Friedrichsgymnasium Humboldtstraße 5 in Kassel

The Friedrichsgymnasium is a humanistic classical gymnasium, located in Kassel,

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, that focuses on music and foreign languages, particularly Latin and Ancient Greek. The mission statement of the school is to spread the ideas of humanism and tolerance and to ensure the students grow up to become independent, educated and responsible, following the school motto "Learn what you are and be such", a quote by the Ancient Greek poet

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

. The school is a so-called "Gymnasium", a secondary school that offers the highest possible standards in education and aimes for the students to take their

A-Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

, the " Abitur", in year 13. The school specializes in supporting highly gifted students and has a tradition of encouraging students to be competitive and exceed their limits. However, the school also highlights the importance of tolerance and solidarity, taking part in projects with hospitals and refugee organisations.

History

The Friedrichsgymnasium was founded in 1779 as ''Lyceum Fridericianum'' by Landgrave Friedrich II, under the directorship of

Johann Jakob Pfeiffer Johann Jakob Pfeiffer (6 October 1740 – 26 November 1791) was a German evangelical theologian who taught at the University of Marburg. Life and career Pfeiffer was the son of Cassel master dyer, Hieronymus Pfeiffer (30 December 1714 – 3 J ...

. It is the oldest gymnasium in Kassel. The school is known to foster its history and is proud of its status of being the alma mater of the two most influential 19th century German linguists,

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

and

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, ...

, and the early 20th century

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ruler, Kaiser

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

Foreign languages

The first foreign languages taught are Latin and English starting in 5th grade. Starting in 8th grade, pupils can also select to take French or

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

. In 10th grade,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

is offered as another option.

Extracurricular activities

The school offers a broad range of extracurricular activities, from

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

clubs to various

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

camps, for example an

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

club. Furthermore, the school offers exchange programs to

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (; oc, label= Vivaro-Alpine, Sant Pau de Tricastin), sometimes known as -en-Tricastin, is a commune, an administrative region, in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Name The settlement is attested as ''Aug ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Novy Urengoy Novy Urengoy (russian: Но́вый Уренго́й, lit: “New Urengoy”; Nenets: Едэй Уренгой, ''Edėy Urengoy'') is a city in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Population: It is the second largest city in the autonomous ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Ierapetra Ierapetra ( el, Ιεράπετρα, lit=sacred stone; ancient name: ) is a Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete. History The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο ''Gerapetro'') is located on ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Student Politics

The Friedrichsgymnasium has engaged in various international youth events and organizes numerous political projects. Since 2018, pupils in the top classes of the Friedrichsgymnasium have participated regularly in the festivities to commemorate the end of World War I. Multiple pupils of the school have given speeches in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

, collaborated with other European schools and youth teams from large football clubs, such as

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

, and presented the results of this work to both German president

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

and

French president The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Emmanuel Macron. Politicians that have recently visited the school include

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...

and Claudia Roth. The school also regularly sends a delegation to the annual Berlin Model United Nations Conference BERMUN at John F Kennedy School 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 ...

Music

One of the school's main two academic focus points is

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. The school boasts several

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s, bands,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s and music clubs and a number of

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

s are held to celebrate important events in the school year, for example the start of the Christmas holidays or the end of the A-Level exams. Each year, the different musical societies of the school partake in multiple excursions and trips, traditionally to cities with a rich musical history, such as

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

Rowing

The RVFG, the school's rowing club, is one of the most popular activities offered, regularly and successfully competing in competitions at the local, state and national levels. The school owns a club house on the

Fulda (river) The Fulda () is a river of Hesse and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser (the other one being the Werra). The Fulda is long. The river arises at Wasserkuppe in the Rhön mountains in Hesse. From there it runs no ...

which also is used for numerous events and festivities throughout the school year. Traditionally, one or two older pupils will coach a group of younger ones, with teachers and parents only acting as organizers and donors.

Notable alumni

The Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...

- Fairy and Folk tale authors and collectors *

- German Kaiser during World War I *

Michael Stürmer Michael Stürmer (born September 29, 1938) is a conservative German historian best known for his role in the '' Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s, for his geographical interpretation of German history and for an admiring 2008 biography of the Russia ...

- German historian and political advisor * Peter Eisenberg - German linguist * Eva Kühne-Hörmann - German politician *

Adam von Trott zu Solz Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz (9 August 1909 – 26 August 1944) was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative resistance to Nazism. A declared opponent of the Nazi regime from the beginning, he actively participated in ...

- Anti-Nazi conspirator

References

External links

Official website
(German and English)

{{coord, 51.31, N, 9.4883, E, source:dewiki_region:DE-HE_scale:5000_type:edu, display=title Schools in Hesse Educational institutions established in 1779 Buildings and structures in Kassel 1779 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Gymnasiums in Germany