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"Wilhelm von Humboldt", Nordhausen |
| Self-confidence, diligence and consequently the desire for independence made the citizens and the town council members of Nordhausen realize very early that a good, serious school education was an important foundation for the continuing prosperity of the city. When we look back on the history of the school we understand that the history of the "Wilhelm von Humboldt High School" is tightly connected with the evolution of the town of Nordhausen. |
| The first school in Nordhausen was a girls' school, which was
founded in 961 together with the nunnery. In 1250, the archbishop
of Cologne decided to give also lay women access to education. The
school became an educational institution for young ladies of the
upper classes. In the following years the ideas of humanism spread
far and wide, but the schools in our town were more bothered by
the tumults brought about by the Peasants' War. In 1536 the "Young Girls School (Jungfernschule)" was founded as a consequence of Luther's call for more schools. The positive economic development of the town and the increasing desire of the bourgeoisie for female education lead to the building of a second school building in 1738. |
| On August 2, 1802, Nordhausen lost its independence and became part
of the state of Prussia. It was forced to take over Prussia's school
system. In 1803 the Prussian government decided to establish boys' high school and girls' schools in all medium and large towns of Prussia. This decision was confirmed by the Emperor of France and the King of Italy in 1807. The first girls' high school was inaugurated by Rector Johann Christian August Heyse on May9, 1808, in the "Bechersche Stipendiat House", and had 17 pupils. The classes took place Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. The tuition was 5 Reichsmark per quarter, for externals one third more. The institution was very successful, as the following numbers may underline: 1808 - 17 pupils 1809 - 51 1823 - 77 1871 - 383 For lack of space the school was moved into the new Wag House in 1833. |
| After 1861, the classes were taught in a newly-built building ,
today's "Humboldt Gymnasium". On the occasion of the centennial the
school was named "Queen Louise School". At this time 396 girls attended
the 15 classes of the institution. The school, called "Lyceum" (girls
secondary school) after 1910, was promoted to "Oberlyceum" (girls
high school) in 1916. On July 17, 1919, the first "Reifeprüfung" (graduation) took place. From 1922 until 1933 the school had the status of a German high school. After 1923 it was reshaped as a "New Girls' High School". In 1928, it was attended by 535 girls in 20 classes. In 1935 it was called "Queen Louise School, Public Girls' High School with Women's' School". On August 4, 1938, it was renamed to "Queen Louise School Public High School for Girls" and remained that way until the American bombings in April of 1945. On November 1, 1945, the school was reopened as "Wilhelm von Humboldt High School", the only school in town to prepare pupils for university. In 1946, within the Soviet occupation zone a new law for the democratization of the school came into effect. A unified school system was introduced, with 8 years of primary school and 4 years of high school. Being allowed to continue to high school after primary school did not only depend on very good grades but also on criteria like "social background" and "political opinion". From July of 1989 until August of 1990, the school building was reconstructed. As a consequence, the conditions of learning and working for both pupils and teachers improved considerably. The school now has special classrooms for physics, chemistry, computing and biology, there are additional labs, a new school gym, and a refectory with 104 seats. Since the German reunification the school has established manifold partnership relations with high schools in former West Germany. Partnerships with schools abroad have been arranged as well. We hope to improve and intensify the foreign language education through regular exchange programs. |
(Uta Prenzel, Melanie Jalowski)
Last changed March 12, 1997
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