The Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium (or Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium) was a secondary school ( ''Gymnasium'') in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

History

The school originated from a

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

founded by the

Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

Johann Julius Hecker Johann Julius Hecker (December 2, 1707 – June 24, 1768) was a German educator who established the first Realschule (practical high school) and Prussia's first teacher-education institution. Hecker was born to a family of educators in Werden, ...

in 1747, the first secondary school in Berlin. On its 50th anniversary in 1797, the school was renamed after

Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...

, who had succeeded his father as King of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

earlier in that year, and wanted to improve the successful secondary school. He gave additional funds for an additional building to house the expanded school. The Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium buildings were located on Kochstrasse in Berlin's Friedrichstadt district.Friedrichs-Straße.
In: C. F. Wegener: Haus- und General-Adreßbuch der Königl. Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin, 1822, Part 3, p. 85. (in German) The grammar school was located on Kochstrasse at the corner of Friedrichstrasse 41 until 1890 (demolished) when it was relocated to a new building at Kochstrasse 13 (south side), built according to plans by building officer Friedrich Schulze from 1888 to 1890. The Realgymnasium and Elisabeth School were located at Kochstrasse 66 and 65 (north side), respectively. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the school was slated to be closed and the buildings abandoned. However, the parents and parents' council managed to save it, and plan for an entirely new school building as well. The new building was completed in 1929 and was built according to plans by building officer Heinrich Beckmann in Zwillingestraße for around 1.5 million marks. All buildings were destroyed in World War II.

Notable students

References

Defunct schools in Berlin Gymnasiums in Germany Educational institutions established in 1747 1740s establishments in Prussia Educational institutions disestablished in the 1940s 1940s disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Mitte {{Germany-school-stub