Goethe-Gymnasium is a gymnasium (secondary school) named after notable Frankfurt native

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

(1749–1832). It is situated in the Westend of the city of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in Germany, near the Hauptbahnhof. It is currently the only state funded school in Germany that offers students the option of taking

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

examinations. The Goethe-Gymnasium offers

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

as a third foreign language, which is rare in Germany.

History

The Städtisches Gymnasium was founded in 1520, and split into the Goethe-Gymnasium and the Lessing-Gymnasium in 1897. Thus, both schools descend directly from the city's oldest school. The school building was severely damaged by bombing in 1944. The new building designed by the architects Zitter and Kempf was dedicated in 1959. In 1969, the Goethe-Gymnasium became the first school in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

to offer bilingual lessons in German and English.

Curriculum

Students can study numerous languages, including English, French, Latin, Russian and Japanese. The bilingual stream offers additional subjects taught in English, such as history, geography, philosophy, biology and social sciences. Further, students can choose to study Latin or French at the same time as English, beginning in grade 5, which is exceptional among state-funded secondary schools in Germany. The Goethe-Gymnasium has been an International Baccalaureate World School since January 1972. Students can choose to take IB exams in addition to the traditional

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 ...

. Students can join the school's choir, chamber choir, flute orchestra, and two symphony orchestras. The school owns a cottage in Oberreifenberg, the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

mountain range, and it is a tradition for students to spend a week there twice a year. The school's orchestras spend their intense rehearsal periods there and final year students go there to study for their exams.

School exchange visits

The Goethe-Gymnasium operates a program of exchange visits with partner schools in the following countries: * United Kingdom (

Anglo European School Anglo European School is a self-governing, co-educational international academy school situated in Ingatestone, Essex. It is a school for boys and girls of all abilities, with 1,306 pupils aged 11 to 19. It was the first state school in Britai ...

Ingatestone Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,409 inhabitants at the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning; the two now forming the parish of Ingatestone ...

) * France * United States * Russia * Japan * India *

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Notable alumni

Hans Bethe Hans Albrecht Eduard Bethe (; ; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physi ...

, physicist *

Michel Friedman Julien Michel Friedman (; born 25 February 1956) is a German author, former Christian Democratic Union (Germany), CDU politician and talk show host. From 2000 to 2003 Friedman was vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and pres ...

, politician *

Richard Goldschmidt Richard Benedict Goldschmidt (April 12, 1878 – April 24, 1958) was a German geneticist. He is considered the first to attempt to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. He pioneered understanding of reaction norms, genetic assimilatio ...

, geneticist * Erich Klibansky, headmaster * Thor Kunkel, author * Kurt Lipstein, legal scholar * Leo Löwenthal, sociologist * Richard Plant, professor of German and author * Christine Schäfer, soprano * Britta Böhler, lawyer and member of the Dutch Senate

References

External links

*http://www.gg-ffm.de/ {{Coord, 50, 06, 40, N, 8, 39, 31, E, display=title, region:DE-HE_type:edu_source:dewiki International Baccalaureate schools in Germany Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Educational institutions established in 1897 1897 establishments in Germany Schools in Frankfurt