Press Release - Institut Montana Zugerberg Celebrates 90 Years

On 3 May 1926 a new school overlooking Lake Zug opened its doors. Now Institut Montana is 90 years old and has a rich and fascinating story to tell. It has grown into a vibrant educational community, offering both the Swiss Matura and the International Baccalaureate.


03 May 2016

On 3 May 1926 a new school overlooking Lake Zug opened its doors. Now Institut Montana is 90 years old and has a rich and fascinating story to tell. It has grown into a vibrant educational community, offering both the Swiss Matura and the International Baccalaureate, where over 300 students from 48 nations learn together and grow into accomplished and thoughtful adults. Three principals have shaped the school’s history and its educational ethos - Internationality, Integration and Individualism. The story of Institut Montana demonstrates how these core beliefs, and the power of education to fulfil them, are urgently relevant today.

A School with a Mission: Internationality, Integration and Individualism

The ethos of Institut Montana was shaped by the school’s founder, Dr Max Husmann. He believed in the power of education to reduce the devastation that war too often inflicted on mankind. If the next generation learned how to think clearly and to reflect, to develop a moral compass rather than become victims of propaganda, it would surely recognise the benefits of an integrated society. One where people of all nationalities, cultures and religions appreciated their differences instead of fighting over them.

He could do this by building a school. It would be a form of education that departed from the pedagogical norms of the time, the early 20th century. It would encompass the development of the whole person rather than the teaching of a narrow syllabus. Such an education requires respect for the learner that follows its path. Dr Husmann’s school would nurture Individuality and seek to bring out the best in each and every young person.

So were enshrined the roots from which Montana grew. As the journey continues through another century and tensions and hostility dig in their dangerous claws across the world, the need for education to open minds rather than confine them, to teach harmony rather than discord, becomes crucial. The 90 year Jubilee of Institut Montana is a well-timed opportunity to communicate these insights by telling the story of Max Husmann and his school.

The Founding of Institut Montana

From its beginnings in May 1926 Institut Montana grew rapidly. Up on the Zugerberg with magnificent views over the lake, encircled by pine forests and refreshed by a gentle breeze, it offered an innovative curriculum taught by dynamic and thoughtful educators, first-class facilities and the hope of building a better, a more peaceful, world.

Individualism, Internationality and Integration formed the bedrock of Max Husmann’s thinking as he set up Institut Montana, but these principles were diametrically opposed to the prevailing political Zeitgeist of 1920s Europe. The end of World War I had failed to shape an international society that would maintain peace.  Antagonistic nationalism pulled different cultures with distinctive languages, religions and political systems into potential conflict. Discrimination was a tool used to mobilise support for discord. Collectivism united groups of human beings behind a hostile form of partisanship.

Then, a wave of initiatives led to the foundation of schools that put into practice a new form of pedagogy. United by a belief in the power of education to help create a more harmonious society, these schools confronted the limitations of current teaching practice with its narrow curriculum and restrictive methodology. Institut Montana was one of these.

Origins

Montana’s forward looking founder, Max Husmann, was a refugee into Switzerland from the Ukraine. With a background in mathematics and a keen intellect, he would set up a school where the leaders of tomorrow learned clear, analytical thinking and an understanding of different cultures and languages.

Ideas in Practice

For over a decade the school on the Zugerberg flourished. Student numbers grew, additional accommodation was acquired and state of the art facilities graced the site overlooking the lake.

The War Years

World War II was devastating for the school as it was for the aspirations of its founder. Institut Montana struggled on but with drastically reduced numbers of pupils and teachers. By spring 1945, the war was all but lost for Hitler and yet the he stubbornly refused to admit defeat. Then Max Husmann became involved in the clandestine Operation that brought German surrender in northern Italy. Through Husmann’s connections, his determination and his skill for mediating an almost impossible diplomatic negotiation, Operation Sunrise led to the signing of the first German capitulation at Allied Headquarters at Caserta in May 1945. Arms were subsequently laid down in Berlin and peace restored to Europe.

90 Years Montana

This May we celebrate 90 years since Institut Montana was founded. The Jubilee offers a propitious opportunity to look again at the fundamental ideas on which the school was built and that continue to influence its future. The story, however, digs deeper into our thinking about education and its role in society. Max Husmann carved the principles of Individualism, Internationality and Integration, principles through which he aspired to help create a more peaceful world, into the bricks and mortar of his school. Then, as the bombs were falling from European skies and nations were locked in bitter fighting, he played a critical role in Operation Sunrise and, courageously, put his commitment to those principles into action. He seized the opportunity to end conflict with words rather than guns. As we confront the battles of another century and human beings find more reasons for conflict than harmony, it is time to reflect on Husmann’s work.  The lessons that he believed in passionately and taught at Montana go well beyond the classroom. They encapsulate a vision for a more peaceful society that resonates across time and transcends national borders.

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