The Church
by Dr. Viktor Pratscher
Translated by Brad Schwebler
The church building, in the middle of
all these difficulties the community forgot they had already prepared plan of
1868: not to build a place of worship. Then in 1870 the school collapsed
and the new one was erected from bricks already laid out for the place of
worship. We could say that the place of worship must be made out of thin
air. Just the opposite is true! The community meeting at the school
building on the 20th of March 1870 already mentioned was not only about the
school building but also about the construction of the place of worship.
It was decided that the place of worship was to be built on level ground
parallel with the Hungarian church with the gable to be placed facing the
magnificent guest house . . . Furthermore it was decided that one of the three
men of an existing deputation would be sent to the building contractor Andreas
Jakob in Neu Werbaß with the plan and a rough estimate of costs to make the
uplifting place of worship - also to negotiate and come to a
settlement, in case the buyer did not want this building, the community would
not owe him for the plan and the rough estimates. The feasibility of this
was entrusted to Philipp Orth, Anton Kleb and Johann Brauchler.
These men completed their tasks well. On the 10th of April a community
meeting took place at the German church service in the Hungarian church at which
the plan and the rough estimates were presented. The assembly accepted the
plan and gave the hopeful impression that the contractor would decrease some of
the intended costs of 2487.91 Forints and decided unanimously (l) to dictate the
following outcome: each couple was to pay 5 Forints, another 5 Forints for each
homeowner, and 5 Forints for each quarter field, the sum of which was paid in
two parts. That was very much at the time!
More than a year later the minutes
mentioned nothing about the construction of the place of worship. On the
17th of September 1871 the pastor could inform the community assembly that
financial aid of 300 Forints was coming from the superintendent for the
construction. It was then unanimously decided to begin construction in the
same year: the foundation should be laid. After that the building
contractor from Schowe and Werbaß did not want to undertake the construction
with the plan that he, Andreas Jakob, had designed and had been entrusted with.
On the 26th of September the contract was signed at a meeting. Present at
the meeting were Rev. Kozma, the chairman Anton Kleb, Adam Schade, Ludwig Orth,
Jakob Zuschlag, Heinrich Schwepler, church father Jakob Hunstein, community
judge Philipp Orth, teacher Schenkenberger, who represented the community
members Martin Bolz, Johann Brauchler, Heinrich Schmoll, and Johann Eng, and
finally the building contractor Andreas Jakob" . . . besides the walls, (Koth?)
bricks and roof tiles which the community made, 2500 Forints was granted to him
(the building contractor) for the complete establishment and furnishing of the
place of worship." (Schenkenberger, S.7) He received a statement of 400 Forints
and was obliged to begin the construction in the same year.
However the construction of the place
of worship was first begun in the spring of 1872 and progressed through the
summer and was finished in the fall, and on the last Sunday in October 1872
(durch den wohl?) opened. Rev. Kozma Lajos held the first church service
and dedicated it to the honor of God. - Although the community to a large degree
was still burdened by the construction of the place of worship, the joy of the
community was extremely great." (Schenkenberger, S.8)
What everyone reported of this
building is pleasing. Then on the 17th of September 1871 the pastor
announced at the community meeting that 300 Forints in financial aid had been
received for the construction and he could also inform them at the same time
that in the superintendent's minutes "the willing sacrifices of the German
branch community was stressed to be praiseworthy." In the minutes of the
same community meeting it says: "In the end the pastor has stressed and desired
an eager stand on the current beautiful harmony of the community. - the meeting
closed." Unanimously the community took a huge burden off of themselves,
so that the community member would not have to pay the prescribed taxes many
times in the same year. But now the community had their own place of
worship which was most important to them.
Now we skip over the course of the
historical order and report further about the church up to today. Purchase
of the bells and construction of the tower: As we heard the plan for the
purchase of the bells was already seriously considered in 1868, but because of
the purchase of the house lot and the new construction, it must be postponed at
the time. But not forever! In 1884 this plan was not only
considered, but also realized. On the 30th of March the request was
discussed by the elders and "decided that according to two chairman with a
collective bow they have gone to see all community members and they pledged that
after that since the church treasury was still very small, the purchase of the
bells could only be carried out with ample donations. The community
meeting on the 14th of April also decided that the bells "if possible should
still be purchased this year." That was the general desire of the
community. That also proved to be the still existing collective list: In
1884 there were 67 contributors who donated 128.70 Florints. In the
following years another 8.50 Forints were received for it.
But they must also erect the tower on
the place of worship for the bells. The work was awarded to Jakob Kniesel
of Crvenka, who had built the teacher's apartment in 1878. The church
father negotiated it with him in the name of the elders, and for the
establishment of a (Thurmes) tower an amount of about 240 Forints in Austrian
currency was set aside for it." On the 15th of June the elders decided to
order two bells with the combined weight of about 425 kg. with the keys of C and
D sharp. On the 13th of July the pastor announced that the bell foundry in
(Bochum) Germany would make the desired bells together with the accessories and
deliver them for about 234 Marks. Payment conditions were: "1/3 of the
amount when placing the order, 1/3 upon receipt of the bells, and the remainder
by the 1st of November" must be paid off by the community. This offer was
then also accepted. The tower and the belfry were finished in the same
year and the bells were received. But the minutes don't let us know
anything more about it. The bells must have been received about the 4th of
November, then the final bill of 1884/85 was served on this day: "4/10 as the
second deadline for the bells of 248.65 Forints." This confirmed a
statement in the family records of the family of Johann Weißmann, that the first
time the bells rang were for Johann Weißmann Sr. when he died on the 11th of
November 1884. But on the 2nd of November the death of Christian Beck is
entered into the register. After all the calculations the total cost of
the bells came to 562.65 Forints.
The larger bell had the inscription:
"Bochum Society. Steel casting factory 1884." However the smaller bell
only said "Bochum 1884." Otherwise it was provided with the usual
beautiful logical quotations. But the bells are there to call all those
who are faithful to church service where they can hear the word of God and
should pray to Him and praise Him. Many have heard His call up to this
day, but many more have not heard His call and do not want to hear.
On the 18th of October 1884 the
elders settled on the following "bell ringing rule": "a) For Sunday church
service: about 9 o'clock the first bell and about 10 o'clock together, (that is,
together with both bells). b) At funerals: a half hour before the funeral the
first bell, then at the house together and also from the house to the cemetery
together and at a large funeral (at burials of those already confirmed) the
bells are rung together again during the eulogy in the church. c) At a
wedding: about 10:30 the first bell, about 10:45 the second bell, and about 11
o'clock together." On the 1st of March this rule had added to it, "that
the Evangelical (Lutheran) wife of a Reformed man also gets to have the bells
rung for her free of charge. - In the case of deaths . . . if the bells
should be rung for non-community members, in this case 40% should be paid to the
community treasury and 20% in Austrian currency to the bell ringer per funeral
(body). This rule has since been altered so that now the first bell is
rung about 8:45 for the Sunday church service and about 9:30 the bells are rung
together, but before a wedding only the first bell is rung and then after a half
hour they will be rung together. The bell ringer now receives half of the
money for ringing the bells.
During the war many of the
communities had to give up their bells for war purposes. In 1916 this
community also had to deliver their larger bell and also said farewell to it
during one of the church services held by Rev. Josef Poth of Schowe. But
as it turned out the bells are made of cast iron, so they were not taken and
remained there.
Changes in the church. What was
already decided in 1885 caused quarrels to develop and because of it, the
decision was not carried out until 1888: that is, the red tiles under the
benches were taken out because of the cold "and the bench thresholds were made
of boards." Then the existing loft was made only of boards which made it
very strong, and it was covered with reeds and clay.
In the summer of 1903 Jakob Klepp had
the inside of the church painted at some expense. Then two windows were
also inserted in the front so it would be lighter for the choir. This was
necessary before all else because the community purchased a Harmonium (organ)
which stood there and which the teacher used from then on to lead the community
in singing.
The community members donated 345.20
Kronen for the Harmonium which cost a total of 660.81 Kronen.
In 1913 electric light was introduced
into the church. This was paid by Jakob Weißmann Sr. on the condition that
"on Sylvester Evening, as it was the custom in many communities, a service would
be held to thank God." Since then a service to thank God has also always
been held in this community on the last day of the year.
In 1926 an old organ was purchased
from the Reformed community of Stari-Vrbas. After using it for some years
it needed to be thoroughly repaired, which is why the Harmonium was used again
in the church services.
On the 28th of April 1935, on the
parting day of Rev. Müller, after one of his festival speeches, a memorial
plaque was unveiled which bore the following wording:
Memorial Plaque
To the victims of the World War
|
Soldiers Killed in Action:
Johann Schmidt
Johann Brauchler
Heinrich Weißmann
Ludwig Geres
Heinrich Gams |
Those who Died:
Christian Röhrich
Wilhelm Göttel
Adam Rieß
Jakob Eng
Friedrich Hauser |
Missing:
Nikolaus Nadich
Friedrich Eng
Adam
Eng
Karl Dinges
Filipp Dinges
Filipp Hauser
Adam Brauchler
Christian Spankus
|
Nobody has a greater life than he,
Who has given his life for a friend.
- dedicated by Jakob Göttel (Sch.)
VI.
Now we turn back to the year 1872.
From the middle of June 1872 to September 1875 all of the minutes recordings are
missing.
In the meantime Schenkenberger shall
again tell about us:
"But this joy (mainly because of the
completed place of worship) should once again be spoiled, not long will they
have the luck in building their place of worship and uplifting contemplations
from the mouth of their well-respected and recognized pastor to reflect upon.
It was decided by providence and after a lengthy period of suffering and after
giving his best years and work, their well-respected shephard of souls was taken
from their side and crossed over to the eternal house of heavenly peace.
. . . In the month of February (the
22nd) the election for the pastor was carried out in the Hungarian parent
community and the dignified Rev. Janos Szilady was elected as pastor. With
his appearance in the community the community soon found that they were
compensated through his spiritual work and gentle behavior. Now the
community wanted to go to work with still greater self-sacrifice to heal their
souls. Instead of the usual habit in which the church service was so far
held on every second Sunday, now they wished for the church service to be held
on every Sunday. For such an effort the pastor of the parent and branch
communities did not have the strength to consent to it at this time, but he gave
them room for hope, with all possible strength for the well-being of the
community to work, for the time being it was arranged that the sacrament was to
be given with the church service on every second Sunday, just as with all
official functions and matters which happen in the branch community.
The German Reformed Church
The community saw that their demands
on the pastor were too great, so they asked him if they could have the teacher
hold the church service on the second Sunday for a moderate fee which they could
afford and induced him to do it.
The teacher was sensible about it and
was well-inclined to comply with the desire of the community. So the
pastor was promised 240 Florints a year for his service and the teacher was
promised 70 Florints.
During this activity and in the
apparent eagerness so far, the community was soon again paralyzed. In the
fall of 1875 the building contractor Andreas Jakob demanded that they pay him
the rest together with interest for building the place of worship and if the
community did not pay he threatened to file a complaint. What could they
do. It must be paid. The community collected all of their assets
together and paid him the rest with interest. The church treasury was now
so broke that not only was there no money existing but the pastor was only paid
30 Forints for his service for the year 1874/5 and the teacher was only paid 30
Forints and 85 Forints was still owed to Anton Kleb. (But in January 1877 it was
settled.)
In the month of May 1875 the
community conferred about what should be done about it. The next four
years of depression, following one after the other, not only affected the
individual but also the community, especially the last year in which the price
of fruit declined. (So even in the "good old days" there was something!)
The material strength was completely weakened. The teacher's apartment was
in such a condition that if there wasn't a good year soon when it could be
rebuilt, it threatened to decay.
They also informed the pastor about
this and came to an agreement in the end that it would be some time before they
overcame the most difficult - that they would be content with the teacher's
sermons, who has to preach every future Sunday and will get 140 Florints for it.
For all of the pastor's usual official duties and giving the sacrament which
were performed by the pastor for 60 Forints a year, they were also obliged to
pay the usual Stola fee to the pastor.
In the more difficult times the
community was loyal to the pastor and the teacher who encouraged the community
to do its best. And in this difficult time the long cherished desire for a
church service every Sunday was fulfilled.
On the 22nd of August 1875, after 25
years of serving this community, teacher Eduard Schenkenberger was elected 2nd
teacher for the Reformed community of Torscha. Allegedly he was induced to
leave the most unhealthy teacher's apartment.
VII.
The community did not "trouble
themselves about another teacher" because they also signed a contract with
teacher Jakob Knittel for one year in the same month. Teacher Knittel was
only signed on for one year for the time being. Besides instruction in the
school and choirmaster service, he was also entrusted with conducting church
services every Sunday, as was his predecessor since May 1875. "In the
month of November a meeting was held by the praiseworthy elders where it was
decided, that the community would be content with the sermons of teacher J.
Knittel, which through one year from 1 October 1875 to the end of September
1876, a church service would be held on every Sunday and holidays. That
is, he was obliged to preach - for which he received 80 Forints."
The community must have been
satisfied with his services because on the 28th of May 1876 they elected him to
be their permanent teacher.
"In case of previous decisions by the
elders, a teachers election was held on the 28th of May 1876 at which the
community signed a contract with teacher Jakob Knittel as follows:
The German Reformed branch community
of Feketehegy was obliged to pay the teacher all year:
1. Free apartment, (cleaned twice a
year) consisting of 2 rooms, 1 kitchen,
1 small room (chamber), 1 stable and
attic, then the whole house garden.
2. From each home, each couple, and
each quarter field, per ¼ Pester Metzen fruit, and from
each house and each
couple per 25(xr), 20(xr) more in Austrian currency for each school child.
3. A cord of hard firewood and a cord
in (Relutum?) per 10 Forints in Austrian currency, further
adequate heating for
1 room and in case of emergency also for a second room (straw).
4. A Stola fee for a funeral and a
wedding, per 35(xr) in Austrian currency.
On the other hand teacher Jakob
Knittel was obliged to loyally and eagerly serve the community in the capacity
of teacher and choirmaster.
The community still had to care for
the teacher's apartment which was already old and dilapidated. Because
there was not enough money, some of the elders did not want to start building,
but at the community meeting on the 2nd of December 1877 they decided
unanimously to build a new building. This was to be done at the same site
where the old apartment stood. The plan and the cost estimates were
completed by building contractor Jakob Kniesel from Crvenka. He also
constructed the building. The new construction of the small room and the
stable was awarded to "local inhabitant Gottfried Gutwein, who was bricklayer by
profession." He used old material to do it. During the construction
the teacher lived in a rented apartment. The old people understood what
was wanted and did the construction without many meetings. After
negotiations for the building contract on the 10th of April, no meeting was held
until the 7th of December. But then it states in the minutes: "The church
father announced that the school house building was being finished and was
acknowledged by the church elders for good."
VIII.
During the time of Rev. Szilady
(1874-1889) some of the changes regarding his salary as well as regarding the
holding of the church services are recorded. In 1875 he consented, as we
had seen, that the teacher hold the church service on every Sunday and that he
receive only 60 Forints for his other official duties. In May 1876 he
explained "in case the bad times and poverty of the community continued in
1876/77 he would serve for 60 Forints. In the next year, after the
treasury of the community had increased some, "he demanded 100 Forints. He
agreed with the elders that the community pay him 80 Florints for 1877/78, but
from then on he would be paid 100 Guilders a year.
However the community always strived
to better their economical condition. For this purpose, after a dispute at
the Seniorats' meeting in 1879, "they purchased for their schoolhouse a proper
Jogh" On the occasion of the division of the border meadow in 1875 each
house received from the time of settlement a piece of land, 14 square chains and
75 square fathoms large; that was a "Jogh." The community received 480
Forints for that which was theirs.
On the 8th of July 1883 the community
had about 1000 Florints in cash and borrowed money.
The pastor now asked again for an increase in
salary. But the community wanted the pastor to serve more often.
Many discussions were held with the elders over various plans that were raised.
On the 14th of April 1884 the community meeting decided "that the pastor had to
preach in the German Reformed branch community every Sunday - which had to be
left to his assistant to preach." From then on church service was held
from 10 to 11 o'clock, after the Hungarian church service was held.
But that lasted only for a year
because the pastor explained in the March of 1885 that because of "his almost
always sickly condition" he could not preach every Sunday anymore or he could
leave it to his assistant to preach. The community assembly decided on the 17th
of May in favor of keeping the church services on every Sunday. On the
same day the elders decided that: a) the pastor would preach on one Sunday and
the teacher would preach on the other Sunday on the Sundays they usually do it;
b) on the three most highly regarded holidays, namely: Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsunday, the teacher had to preach on the first holiday and the pastor had to
preach on the second holiday; c) and on the other three holidays, the pastor had
to preach for the New Year and the Ascension of Christ, and the teacher had to
preach on Good Friday." The salary was as settled upon in 1875: 240
Forints a year for the pastor and 70 Forints a year for the teacher. This
order in holding the church services remained until the end of July 1914.
During Rev. Szilady's time the
community tried a second time to receive their own pastor. On the 16th of
April 1888, on the occasion of the canonical visitation, the pastor announced
that the German Reformed branch community had prepared a plan to become
independent from the parent community and the pastor's assistant Gustav Juranyi,
who had just been employed in the Hungarian community, was elected to be their
proper pastor. Juranyi controlled the Germans very well, for the community
members really liked to listen to his sermons. During earlier times (and
also after him) the confirmation classes were always given by the teacher, but
because the pastor did not know enough German to do the instruction, Juranyi
taught the confirmation classes himself. Besides that he had been much
beloved by the community members. The Senior had given instructions to the
elders an appropriate salary letter approved by the community assembly.
The elders made an appropriate proposal but the community members were not all
for it. Of the 40 votes, 26 were for it, but 14 were against it (22nd of
April). After that the community's request was discussed by the Seniorat's
meeting, and on the 14th of May the pastor informed the community that the
community's request was turned down "on the grounds that the community treasury
still had too little for this undertaking." The pastor advised to increase
the outgoing expenses which "only in this manner, if the community members were
prepared . . . through some years of sacrifice, - it was possible for the
community to become independent. The elders took this advise seriously,
made the appropriate decision, but the majority of the community assembly
expressed that they were against this proposal. So at this time everything
remained as it was in 1870.
IX.
Rev. Szilady died on the 1st of April
1889. Rev. Philipp Tiefenthäler from Old Sivatz, a boyfriend of the
deceased, held the eulogy in the church of the German Reformed community. - On
the 1st of September the Hungarian parent community unanimously elected Rev.
Alexander Toth to be their preacher. He introduced himself to the elders
of the German community on the 22nd of September. "Those of the Hungarian
congregation elected the highly esteemed Rev. Toth. Sandor held a small
discussion on the occasion of this meeting with the German elders concerning the
relationship between him and the German Reformed branch congregation, where he
prepared to explain the functions as the deceased pastor had performed for them,
also about receiving the same pay; only the German branch community preferred to
be patient with him for a short time since he needed a little practice in the
German language so he could strive to satisfy the German community as soon as
possible. But until then they preferred to content themselves with the
teacher's sermon." This proposal the elders approved.
With Rev. Toth's arrival begins two decades in the
history of the community when not much is reported. Community life went
about its usual way. Teacher Knittel continued to serve in the community
with greater diligence and resolution until 1910. For it he was paid so
much attention that sometimes to cover his salary the community had to do
without to make concessions to Teacher Jakob Knittel him.
After 35 years of
faithful service teacher Knittel requested his pension from the teaching
ministry in the summer of 1910. Through the new situation forming it was
again possible to accept a plan that had already been considered for 40 years.
On the 7th of August there was another community assembly. "The community
voted unanimously for the acceptance of a teacher and if possible a German
pastor's assistant which the community also preferred to perform the church
service every Sunday." The pastor and the church father spoke to the
bishop about a pastor's assistant, but received the answer "that under no
condition were they to have such an assistant. "After that the teacher
Daniel Mengel from Old Werbaß, who received his diploma in the same year, who
was requested by some elders of the community, announced he was looking for a
teaching position in this community. Until the 1st of November teacher
Mengel instructed as teacher Knittel's substitute; then when Knittel's pension
came through he was finally elected. But already on the 14th of November
he resigned from his position and after that he was appointed to a state
teacher's position in Hodmezövasarhely. Until the election of another
teacher, teacher Knittel was requested to holds classes temporarily. From
then to the election of a new teacher the terms were settled: he must be a
certified teacher, he must be able to play the organ, he must have a complete
mastery of the German language, and he must be of the Reformed denomination.
X.
On the 29th of December 1910 the
elders unanimously elected Nikolaus Nadich, teacher from Schidski Banovci, to be
their teacher. On the 8th of January the community assembly unanimously
accepted a new salary letter. After that the teacher was promised the
following salary: apartment with side building and garden, 800 Kronen a year by
the community, 182 Kronen from state aid, the staid old age allowance from the
state, use of half of the state tree nursery, and (Stolarien?) of about 18
Kronen. The duties were: instruction in the public school and adult
education, service as choirmaster and organist, director of singing at all
community meetings, director of the choir, and so one exists, perform the work
of secretary. For his service in preaching he received 340 Kronen and
Stolarien: for it he has to give the confirmation classes, and at large holidays
(feast days) and every second Sunday he is to hold church service.
Teacher Nadich served in the
community for three and a half years. During his time the construction of
the new school was begun. The community already requested the higher
church officials to establish a second teaching position in 1891, 1893, and 1905
because after that the school census was too great. (At the time this
always exceeded 100!) The community rejected this legitimate request with
the reason that they could not raise the necessary funds. On the 20th of
April 1913 church father Johann Weißmann proposed building the second
school. The construction was to begin in the spring of 1914, but to pay
for it all, preparations were made to increase church taxes. The elders as
well as the community assembly voted for it. In November the elders
accepted the cost estimate, a salary letter for second teacher was written up
and decided on, and a salary supplement for the second teacher and also
financial aid for the construction were requested from the state. In
December it was also used to obtain the building materials. In 1914 the
construction was started and finished. It cost about 6000 Kronen.
The second school could not be opened
though because in 1914 the great World War broke out. With so many sons of
the community teacher Nadich also had to march off to war. He was called
up on the 27th of July and on the 20th of October he left. Then the
community had to overcome some difficulties so church service and lessons could
be held regularly. From then on, instead of every second Sunday, Rev. Toth
held church service every Sunday. The Hungarian parent community placed
teacher Ferenc Takacs at the disposal of the German Reformed branch community
without any demands to be teacher Nadich's substitute. Until 1919 he also
served as choirmaster. Subsequently the pastor and the teacher Takacs were
given a certain fee of 200 - 100 Kronen from year to year by the elders for
their work.
But after that the parent community
for the school year 1915-1916 could no longer do without teacher Takacs,
so the elders had to employ another teacher and chose Gisella Bendek to be
substitute teacher. In July 1916 she resigned, so the elders appointed
Ilona Modij, but she also resigned afterwards and the elders instructed
church father Jakob Gutwein to ask the teacher Helena Schmidt from Palanka to
take over service in this community but he had no success.
After the pastor's position itself had gone
through some changes the community finally gained teacher Terez Jonas. But
she stayed only until the end of January 1917. What difficulties the
elders had led to the elders' decision on the 28th of January 1917 where the
pastor was instructed that "first of all he had to submit a request to the
Ministry of Education and Arts for a state teacher and if he had no success,
secondly he should request the former Bacsfeketehegy teacher Jakob Knittel to
take on the substitute position together with a monthly salary of 150 Kronen.
And if this was also unsuccessful, thirdly he should request for the submission
of a student to the teachers' college. But a fourth solution was found.
On the recommendation of the bishop the elders employed the certified
kindergarten teacher Katherina Jung. She served from the 11th of February
to the 31st of August 1917. But the elders really wanted to employ a
permanent teacher because the frequent change and the lack of knowledge of
Germans was a disadvantage for most of these teachers to work in the school.
After more unsuccessful attempts, the community again received a teacher from
the parent community. Teacher Ester Szücs instructed the four lower
classes, while grades 5 and 6 went to the school in the Hungarian parent
community. The salary for teacher Szücs was paid half by the parent
community and half by the branch community. However she could not speak
German so she could not take over the religious instruction. For the year
1918-1919 the elders had the retired Evangelical-Lutheran teacher Wilhelm
Pratscher employed daily from 11 to 12 o'clock to teach religion and church
singing to all six classes for about a year's salary of 400 Kronen.
On the 1st of June 1919 teacher
Friedrich Schmidt from Novi Vrbas was on loan for 15 months but finally he was
appointed to the school by the community with the following salary: 1800 Kronen
a year, then a 900 Kronen cost of living allowance, 340 Kronen for sermon and
choirmaster service, 120 Kronen for his work with adult education, and a free
living room.
Since September 1919 the elders often
had to discuss the question of school because the state placed different new
demands on them. The state orders had the goal to nationalize the church
(parochial) schools. In this relevant matter the elders answered that the
community can only promise their teacher the legitimate salary and their school
can obtain it if they can also receive additional state aid, as they have so
far.
On the 26th of September the general
assembly "stated with regrets" that the congregation was not capable of
acquiring the school on its own strength. For this reason the community
handed the school over to the state, but the property rights of the school
building and the remaining real estate remained with the community." So
the school was nationalized and from then on the teacher was paid by the state,
but the teacher also had to serve as choirmaster and secretary for which the
general assembly promised to pay him a salary of 2400 Kronen a year on the 23rd
of January 1921.
The community had lost much with
their school. However they should probably also because of it - on the
other hand gain what was their long cherished desire: that they could become
independent from the parent community.
