The Französisches Gymnasium () is a

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

gymnasium in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Traditionally, it is widely regarded as an elite high school. It is also the oldest public school in Berlin. Its creation was ordered by Frederick William of Brandenburg. It is directly operated by the

Agency for French Education Abroad The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (; AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France that assures the quality of schools teaching the French nati ...

(AEFE), an agency of the French government.

History

It was founded in 1689 by Frederick William's son Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg for the children of the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

families who had settled in Brandenburg-Prussia by his invitation, being persecuted for their

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

beliefs in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Kingdom of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after the

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

by King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

in October 1685. Its first headmaster was the French jurist Charles Ancillon from

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Since its foundation, the school has had an almost continuous history, occupying several buildings in Berlin. In the beginning, the faculty comprised Huguenot refugees only and the language of education was French. The school soon was attended also by numerous

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

children of school fee paying Prussian nobles and officials, and developed into an elite school. In the course of the Prussian reforms, the Collège Français became a common public school in 1809. In view of the growing numbers of pupils, it moved into a larger building built on Reichstagsufer in the

Dorotheenstadt is a historic zone or neighbourhood (''Stadtviertel'') of central Berlin, Germany, which forms part of the locality (''Ortsteil'') of Mitte within the borough (''Bezirk'') also called Mitte. It contains several famous Berlin landmarks: the Bran ...

quarter in 1873. The school was attended by an above-average number of Jewish pupils, who under the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

— like Jewish teachers — were harassed and finally excluded in 1938. However, despite all

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

efforts, the French language remained the medium of teaching. After 1943 the school was evacuated from Berlin and the historic school building on Reichstagsufer was destroyed in 1945.History
After the war, the school moved to the

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

district in the French sector of what was to become

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. In 1952 the Französisches Gymnasium — Collège Français Berlin was re-established by merging the traditional Huguenot school with the Berlin collège of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' milita ...

. Several of its pupils (though not all graduated) became prominent in later life, among them the poet Adalbert von Chamisso, the authors

Maximilian Harden __NOTOC__ Maximilian Harden (born Felix Ernst Witkowski, 20 October 1861 – 30 October 1927) was an influential German journalist and editor. Biography Born the son of a Jewish merchant in Berlin, he attended the '' Französisches Gymnasium'' ...

and

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...

, the engineer

Walter Dornberger Major-General Dr. Walter Robert Dornberger (6 September 1895 – 26 June 1980) was a German Army artillery officer whose career spanned World War I and World War II. He was a leader of Nazi Germany's V-2 rocket programme and other projects a ...

and the resistance fighter Adam von Trott zu Solz, the songwriters Reinhard Mey and Ulrich Roski, as well as political scientist Gesine Schwan, the presidential candidate of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

in 2009.

Today

The school moved to its current building, in

Berlin-Tiergarten Tiergarten (, literally ''Animal Garden'', historically meaning ''deer park'' or hunting ''game park'') is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin (Germany). Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunifi ...

, on Derfflingerstraße, not far from Nollendorfplatz in 1972, after it had been located in Berlin-

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subd ...

. It educates both

- and French-speaking pupils from francophone countries all over the world. Grades are from 5 to 12, with bilingual classes and teaching starting in grade 7. Other languages that are taught are English,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. Pupils can graduate with either of two

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

s though many Germans pass both: the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

(German high school diploma) and the

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

(French high school diploma). Franzoesisches Gymnasium Berlin alter Standort

Notable people

Faculty and staff

* Charles Ancillon (1659–1715), jurist and diplomat * Paul Erman (1764–1851), physicist * Georg Adolf Erman (1806–1877), physicist * Ernst Curtius (1814–1896), archaeologist and historian *

Alfred Clebsch Rudolf Friedrich Alfred Clebsch (19 January 1833 – 7 November 1872) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to algebraic geometry and invariant theory. He attended the University of Königsberg and was habilitated at Humboldt ...

(1833–1872), mathematician * Hermann Wilhelm Ebel (1820–1875), philologist *

Karl Ploetz Karl Julius Ploetz (8 July 1819 – 6 February 1881) was a German author of scholarly works, most notably his ''Epitome of History'' published in the English language in 1883. Ploetz was born in Berlin. He is credited with the idea of arranging h ...

(1819–1881), author

Alumni

* Johann Heinrich Samuel Formey (1711–1797), essayist and philosopher * Louis de Beausobre (1730–1783), philosopher and political economist * Ludwig Robert (1778–1832), writer *

Adelbert von Chamisso Adelbert von Chamisso (; 30 January 1781 – 21 August 1838) was a German poet, writer and botanist. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot) de Boncourt, a name referring to the family estate at Boncourt. Life ...

(1781–1838), poet and botanist * Franz von Gaudy (1800–1840), poet and novelist * Karl Ludwig Michelet (1801–1893), philosopher * Heinrich Girard (1814–1878), mineralist and geologist *

Emil du Bois-Reymond Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond (7 November 1818 – 26 December 1896) was a German physiologist, the co-discoverer of nerve action potential, and the developer of experimental electrophysiology. His lectures on science and culture earned him grea ...

(1818–1896), physician and physiologist * Carl Bolle (1821–1909), naturalist and collector * Max von Brandt (1835–1920), diplomat, East Asia expert and publicist * Petre P. Carp (1837–1919), politician and culture critic * Gustav Mützel (1839–1893), artist * Paul Güssfeldt (1840–1920), geologist, mountaineer and explorer * Alfred Woltmann (1841–1880), art historian * Ernst von Wildenbruch (1845–1909), poet and dramatist * Albert Moritz Wolff (1854–1923), sculptor *

Adolf Erman Johann Peter Adolf Erman (; 31 October 185426 June 1937) was a German Egyptologist and lexicographer. Education Born in Berlin, he was the son of the physicist Georg Adolf Erman and grandson of the physicist Paul Erman and the astronomer Frie ...

(1854–1937), Egyptologist * Richard Witting (1856–1923), politician and financier *

(1861–1927), journalist and editor *

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), popularly known as the Lion of Africa (), was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force ...

(1870–1964), general * Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus (1876–1959), chemist, Nobel laureate *

Edmund Landau Edmund Georg Hermann Landau (14 February 1877 – 19 February 1938) was a German mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory and complex analysis. Biography Edmund Landau was born to a Jewish family in Berlin. His father was Leopo ...

(1877–1938), mathematician *

Victor Klemperer Victor Klemperer (9 October 188111 February 1960) was a German literary scholar and diarist. His journals, published posthumously in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the fascist Nazi Germany, Third ...

(1881–1960), journalist and literary scholar *

Walther von Brauchitsch Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) and Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber'') of the German Army during the first two years of World War ...

(1881–1948), field marshal *

Leonard Nelson Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German mathematician, critical philosopher, and socialist. He was part of the neo-Friesian school (named after post-Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Frie ...

(1882–1927), mathematician and philosopher *

(1890–1935), journalist and writer *

Erich Auerbach Erich Auerbach (; 9 November 1892 – 13 October 1957) was a German philologist and comparative scholar and critic of literature. His best-known work is '' Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature'', a history of representa ...

(1892–1957), philologist and literary scholar * Wolfgang G. Friedmann (1907–1972), legal philosopher, academic and humanist * Adam von Trott zu Solz (1909–1944), lawyer, diplomat and resistance fighter * Joachim Werner (1909–1994), archaeologist *

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

(1912–1977), rocket scientist *

Gottfried Reinhardt Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer. Biography Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), mana ...

(1913–1994), film producer and director *

Albert O. Hirschman Albert Otto Hirschman (born ''Otto-Albert Hirschmann''; April 7, 1915 – December 10, 2012) was a German economist and the author of several books on political economy and political ideology. His first major contribution was in the area of dev ...

(1915-2012), economist * Klemens von Klemperer (1916-2012), historian *

Magnus von Braun Magnus "Mac" Freiherr von Braun (10 May 1919 – 21 June 2003) was a German chemical engineer, Luftwaffe aviator, rocket scientist and business executive. In his 20s, he worked on Nazi Germany’s guided missile development and production at the ...

(1919–2003), rocket engineer *

Ken Adam Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for '' Dr. Str ...

(born 1921), film designer * John Leonard Clive (1924–1990), historian * Wolfgang Gewalt (1928–2007), zoologist * Reinhard Mey (born 1942), singer-songwriter * Gesine Schwan (born 1943), political science professor * Ulrich Roski (1944–2003), singer-songwriter * Dominique Horwitz (born 1957), actor and singer * Christian Berkel (born 1957), actor * Peter Fox (born 1971), musician * Alexander Schnell (born 1971), philosopher * Alexandra Maria Lara (born 1978), actress

References

External links

*
Französisches Gymnasium Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franzosisches Gymnasium Berlin 1689 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Educational institutions established in the 1680s International schools in Berlin French international schools in Germany Huguenot history in Germany