Landwirtschaftliche Landeslehranstalt Imst

The Landwirtschaftliche Landeslehranstalt Imst stands in the town of Imst in the Austrian Alps. Its main building is a protected monument. The school began as a winter agricultural school in 1919 after the First World War delayed earlier plans. Josef Siegele, a local politician, first proposed the school in 1910. Landeskulturratspräsident Siegele and Landesrat Andreas Gebhart restarted the project in 1919. Classes started in a former building trades school with just one classroom. The school grew quickly. By 1921 it had a domestic science school and workshops for beekeeping and weaving. A dairy operation and later a teaching dairy were added. The Post building nearby housed a school for innkeepers. In 1929 a large extension ended years of crowded classrooms. After the Second World War the buildings were used by soldiers and as a military hospital. Teaching restarted in 1945 in a nearby farmhouse before returning to the main building in 1946. By the 1950s the school moved into a new building under Landesrat Eduard Wallnöfer, who had attended the school himself in 1933. Today the school runs thirteen classes. Five classes serve ninth-grade pupils within compulsory education. Eight senior classes offer three-year vocational training. Adult education now includes lectures, courses and full training programmes. The school remains a centre for practical learning in agriculture and domestic skills in the Tirol.