The Akademisches Gymnasium is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

gymnasium school ''Gymnasium'' (and variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term '' preparatory high school''. Bef ...

located in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. Founded by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in March 1553, it is the oldest secondary school in Vienna and is now nondenominational and non-feepaying. The school offers a humanistic education and is known to be rather liberal compared to other traditional secondary schools in the city. Currently, there are approximately 600 pupils in 24 classes.

History

16th–18th century

In the 16th century, it was the privilege of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

to decide about the founding of educational institutions. In March 1553, the Jesuits were granted permission to found the Akademisches Gymnasium. The main educational objectives of the exclusively Jesuit teachers was to instill knowledge and the practice of Catholicism in the pupils. At the time, the Akademisches Gymnasium was located opposite the university (today the Austrian Academy of Sciences) on the premises of today's Dominican monastery. Pupils were taught in Latin.

18th–20th century

In 1773 Pope

Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

dissolved the Jesuit order so that both the teaching staff and the educational objectives of the Akademisches Gymnasium changed. The new focus was on History, Mathematics, German, Literature and Geography. The school was now run by the

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

order. It became more profane and the spirit of the Enlightenment was felt among teachers as well as pupils. New didactical and paedagogical methods were introduced, as were tuition fees. As a result of the reform of secondary schools in 1849 the school was restructured to its present curriculum of 8 years ending with the ''

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' final exam. The humanistic aspects became more and more pronounced as education focused on languages, history, mathematics and the natural sciences. The first ''Matura'' exam was held in 1851. In 1866 the school moved to its present building at Beethovenplatz in the 1st district of Vienna. It was built by

Friedrich von Schmidt Friedrich von Schmidt (October 22, 1825 – January 23, 1891) was an architect who worked in late 19th century Vienna. Life and career Von Schmidt was born in Frickenhofen, Gschwend, Württemberg, Germany. After studying at the technical hig ...

, the architect who also designed the Vienna townhall, in his typical neo-gothic style.

After the World Wars

The period after World War I was very difficult for the Akademisches Gymnasium and it narrowly escaped closure because of a rapid decrease in the number of pupils. This development was temporarily reversed but in 1938 the school's fate was again in peril: with the Nazis coming to power in Austria, all the Jewish pupils and three teachers (one of them was David Ernst Oppenheim), had to leave the school thereby reducing the school's studentship by 40 percent. One of the most famous victims of these measures was Nobel laureate

Walter Kohn Walter Kohn (; March 9, 1923 – April 19, 2016) was an Austrian-American theoretical physicist and theoretical chemist. He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the unde ...

. After World War II, the Akademisches Gymnasium regained its old reputation. Known as one of the most demanding schools in Austria, it offers a general, humanistic education with a special focus on classical and modern languages preparing its pupils for further academic studies. Several of its teachers also teach at the University of Vienna. State-run, the school is free of charge and admission by merit. Nationwide examination for the

is only slowly being introduced in Austria since 2014/15; nevertheless, schools continue to examine their own pupils. Marks on non-centralised exams reflect the school's internal standards. The Akademisches Gymnasium has been performing Greek theatre on a semi-professional level, but is also known for excellent musical performances. Lately, the school's choir has won several competitions.

21st century

There continues to be an emphasis on languages. Pupils have 8 years of either English or French, 6 years of Latin (5 years for intakes from 2011), and either 2 years of French or English (3 years from 2011) followed by 4 years of ancient Greek, or 6 years (7 years from 2011) of their second modern language. Italian, Spanish, Russian and Chinese are optional for the last three years. Additionally, there are many intra- and extra-curricular projects and optional classes. The aim of the Akademisches Gymnasium is to give pupils a broad but solid general education, preparing them for study at university. The school's main difficulty is lack of space. The landmark building cannot be enlarged, so there is not enough room to offer a place to all of the large number of applicants.

Notable alumni

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, chorus master and conductor (1943-1973) of the

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, "Kaffeehaus writer" *

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, Minister-President of Austria * Christian Broda, federal minister of justice *

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, film director *

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* Karl Samuel Grünhut, jurist * Paul Gulda, pianist * Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger (1795–1871), geologist *

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, organist *

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, playwright *

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, philosopher, Marxist theoretician *

Hans Kelsen Hans Kelsen (; ; October 11, 1881 – April 19, 1973) was an Austrian jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He was the author of the 1920 Austrian Constitution, which to a very large degree is still valid today. Due to the rise ...

, constitutional lawyer, author of the

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, physicist,

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

for chemistry in 1998 *

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(1796–1862), painter *

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, theatre and opera director *

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, sociologist *

Robert von Lieben Robert von Lieben (September 5, 1878, in Vienna – February 20, 1913, in Vienna) was an Austrian entrepreneur, and self-taught physicist and inventor. Lieben and his associates Eugen Reisz and Siegmund Strauss invented and produced a gas ...

, physicist *

Felix von Luschan Felix Ritter von Luschan (11 August 1854 – 7 February 1924) was an Austrian doctor, anthropologist, explorer, archaeologist and ethnographer. Life Luschan was born the son of a lawyer in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria, and attended the Akademisches ...

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, founder and first President of Czechoslovakia *

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* Johann Nepomuk Prix,

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for physics in 1933 *

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(1797–1828), composer * Johann Carl Smirsch (1793–1869), painter *

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, Minister-President of Austria *

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and president of Universities Austria *

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References

External links

Akademisches Gymnasium Wien
* {{Authority control Schools in Vienna Jesuit schools in Austria Educational institutions established in the 1550s Gymnasiums in Austria 1553 establishments in Austria Establishments in the Archduchy of Austria