note:
You appear to have clicked on the least suitable of all three answers (DO NOT TRANSLATE).
I suppose in the circumstances you describe, a suitable translation would be 'selective school'.
The answer that comes closest to your preferred solution was submitted by Teresa Reinhardt.

Lancashireman
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:17
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 252

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helen Shiner
1 hr
  -> Look what happened here.
agree  Ramey Rieger (X): Well, this IS kudoz, Sir Andrew.
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ramey. Strange outcome.
agree  Björn Vrooman: Posted reference, changed to agree, and half-agree with selective (see below). As you said yourself: Someone may look it up again.
4 days
  -> Thanks. Pity the asker didn't leave this to the robot!
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Reference comments


5 days
Reference: Selektenschule explained (mostly in reference to Frankfurt)

Reference information:
In case someone tries to look for that word again: There are actually at least two schools that were called Selektenschule, one in Frankfurt (Main) and one in Schwarzenberg (Erzgebirge, called Bürger- und Selektenschule).

The word is a bit deceiving. The one in Frankfurt:
"Geboren zu Frankfurt/M im Jahre 1829, trat ich mit meinem sechsten Jahre in die Selektenschule ein [...] Vom Oktober 1845 besuchte ich die Sekunda, bis 1847 die Prima des hiesigen Gymnasiums, und von hier aus der Reihe nach die Universitäten Bonn, Heidelberg und Marburg."
http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2008/6113/pdf/Koessl...

Now, careful: it doesn't say the Sekunda is still part of the Selektenschule but of the local "Gymnasium".

Here's the history of Frankfurt's Selektenschule:
"Die Katholiken hatten als eigene Schule nur die Bürgerschule am Dom. Mit dieser verband die Gemeinde zunächst eine Selekta, in welche vorzugsweise die Kinder der Honoratioren aufgenommen wurden. Auf dieser Grundlage wurde fortgebaut, und 1816 war die Selekta bereits zu einer Schule von drei Klassen mit je zweijährigem Lehrgange erwachsen. Unterrichtsgegenstände waren die neueren Sprachen und die Realien; daneben diente die Schule, indem sie die Anfangsgründe des Lateinischen in ihren Lehrplan aufnahm, der Vorbereitung für das Gymnasium. 1868 bewilligte die Stadtgemeinde die Mittel zur Errichtung neuer Klassen; die Anstalt wurde nunmehr zu einer höheren Bürgerschule mit Progymnasialabteilungen umgestaltet und erhielt am 24. September 1870 das Recht zur Abhaltung von Entlassungsprüfungen."
https://archive.org/stream/dashhereschulwe07wiesgoog/dashher...

The "Selekten" refers to Selekta, which would be a class of "gifted" students. Later on, the Selektenschule was nothing more (and nothing less) than a Realschule with some classes preparing you for the Gymnasium (called "progymnasial"). However, don't count out the Realschule yet: It may have also provided you with access to university: http://www.zeno.org/Meyers-1905/A/Realschule

In addition, I put gifted in quotation marks because as you can see above, the most important criterion at the time the school was founded was social status (vorzugsweise die Kinder der Honoratioren).

Thus, it is more a proper name of a combined elementary/middle/high school up to the 10th grade (preparing for the Gymnasium/university) than anything else. The Gewerbeschule was for craftspeople, the Haushaltsschule...you can guess already, and the Stadtschule (because of the lack of any additional word, such as "Große", or any other term, such as "Höhere Bürgerschule") most probably a publicly funded school for everyone else (Volksschule).

What you should call it depends on whom you're translating the text for: Fewer people (actually, a much lower number) were admitted to university back then. If it’s a text for a tourist agency, it may get a little tricky (not that they think almost everyone could attend university like it is today). Personally I’d go with a combination of both Phil’s and Andrew’s suggestion – keeping the German term and at least explaining its origin.

Because of the school's history - it only kept Selekta in its name but was turned into a “Realschule ohne II [Sekunda], mit Progymnasialabteilungen” [see second link above], meaning only classes preparing for the Gymnasium - it would be incorrect in my opinion to use a descriptive statement, such as “selective school” or “school for the gifted”, to talk about the entire school.

Regarding the schools listed as part of the question, it was simply the only school allowing you to attend university later. If you must include one of the above-mentioned words, you probably would have to say “partially selective school” or “self-contained classes for gifted students”.

Björn Vrooman
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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