The VS school museum

Our opening hours and where you can find us

We are particularly proud of the fact that our furniture often stood - and still stands - in the most progressive schools of their time. Reason enough to trace the exciting path for you in the VS School Museum.

Visit the permanent exhibition ‘The classroom from the end of the 19th century to the present day’ at the company headquarters in Tauberbischofsheim.

Opening hours:
Visits and guided tours by appointment only
Tel.: 09341 88-0
Admission free, guided tour (on request) €40

We have not only brought together school furniture from over 100 years, but also architectural models, historical photos, learning materials and educational manifestos. They form a kaleidoscope that illustrates the development of the classroom in the permanent exhibition and an extensive catalogue.

The school museum was created in 1998 to mark the 100th anniversary of VS, then as now one of the leading manufacturers of school furniture.

Cultural history of the school

What characterises the VS School Museum? Prof Dr Thomas Müller, Managing Director of VS from 1987 to 2018, now Chairman of the Shareholders' Meeting, presents the concept:

Away from the barracks school - school reform around 1900

Monastery and barracks: these were the two models for schools in the 19th century. But this changed with the life reform movement around 1900.

New goals and teaching methods were introduced and school buildings and facilities changed. In addition to theoretical mental work, manual labour also became more important; new findings on hygiene and ergonomics drove the reforms forward.

And production also moved with the times: in order to meet the great demand, school furniture was soon manufactured industrially rather than by hand.

Black and white image of a classroom around 1900 with Rettig benches

Rettig Bank as a model for success

The Rettig bench (patented in 1893) is the most successful type of German school bench around 1900, with a market share of around 50 per cent. The raised footrest enables smaller bench spacing thanks to the space-saving entry and exit. The patent is held by Paul Johannes Müller, one of the shareholders of VS (founded in 1898 as ‘Vereinigte Schulbankfabriken’).

A woman sweeps next to flipped-up Rettig benches in a classroom

Better hygiene

The Rettig bench is simply laid on its side to clean the floor. The inkwells have a swan neck so that nothing leaks out.

An exhibition with a reproduction of an old classroom with Rettig school desks

From 1903

In the following years, VS expands its range to include all products for school furnishings and renames itself ‘Vereinigte Schulmöbelfabriken’ in 1905. The company successfully participates in important exhibitions.

Teaching at a progressive reform school around 1908

New learning in the reform classroom

Important educational principle of the reform school movement: Pupils do not learn passively, but are active themselves.

1910

The German model classroom, designed by interior designer Bruno Paul and furniture manufacturer P. Johannes Müller, is presented and honoured at the 1910 World Exhibition in Brussels. Further medals follow.

Black-and-white picture from 1912 of pupils at a Berlin school during an outdoor botany lesson

Outdoor lessons

Pupils at a Berlin community school teaching plant science outdoors (1912).

Black and white image of the main building of the Uhlandshöhe Waldorf School in Stuttgart

The first Waldorf school

The first Waldorf School Uhlandshöhe in Stuttgart is founded in 1919 for the children of workers at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory. View of the main building erected in 1924. Anthroposophical building avoids right angles and seeks organic forms.

Air and sun - The 1920s to 1930s

After the collapse of school furniture production during the First World War and the years of inflation, school reformers and socially committed politicians in the Weimar Republic endeavoured to find progressive solutions again.

This resulted in striking school buildings in the New Objectivity style. A short time later, the global economic crisis set school construction and school furniture production back again.

The building of the Dorotheen-Lyceum in Berlin-Köpenick in 1928/1929

Science labs at the Dorotheen-Lyceum girls' school in Berlin-Köpenick 1928/1929

black and white picture of chairs and a table made of tubular steel from 1930

Black and white picture of a classroom from 1930 with chairs and tables made of tubular steel and a slate blackboard

Dorotheen-Lyceum in Berlin (1928/1929): Max Taut's school building in Berlin-Köpenick follows the New Objectivity style with clear, geometric surfaces, generous glazing and predominantly rectangular volumes.

Remarkable for a girls' school in the 1920s, the Lyceum has very well-equipped science rooms, a modern gymnasium and even a rowing pool. Outdoor gymnastics lessons take place on the roof areas.

Around 1930: Influenced by Bauhaus, school furniture is also manufactured in tubular steel construction. Their weight is significantly lower than that of the school bench, making the furniture more versatile.

From 1935 onwards, however, steel in Germany is reserved for the armaments industry, so that the production of tubular steel furniture comes to a standstill. In 1942, the manufacture of school furniture was banned altogether in favour of armaments.

The child at the centre - international progress until 1945

The rise to power of the National Socialists in 1933 put an abrupt end to democratic reform efforts in Germany. However, the school reform movement continued to develop internationally.

A ‘pedagogy from the child’ shifted the focus to single-storey pavilions that could be opened quickly and easily for outdoor lessons.

The open-air school in Suresnes (1931 - 1935)

The famous open-air school in Suresnes by Eugène Beaudouin and Marcel Lods has classrooms with folding glass walls and lightweight aluminium furniture. It is an alternative design to the gloomy conventional school.

A student workstation at Crow Island School, made from a bent piece of plywood

A new type of chair

Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames develop chairs whose seats and backrests are made from a curved plywood section for the first time in school furniture.

A classroom at the Bruderholz primary school in Basel by Hermann Baur

1935 - 1939

Bruderholz primary school in Basel by Hermann Baur: The light-flooded classrooms of the pavilion school offer direct access to the outdoors. The furniture is grouped according to the learning situation.

A model of the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois (USA)

Crow Island School (1939/1940)

The Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois (USA) was developed by Eero + Eliel Saarinen and Perkins, Wheeler & Will together with educators. Beyond the USA, it is a pioneering example of the interplay between education, architecture and furniture design.

Students sit with the teacher in the seating area of a classroom at Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, USA

Classroom and study

Window sills, shelves and display cabinets are at children's height. The furniture can be used flexibly. Attached to the classroom is a smaller workroom for project work alone or in pairs.

Hope for a new beginning - school after the Second World War

After the Second World War, 60 per cent of schools in Germany were destroyed. At the same time, the number of pupils increases due to refugees and displaced persons. Financial resources and raw materials are scarce. It was not until 1950, with the economic miracle, that the hope of a new beginning was linked to school construction.

The open-air school once again became a symbol of liberation, and the French reconstruction plan for Mainz envisaged a school modelled on the famous open-air school in Suresnes (France).

For cost reasons, however, more compact schools soon prevailed, some of which incorporated the principles of the reform movement. A fundamental reorientation of the school system suffered repeated setbacks. The development also continued internationally.

Black and white image of a wartime aircraft being loaded

Black-and-white photograph of the Goethe School in Kiel by Rudolf Schroeder, 1948-1950

Model of the design for a primary school in Darmstadt by Hans Scharoun

1948: In Great Britain, school pavilions and school chairs and desks were produced from die-cast aluminium as part of the conversion of the armaments industry.

Rudolf Schroeder's Goethe School is based on the single-storey pavilion system and allows plenty of light, air and sun into the classroom. Each classroom pavilion has its own garden. In good weather, lessons take place outside.

1951: Although never realised, Hans Scharoun's design for the primary school in Darmstadt is considered a model for child-friendly school architecture. The wings of the different class levels are arranged along a ‘path of encounter’.

VS wooden skid chairs stand at a skid table for students

After the Second World War, the static school desk was finally a thing of the past, as was the Prussian-military style of education associated with it. As an alternative, skid-base chairs and desks are now the norm, which also impress with their ergonomics and functionality.

Student workstation by Arne Jacobsen for the Munkegård School in Gentofte. The chair was based on Jacobsen's well-known Ant chair, the table top and book shelf are bent in one piece.

1952-1957: Student desk by Arne Jacobsen for the Munkegård School in Gentofte. The chair was based on Jacobsen's well-known Ant chair, the table top and book shelf are curved throughout.

Black and white image of a wooden chair and a table with a tilting top, designed by Finnish architect and furniture designer Alvar Aalto in the 1930s to 1950s

1950s: School furniture by Finnish architect and furniture designer Alvar Aalto. Table with tilting top from the 1950s; Aalto had already designed the chair in the 1930s.

Black and white image taken 1950 of three children standing all together on a wooden skid chair by VS.

From 1950: The skid-base chair is not only light, but also - as the contemporary advertising photo shows - stable. With sales totalling around 6 million from 1952 to 2006, it is one of the longest-lasting products in post-war history.

School desks combined with swivel chairs made of tubular steel designed by Falk Müller in the German pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair.

School chairs made by the American company Brunswick around 1958, with seat and backrest shells made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic and tubular steel bases.

Close-up on a yellow background of the Danish architect Verner Panton

Swivel chairs bring even more flexibility to the classroom. They are ideal for modern group lessons, but are more expensive than the skid-base chair. VS had several swivel chair models in its range.

1958: The German pavilion at the Brussels World Exposition was dedicated to the subject of child-rearing and education. Several pupils’ workstations made of tubular steel designed by Falk Müller (VS) were on display there.

New materials: Starting in the USA, stackable school chairs with seat shells made of glass fibre-reinforced plastic are coming onto the market. The bases are made of tubular steel.

In 1956, Danish designer Verner Panton designed a piece of school furniture made from a single moulded part. The competition design was not realised. In the 1990s, however, Panton realised various school chairs from the successful Panto series together with VS.

Equal opportunities - the awakening of the 1960s/1970s

In this era of the school building boom and educational reforms, the comprehensive school emerged as a new type of school in the Federal Republic of Germany. It aims to promote equal opportunities for children and young people from all social classes. It was never widely accepted by the public as a ‘bureaucratic learning factory’.

At the same time, other school buildings are also being built. School furniture should now be as flexible, light and stackable as possible.

Classroom from the sixties where students are learning, sitting and standing at desks

Around 1965

Committed to the revitalised New Objectivity: Classroom furniture with C-shaped tables and swivel chairs with rectangular tubular steel. In this advertising photo, the tables are arranged in a U-shape typical of the time.

School furniture from the GDR: A school bench and two chairs made of wood with a tubular steel frame.

School in the GDR

Keyword ‘prefabricated building’: In the GDR in the 1960s and 1970s, a radical industrialisation of construction was implemented that did not stop at schools. A public debate about architecture is not possible, school furniture is allocated centrally and is also sober and functional.

Black and white image from the 1970s of the primary and secondary school designed by Hans Sharoun in Marl in Westphalia with honeycomb-shaped, single-storey buildings around the centrally located, higher auditorium

Hans Scharoun: Primary and secondary school in Marl (1960 - 1971)

Designed according to the principles of organic architecture, the school is a honeycomb-shaped ensemble. Single-storey class units are grouped around the higher assembly hall as the organic centre of the complex.

A VS skid table with LIGNOdur table top and two wooden skid chairs

LIGNOdur top and wooden skid chair

The primary and secondary school in Marl is equipped with furniture from VS. The tables have extremely hard-wearing LIGNOdur tops with a melamine resin surface, a recycled product made from wood shavings produced during wood processing. The wooden skid-base chairs, designed by Karl Nothhelfer, are from the second, slimmer generation.

A VS air cushion chair from 1975, a further development of the skid chair

1975: The air cushion chair

In the 60s and 70s, VS launched several very successful chair models on the market, including skid-base chairs with an oval tubular steel construction. The chair with air-cushioned seat and backrest made of polypropylene plastic parts becomes the standard type in school equipment.

The Zocker children's chair by Luigi Colani

School furniture by Luigi Colani

New materials and an imaginative wealth of shapes characterise many seating designs of the 1970s.

The school on the Schäfersfeld in Lorch, designed by Behnisch & Partner

Behnisch & Partner: Schools on the Schäfersfeld in Lorch (1971 - 1973)

Günter Behnisch, one of the most prominent school architects in Germany, is bucking the trend of heavy and opaque comprehensive schools. In Lorch, a light school and sports centre ensemble has been created that blends gracefully into its surroundings. Large glass windows and exposed sun sails characterise the outer façades of the Progymnasium. The centre is an open hall around which the pentagonal classrooms are grouped.

Model of the Salvatore Orrù primary school in Fagnano Olona, Italy: Aldo Rossi designed typified urban elements for the complex, reduced to geometric bodies.

Aldo Rossi: Schools in Italy (1972 - 1976)

Model of the Salvatore Orrù primary school in Fagnano Olona/Italy: Aldo Rossi composed archetypal elements of a city, reduced to geometric bodies.

In praise of diversity - schools today

Modern school architecture is one thing above all: diverse. New variations and spatial concepts are constantly being created to make the school situation varied and stimulating. In view of declining pupil numbers as a result of the ‘Pillenknick’, new school buildings have become rarer - since the 2020s, they have been on the rise again in Germany due to increased immigration, among other things, and must meet new requirements such as sustainability, digitalisation, all-day care, integration and inclusion.

Conversion and renovation also offer opportunities to create pedagogically innovative learning and living spaces.

The round building of the Ingolstadt-Hollerstauden school complex

The entrance hall of the school in the Ingolstadt-Hollerstauden Educational Centre.

A classroom at Fridtjof Nansen School equipped with VS furniture such as skid tables and PantoMove-VF swivel chairs

A PantoMove swivel chair and an Ergo-III student's desk by VS

A building by the architects Perkins&Will

A library by architects Perkins&Will equipped with furniture by VS

Behnisch & Partner: Pedagogical Center Ingolstadt-Hollerstauden (1993-1997). The ensemble consists of five distinctively accentuated buildings and a sports hall. The round building serves as a community center.

Entrance hall: On the lower level are the kitchen, cafeteria, office, and music room, while the upper level mainly houses administration. The steps serve as seating during theater performances.

Fridtjof Nansen Comprehensive School, Hanover (2000). Sitting still is a thing of the past: Movement at the Fridtjof Nansen School also means flexible use of space, learning-friendly structuring of lessons, independent learning, and active breaks.

Basic equipment for the "active school": ergonomic, flexible furniture such as the height-adjustable PantoMove swivel chair with a dynamic seat, combined with the height-adjustable Ergo-III student desk with a tiltable surface from VS.

Perkins + Will: Perspectives Charter School, Chicago/USA (2004). The Perspectives Charter School adopts the triangular shape of the plot. The classrooms are arranged around an open area called the "family room."

Die Bibliothek der Perspectives Charter School wurde von VS mit Servicetresen, dem Drehstuhl PantoMove-LuPo und dem Tisch RondoLift eingerichtet.