The Gymnasium Carolinum in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

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 ...

, was founded in 804 by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, king of the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

. It is reputedly the oldest school in Germany and is also one of the oldest surviving schools in the world.

History

In 1632, the Gymnasium was elevated into a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

by the Jesuits. However, Swedish troops captured Osnabrück the next year for the Protestant side in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, and the Academia Carolina Osnabrugensis was closed. There would not be a university in Osnabrück until the University of Osnabrück opened in 1974.

Twentieth century

In 1933 the boys' school of the Gymnasium Carolinum had twenty-two teachers, all of whom were Catholics and thirteen of whom had served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Only one had up to that point joined the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. Yet Nazi educational policy changed both the curriculum and the views of students. The number of schools hours devoted to physical exercise, history, and geography increased, while those involving foreign languages and religion decreased. In 1939 essays written by students at the school reflected the new policies and referred frequently to works by Hitler and other Nazi leaders. In 1971, the school began admitting girls and became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Notable alumni

Beate Baumann Beate Baumann (born July 28, 1963) is a Germany, German political advisor. She became known as office manager to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and, alongside Eva Christiansen, as her closest advisor. Life After graduating from Gymnasium Caro ...

(born 1963), political advisor * Hubertus Brandenburg, emeritus Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockholm. * Karl Brandi, historian * Michael F. Feldkamp, historian and journalist * Joseph A. Hemann, educator,

newspaper publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, and banker. * Adolf Lasson, philosophical writer. * Levin Schücking,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

* Rudolf Seiters,

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party and former

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. * Ludwig Windthorst, politician and justice minister. * Timotheus Fleer, cook and philosopher

References

External links

Gymnasium Carolinum school website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gymnasium Carolinum (Osnabruck) Gymnasiums in Germany Schools in Lower Saxony Buildings and structures in Osnabrück Educational institutions established in the 9th century Establishments in the Carolingian Empire 9th-century establishments in Germany 804 establishments

History

Twentieth century

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links