It is difficult these days to imagine that elementary school education was instituted by anyone at all. In fact, Swiss experimental educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) laid the groundwork for universal elementary school education and developed many of the educational theories and techniques in use even in the present day. This film focuses on a critical period in Pestalozzi's development of his educational theories, when he was running a boarding school in a disused convent for impoverished village children in the French part of Switzerland. At the time, Pestalozzi (Gian Maria Volonte) was regarded as a strange renegade, and it had only been with great difficulty that he was able to persuade even the poorest parents that his efforts to feed, clothe, and educate their children might be beneficial to them. Most of the story is told in flashbacks, narrated by one of his friends and supporters.
Credits
Pestalozzis Berg Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Gian Maria Volonté
He was 55, 61 years old when he died
|
as Pestalozzi |
|
Isolde Barth
She was 40, now 75 years old
|
as Rosalia |
|
Corinna Harfouch
She was 34, now 69 years old
|
as Juliette Benoit |
|
Christian Grashof
He was 45, now 80 years old
|
as Zschokke |
|
Rolf Hoppe
He was 58, now 93 years old
|
as Zehender |
|
Michael Gwisdek
He was 47, now 82 years old
|
as Perrault |
|
Silvia Jost
She was 44, now 79 years old
|
|
|
Mathias Gnädinger
He was 47, 74 years old when he died
|
as Büttel |
|
Käthe Reichel
She was 63, 86 years old when she died
|
as Alte Köchin |
|
Angelica Ippolito
She was 44, now 79 years old
|
|
|
Peter Wyssbrod
He was 51, now 86 years old
|
|
|
Heidi Züger
|
|
|
Roger Jendly
He was 51, now 86 years old
|
|
Pestalozzis Berg Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
Jürgen Lenz as Cinematography. He was 46 (now 81) years old
|
Crew |
|
Peter Schneider as Writer. He was 48 (now 83) years old
|
Writing |
