Joseph-König-Gymnasium is the only gymnasium in the Westphalian city of

Haltern am See Haltern am See (''Haltern at the lake'', before December 2001 only Haltern) is a medium-sized town in the northern part of the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen in the Münster (region), ''Regierungsbezirk'' Münster in North Rh ...

. With 1,360 students, it is one of the larger high schools in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. The school is named after the German chemist Joseph König. It continues tradition of 1844 founded 'Höhere Stadtschule' and later 'Städtisches Gymnasium Haltern'. It shares buildings with 'Alexander-Lebenstein-Realschule'. On March 24, 2015, 16 of its students and two of its teachers were among the passengers murdered when the co-pilot of

Germanwings Flight 9525 Germanwings Flight 9525 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport in Spain to Düsseldorf Airport in Germany. The flight was operated by Germanwings, a low-cost carrier owned by the German airline Luftha ...

intentionally crashed into the French Alps. They were on their way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in

Llinars del Vallès Llinars del Vallès () is a village and a municipality in the comarca of Vallès Oriental, in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. That village forms part of the county of Baix Montseny. Its municipal term goes ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Haltern's then mayor, Bodo Klimpel, has described it as "the darkest day in the history of our city".

References

External links

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Joseph-König-Gymnasium
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph-Konig-Gymnasium Educational institutions established in 1844 Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia Gymnasiums in Germany