Garden path 02

Vocational training on a high level

Die Israelitische Erziehungsanstalt zu Ahlem in Bild und Wort [Gardening school apprentices in the orchard around 1900. The Jewish Educational Institution in Ahlem in Words and Pictures]

Gardener apprentices in the chrysanthemum hothouses of the school, c. 1938

The three year apprenticeship comprised theoretical and practical studies in the field of vegetable cultivation, flower growing as well as fruit and tree cultivation. The high standard created good chances for the graduates on the job market. Participation in external competitions served as an additional incentive for the apprentices. Their products often won awards and earned recognition. Produce not required for the own consumption of the school was offered for sale on weekly markets. At times the school ran a shop on the elegant Georgstrasse in Hanover where the demand for white chrysantema was particularly high.

A scene from the first half of the 1920s: two employees with market produce in front of the barn. The assistants’ house can be seen on the right.

Sales advertisement of the school’s gardening business in 1927