Volksschule

German

Etymology

From Volk (“people, nation”) +‎ -s- +‎ Schule (“school”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔlksˌʃuːlə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Volksschule f (genitive Volksschule, plural Volksschulen)

1. (historical) elementary school, grade school, the “default” type of school where most children got their compulsory education, typically from ages 6~7 through 13~14
2. Contemporary uses by jurisdiction:
   1. (Austria) primary school, the first school that children go to, typically from ages 6~7 through 9~10

      Synonyms: (Germany, South Tyrol, Luxembourg) Grundschule, (Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein) Primarschule

   2. (Switzerland) umbrella term for all types of schools that are attended during compulsory education
   3. (Germany, regional) a school that combines primary school (Grundschule) and the lowest-ranking type of secondary school (Hauptschule) under one roof

Declension

Declension of Volksschule [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Volksschule	die	Volksschulen
genitive	einer	der	Volksschule	der	Volksschulen
dative	einer	der	Volksschule	den	Volksschulen
accusative	eine	die	Volksschule	die	Volksschulen

Derived terms

• Volksschüler
• Volksschullehrer

Descendants

• → Japanese: 国民学校 (calque) (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “Volksschule” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache