Johann Julius Hecker

Johann Julius Hecker was a German Lutheran churchman and educator whose reforms shaped Prussian schooling. In 1747 he founded the first Realschule, the Economic-Mathematical Realschule in Berlin, giving young people not suited to a classical education a practical one built on visual and hands-on instruction, including visits to factories and artisans' workshops, in place of rote learning. In 1748 he established Prussia's first teacher-training seminary, and his educational work was a major influence on the Generallandschulreglement, Prussia's first general school law, issued by Frederick the Great in 1763.