Viktor Holtz

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Viktor Holtz (b. May 3, 1846 in Stolberg (Rheinland) – d. September 3, 1919 in Poznań) was a German educator and a pioneer of German-Japanese academic and cultural relations.

He studied, from 1865 to 1867, at the Royal Catholic Teacher's Academy Kempen, subsequently became a teacher in Aachen and in 1869, he was in charge of teacher training at the teacher'S academy of Boppard. In 1870, the Prussian Minister of Education dispatched him because of his knowledge of foreign languages and his other qualifications to Japan for 3 years. Together with the more famous military surgeons Theodor Eduard Hoffmann and Leopold Benjamin Müller, he belonged to the first group of Germans whom Prussia dispatched to higher schools of the new Meiji regime.

At first, he was attached to the Southern College (Daigaku Nankô); from 1872, Holtz' School was at least nominally independent. The name was changed from "First School of Foreign Learning" and "2nd Middle School" into "German School". Holtz remained the sole teacher for all eleven subjects. Due to a change of the Japanese educational policy, this school was merged into the Kaisei School in August 1873. At the same time, Holtz was transferred to the Tokyo Medical School (Tokyo Igakko) for the remainder of his contract, which had been extended by 8 months twice. Therefore, inconsistent educational planning terminated the pioneer experiment of a German school in Japan without direct lasting effects.

In 1875, Holtz returned to Boppard and was transferred in 1877 to Prüm (near Koblenz), in 1889 to Schrimm and in 1902 to Poznań.