When the independent community of birkenreuth was incorporated into the market town of wiesenttal in 1978, it was the wish of the last birkenreuth mayor and village school teacher, hans muller, not to sell the schoolhouse, which had become vacant in the meantime. From now on, it was to serve the population as a village community center. For the market town of wiesenttal this was an obligation. The building became more important than ever for the villagers: there hasn’t been a pub in the former equestrian village in years. The school building, which used to house the large classroom of the one-class elementary school and a teacher’s apartment, is currently undergoing major reconstruction work. There will be a civic and youth center as well as training rooms for the fire department and other work groups. The investment costs amount to approximately 600.000 euro. Hereupon there is a request for 405.000 euros from the municipal investment requirement program (KIP). "As a revitalization inspection, the KIP inspection also includes inspections to ensure barrier-free access and energy-efficient renovation", it says in the approval notice of the district government of upper franconia. The community of birkenreuth built its schoolhouse 90 years ago. However, the village’s school history is much older than that. Since birkenreuth belongs to the church parish of streitberg, the children had to walk to school in streitberg via wartleiten and niederfellendorf – a truly arduous journey, especially in winter. Parents often had to clear the snow before the children could go to class.
From the story
This is how a "side winter school" came into being, in which the "schooled" farmer weigel held his first reading and writing lessons in a farmhouse. The chronicle reports: "when on 23. On february 1833, the pastor and school inspector ellsperger from streitberg saw the school in operation during a visitation, and ordered its immediate discontinuation." Thereupon the community wanted to build its own schoolhouse. Wood was logged and an application for a grant was made. Since the birkenreuthers felt that the subsidy was too small, they decided not to build a schoolhouse and used the felled wood to erect the well tower, which is now a listed building. It was to take almost another hundred years before birkenreuth got its own schoolhouse. For only 40 years the people of birkenreuth kept their school in the village, then came the elementary school reform.