Corvinianum high school

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Corvinianum high school
Gymnasium Corvinianum.jpg
type of school high school
founding 1477
address

Wieterstr. 4th

place Northeim
country Lower Saxony
Country Germany
Coordinates 51 ° 42 '12 "  N , 10 ° 0' 6"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 42 '12 "  N , 10 ° 0' 6"  E
carrier Northeim district
student 1006 (2019)
Teachers 85 (2019)
management Christoph Dönges
Website www.corvinianum.de

The Corvinianum grammar school is a general education grammar school in Northeim in southern Lower Saxony . It was founded in 1477 when the Latin school of the St. Blasien monastery was handed over to the municipal authorities. With a history going back well over 500 years, the Corvinianum is one of the oldest grammar schools in the German-speaking area and, with around 90 teachers and around 1000 students, is one of the largest schools in the region. The Corvinianum offers musical support.

Originally a high school exclusively for boys, the Corvinianum was merged with the Richenza School for girls in 1975 . Since then, the facility has been located in a building complex on Wieterstraße.

Naming

Anton Corvinus

The Gymnasium Corvinianum is named after the reformer of Northeim, Anton Corvinus . He was born on February 27, 1501 in Warburg an der Diemel. His original name was "Rabe", but he followed the example of many humanists and latinized his name in Corvinus. In 1539 he wrote the Northeim Church Ordinance, in which he prescribed the basic humanistic ideas of the school system within one chapter . Due to his significant contribution to shaping its educational goals, the school was officially named Corvinianum in 1905/06 when it was recognized as a full high school by the Ministry of Culture and when it moved to the newly built building on Wilhelmstrasse.

The rulers found the name problematic during the National Socialist era ; the school was renamed in 1940 in " Graf Otto School". This renaming was reversed after the end of the war.

history

Founding time (15th - 16th century)

The Corvinianum has its origins in the 15th century. At the beginning of the 15th century there was already a boys' school at the St. Blasien monastery and a municipal school near St. Sixti. Finally, Abbot Bernhard recognized, in spite of a previous ban by Pope Eugene IV. In 1432, that the Latin school of the Benedictine monastery was given municipal sponsorship. The schoolhouse and schoolmaster were consequently placed under Abbot Bernhard's say and financed by the city. This event on April 7, 1477 is considered to be the founding day of the Corvinianum.

In 1539 Anton Corvinus regulated the foundations of the school system in his Northeim church ordinance. On the one hand, he stipulated the employment and remuneration of the college, to which the rector, vice-principal, cantor and "infimus" (Latin: lowest in rank) should belong, and on the other hand, he provided a humanistic curriculum. The headmaster's salary at that time was 50 guilders a year. The specification included reading as well as an expansion of the range of subjects. It was also stipulated that the amount of the tuition would depend on the financial situation of the family of the person concerned. As a result, poor people did not have to pay school fees. In 1551 the schoolhouse was built north of the St. Sixti Church.

17.-18. century

In 1648 the vice-principal Johann Andreas Bütemeister took over the management of the school, although after the Thirty Years War only 40 of 150 full citizens were able to raise taxes. 1665–1671 the school was under the leadership of Johann Andreas Bütemeister for the second time.

In 1738, Gesner brought out school regulations stating that the focus had to be changed to the content that was important for bourgeois life. Only 40 years later did they respond to Gesner's school regulations in the form of a report to the Electorate in Hanover, in which the order was endorsed and disclosed in an applied form.

19th century

Seat of the Corvinianum until 1975, today a primary school

In 1808, Northeim's magistrate mentions the teacher Gödecke as being very eloquent. This was a great advantage, since French had been made a compulsory subject under King Hieronymus Napoleon because it belonged to the Kingdom of Westphalia . A few years later, in 1817, a new school building was built when the school was managed by the aforementioned Gödecke. Due to the danger of collapse of the dilapidated, old schoolhouse and due to the lack of space, a new building was necessary, which was erected west of the St. Sixti Church.

The mentioned lack of space was noted by Reddersen as early as 1808, because sometimes up to 95 students were taught in a larger room. Now that the school was in the new building, it was downgraded to a Progymnasium in 1829; In other words, it should only serve as preparation for attending the upper secondary school. The reason for the downgrading was a final examination, which from now on was required by the universities for admission. Because wealthy families had their sons privately tutored and ordinary citizens placed little value on their sons studying, the number of students in the grammar school declined. As a result, some subjects could no longer be taught.

Although grammar school and vocational education were clearly separated from each other under Rector Vennigerholz in 1857 , the fact that both branches were accommodated in the same building stood in the way of recognition as a full grammar school. As a result, the education system was based on the Prussian in 1869, since Hanover had previously been annexed by Prussia in 1866. Despite the separation that had taken place in the meantime (the community school was housed in the commandant's house on the market square), the status of a Progymnasium had to be retained. In 1882 the school was upgraded through an educational reform, but in 1892 it had to cede the rights of a full grammar school through another Prussian educational reform. Ultimately, Director Roesener succeeded in getting the school recognized as a humanistic full high school in 1902.

20th century

In 1905/06 the school was given the status of a full grammar school and a school building on Wilhelmstrasse was built in the neo-Gothic style. The costs for this amounted to about 216,000 marks . On the occasion of these events, the Ratsschule was officially named Gymnasium Corvinianum. In the following year the Corvinianum accommodated 12 teachers and 226 students. On October 1, 1913, Roesener retired after 35 years and was honored with a certificate by the Prussian King Wilhelm II for his special services . During the First World War the school lost students and teachers; In 1918 there were 143 fallen students. In 1925 there was a guideline that was supposed to encourage students to work out facts for themselves instead of reflecting on what they had learned. This did not prevail in the time of National Socialism.

Richenza Building (Building 2)

During the time of National Socialism , classes at the Corvinianum were reduced to a minimum, so that they only took place sporadically and school-leaving exams were rarely taken. The war years 1939–1945 were particularly hard hit. For example, the building was vacated for the period from May 4 to May 10 because of a Reichstag of the National Socialist War Victims Care (NSKOV), and in mid-August most of the students were used to harvest. It was therefore often not possible to assess the students. In September 1943 a reserve hospital was set up in the school building and lessons could not take place at times due to air raids. Severe winters and a lack of fuel also resulted in canceled classes. At Easter 1943, the final school-leaving examination was held during the war . Due to a lack of space, the lessons took place in rooms of the town hall, in the fire station or in restaurants. Harvesting and the collection of the years 1926–1928 made matters worse. After the Christmas holidays 1944/45, lessons under Bückmann's direction came to a complete standstill due to the war. The Corvinianum ("Graf Otto School") had previously been cleared from Poland for a war hospital. American troops captured the city in 1945. 3 teachers and 185 students were killed in World War II. In November 1945 classes could be resumed under the British occupation forces.

post war period

Old gym, demolished in 2011
Building 3, demolished in 2012

In 1950, both the Richenza School and the Corvinianum were housed in the Scharnhorst barracks complex. In 1953 Rudolf Bückmann retired after 25 years. His successor, Herbert Fankhänel, tried to move back to the traditional building on Wilhelmstrasse, which still housed a hospital. The new building of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in 1957 eased the spatial situation of the secondary schools. A generous extension of the neo-Gothic building towards Goethestrasse with modern science rooms, a lounge for schoolchildren, a teaching pool and enough classrooms for the almost 600 schoolchildren succeeded thanks to the efforts of the headmaster and his employees Heinrich Ungerer and Georg Wittram and the efforts of the parents. The establishment of the natural science branch, which supplemented the modern language branch and led to the Abitur for the first time in 1963, was as much credit to the school management as to the parents. The complete move to the old and new buildings on Wilhelmstrasse and Goethestrasse was celebrated at the end of January / beginning of February 1959 in a “festival week” lasting several days. In 1971 Ulfert Balcke-Herlyn became the new headmaster, who had to manage the amalgamation of the two high schools and another move, renovation and new building. Under the name Corvinianum, the two high schools in Northeim were merged in 1975 to form a coeducational high school. Until August 1, 1975, the new location was made up of the buildings of the Richenza School, the Martin Luther School and the Cardinal Bertram School. These three buildings were connected by a new building erected at the beginning of 1974. Due to the resolutions of the Ministry of Culture, the newly created course system with individual focuses came into force on August 1, 1976.

An extensive renovation of the school took place since 2011. A large part of the historical building fabric fell victim to the renovation work, such as an old gym and the former building of the Cardinal Bertram School, which last functioned as building 3.

The Richenza School

For a long time the Corvinianum was a high school exclusively for boys. This changed in 1975 when the Corvinianum was merged with a girls' high school (Richenza school) . Below is a brief outline of the history of the Richenza School:

The beginning as a secondary school for girls

In 1836 the then rector of the Northeimer Progymnasium, Mr. Gieren, founded a private secondary school for girls . In this private school 18 girls from the Northeim upper class were initially taught. These were cared for across grades for an annual school fee of 12 Talers. In the following years the number of female students increased only cautiously.

In 1871, the school board of the secondary school for daughters applied for aid and grants from the city council of Northeim. This was refused. Nevertheless, a third class was established. To cover the increased costs, the school fees had to be increased from 16 to 18 thalers. In terms of content, the girls were primarily prepared for an appropriate participation in the intellectual achievements of the time and for a marriage and family life based on the idea of ​​education. In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, literature, drawing, music, religion, handicrafts and housekeeping were also taught.

Gain in importance

The move into the first school building on the former mayor's wall, today's Friedrich-Ebert-Wall, is dated for the year 1888. 60 students have now been taught. The school was managed by a board of directors made up of parents and city representatives and the conductor, the headmaster. From 1874 to 1882, the headmistress was the head of the high school for boys and city historians, Rector Vennigerholz, and from 1882 to 1905 Senior Tölke and Rector Schröder. Teaching was mainly given by the teachers of the Northeimer Bürgerschule and candidates for theology. As a rule, they performed their duties on a part-time basis.

In 1904, the government and the city of Northeim decided to hire a full-time director and introduce a mandatory curriculum. Between 1905 and 1925 Marie Willerding (1861–1957) was the headmistress. When she took office, the school had 60 students from eight years in four classes. It is dated for the year 1906: A first preschool class will be set up at the Höhere Töchterschule for girls and boys, which means that the institution now also performs public education tasks and also serves as a preliminary stage to the Corvinianum grammar school, the boys’s grammar school.

The namesake: Richenza von Northeim

In 1909 the city of Northeim granted the school two more classes. There was also a 10th grade from now on. At that time, lack of space led to some of the lessons being outsourced from the previous rooms to the rooms of Citizens School II in the old barracks, on whose premises the indoor swimming pool is now located. On the initiative of the headmistress, the school was also named "Richenza School" after Richenza von Northeim († 1141), a German empress from Northeim.

In 1910 the school had 10 classes and by 1912 five full-time teachers were newly hired. From 1913 the school was administered by the city of Northeim and received the status of a public school. It had previously been a private school.

After the First World War

After the First World War the upward development of the institution continued. Now 264 students have been taught. By 1927, it was converted into a lyceum, so that talented pupils can be released into the upper level of a secondary school after the 10th school year without further examination. As a result, the city began to hire academically trained teachers and directors. From 1925 to 1935 Venzlaff was director of studies, then until 1946 Schlag senior director and until 1948 Pleistern.

In 1926 the school moved into the building of the former Prussian teachers' college in Wieterstraße, which is still used today by the Corvinianum. Thus, all classes could now be taught under one roof. In 1933 the establishment of its own upper level began after the school was fully recognized as a state high school. Between 1938 and 1941, six students took their school-leaving exams at the Richenza School for the first time.

During the Second World War, the school building served as an auxiliary hospital and later as a hospital. The building was therefore closed to school use for 16 years. As a result, the lessons had to be relocated to inadequate auxiliary locations, which hindered the smooth running of the school. These rooms were scattered all over Northeim, for example in the evangelical parish hall, the administration building of the municipal utilities, in the old barracks, in the former youth home, in the fire station and in other places where there was space. Restaurants were also used.

Conversion after the Second World War

After the war there were over 500 students who were taught in 14 classes. This was also due to the influx of displaced persons and refugees from the former German eastern regions. Under the direction of Oberstudiendirektor Erdmann from 1948 to 1956 the conversion into a modern language high school for girls took place.

With the allocation of a building to the Scharnhorst barracks, which had been vacated by the British occupation forces, the shortage of space was alleviated and the afternoon classes were no longer needed.

In 1956 the last director of studies, Ebel, began his service. The number of female students had meanwhile dropped to 362. There were 13 classes. Because many pupils left the school after the 10th grade, there was a risk that the upper school would be dismantled and it was feared that the Richenza school would become a Progymnasium again. However, this trend could be stopped and as early as 1957 the city council decided to set up another 5th class. After the new Albert Schweitzer Hospital above the school had been completed, the Richenza School was able to return to its school building on Wieterstrasse, which it received in 1959/1960 in a renovated and expanded state.

Student numbers, end of 1975

In 1961 the school celebrated its 125th anniversary with a week of festivities. She now had 407 students in 15 classes. In 1965 the upper school was run in two classes. More and more female students passed their Abitur. In 1968 two classes passed the Abitur for the first time and from 1970 onwards Latin was offered as a second foreign language in addition to French.

The school had its largest number of pupils with 671 pupils in 24 classes in 1973. When the orientation level was introduced in Lower Saxony in the 1973/74 school year , the number of pupils fell to 499 girls in 19 classes in 1975.

In 1975, Senior Studies Director Ebel retired. This year also marked the end of the school's 139-year history. With effect from August 1, 1975, the two Northeim high schools were merged to form a coeducational high school under the name Gymnasium Corvinianum .

That year there were 46 teachers at the school, 26 of whom were women. Between 1941 and 1975, 645 girls graduated from the Richenza School.

Current data

The building complex on Wieterstraße currently houses more than 1200 students and a staff of around 100 teachers under the direction of Christoph Dönges. The school has three buildings for this purpose, which are connected by a fourth, the new building. Two schoolyards and two sports halls also belong to the school grounds. A third sports hall, which originally belonged to the Richenza School (Building 2), was demolished in 2011.

In building 1 there are classrooms, the school kiosk and a large auditorium. In the adjoining building 0, the administration area, the teachers' room and a large forum are located on the ground floor. The music area, art and computer rooms are located on the floor above. Above that, the scientific specialist rooms can be found. The southern building 2 has further classrooms and another smaller auditorium.

The multifunctional building, which was reopened in 2012, houses the school library, a cafeteria, which can also be used as a ballroom due to an existing stage, a computer room and classrooms for the upper level.

Until 2012, the Corvinianum still had buildings 3 and 4. They contained additional classrooms, which were mainly used by the upper school, as well as a computer room and other art rooms. During the renovation work, they were removed in favor of a free space that will later be used as a basketball court or third schoolyard.

School profile

Promotion and AGs

For the students there is a selection of working groups and the opportunity to receive special support.

The focus is on musical and creative education, which is achieved through working groups such as the school orchestra "Capella Corviniensis" under the direction of Thomas Constien, which has grown into a symphony orchestra since it was founded in 1956 by Heinz-Günter Karbaum , or through the school choir Ars Musica Vocalis, also under the direction of Thomas Constien, becomes clear. There is also a “Corvi Jazz Band”, which was founded by Lothar Kohn in 1978 and taken over in 2014 by Jörg-Maik Mauksch. These working groups present the results of their work at the traditional musical evenings of the Corvinianum, which take place over two days in the Northeimer Stadthalle due to demand. In addition, there is a theater company founded in 1976, which is called Die Zündhölzer .

In addition, the Musical Youth Fund Northeim e. V. , which is located in the music area of ​​the school and offers private music lessons. The concept “Students help students” (ShS) provides for tutoring, which enables the lower level to take tutoring from upper level students. In addition, sports groups or sports excursions create physical balance. At the Großer Kiessee , the Corvinianum has rowing boats and canoes for sports lessons and for working groups .

The Corvinianum also specifically promotes pupils with special talents and is active in the "Cooperation Association for Highly Talented", which also includes two primary schools in Northeim.

Many working groups or purchases for the pupils, such as the table tennis tables, the furniture in the cafeteria, the design of the schoolyards, are often financed by the “ Förderverein Gymnasium Corvinianum e. V. ".

Since 2010, after a long break, the Corvinianum has had a school newspaper , the Rabenpost , and, since the end of 2012, the school television focus Corvi .

Theater-AG The matches

The matches play the play The Life of Peter Haus

On December 5, 1976, under the direction of Hans-Joachim Bötel, the first theater working group in the almost 500-year history of the Corvinianum grammar school in Northeim was founded. In January 1978, the first production of the matches - the name should stand for brilliant ideas on the stage - was performed in the old Northeim town hall, namely Biedermann und die Arsonstifter by Max Frisch . Three more productions were created under the direction of Bötel.

In June 1981 the head of the working group changed. In place of the founder, Heinz Weyhing took over the management, from whom the matches are still managed today.

Since 1976, the range of what has been played has been broad. The German-language literature of the 20th century, especially in the early days, played a major role. Here are Michael Ende , the already mentioned Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt to mention. Even in the original, non-German speaking authors were welcome guests at the matches. William Shakespeare e.g. B. has been frequently played with three different works. But also modern authors like Agatha Christie got the matches high audience numbers (e.g. ten little negroes in 1989 with almost 700 viewers). Loriot , who had passed his Abitur at the Corvinianum after the Second World War , was also very fond of playing . Often his skits were part of the match repertoire.

In the 2000s, plays written by members of the theater group were also performed: In the end I stand (Mirja Oelker, 2001), The Destiny (Christoph Brodhun, 2006) or joint productions such as Rhythmus des Lebens (2001), music theater - 525 years Corvinianum (2002), Four Letters Without Hope - AIDS (2005) and Achim Topf (2006).

The matches were often supported by other Corvi working groups, e.g. B. from the jazz band or the lower school choir. The highlight in this regard is certainly the piece of music theater , written for the 525th birthday of the Corvinianum , which was successfully performed together by the theater group and the various musical school working groups.

For several years now, the matches have not been the only theater group at the Corvinianum. In the 1990s, for example, the “junior group” of the matches, Die Zündis, was founded, which is now headed by Henning Bruns and offers younger acting talent the opportunity to gain initial experience with the theater. English-language theater has also existed at the Corvinianum for several years. The English Drama Group has also long since gained a regular audience. And finally, the various courses in the school subject “Performing Games”, which has been taught as the third musical and artistic subject for several years, should also be mentioned. They, too, regularly develop plays and perform them.

Partner schools

In addition to the activities already mentioned, the Corvinianum maintains relationships with several partner schools and thus offers students the opportunity to take part in student exchanges.

The school has a choir partnership with the Goethegymnasium Weimar as well as with schools in Tallinn , Estonia , and in Břeclav , Czech Republic . In addition, there are regular student exchanges with a school in Magnanville near Paris , the Westford Academy in Westford near Boston and the Peterschule in St. Petersburg .

Well-known graduates

Known teachers

successes

In the past few years, students at the Corvinianum have achieved successes in the state and nationwide competitions Jugend trained for the Olympics and Jugend musiziert .

In addition, students won prizes in the Federal President's history competition, the Mathematics Olympiad, the foreign language competition, national / international film competitions and a national competition organized by the news magazine Focus.

School events

Certain events of the school have now established themselves in their tradition. These include the two annual musical evenings on which u. a. Participate in working groups of the school and perform musical and dance interludes for the residents of Northeim. There is also an annual sports day for the lower grades followed by a football game between the teachers and the student team. The themed evenings should also be mentioned, such as the Spanish Fiesta Latina or the literature café.

Sources and literature

  • Realprogymnasium Northeim (Ed.): Program of the Realprogymnasium in Northeim . Northeim 1883–1895 ( digitized version )
  • Realprogymnasium in conversion to Progymnasium with real departments in Tertia and Secunda realized in Northeim (Hrsg.): Program of Realprogymnasium in Northeim, which is in the conversion to Progymnasium with Real departments in Tertia and Secunda . Northeim 1896–1897 ( digitized version )
  • Progymnasium with Real Departments in Tertia and Secondary Connected to Northeim (Ed.): Program of the Progymnasium in Northeim connected with Real Departments in Tertia and Seconda . Northeim 1898–1903 ( digitized version )
  • Gymnasium i. E., Northeim (Ed.): Program of the Gymnasium iE in Northeim (with real substitute lessons in classes U III to U II incl.) . Northeim 1904–1905 ( digitized version )
  • Gymnasium Corvinianum (Ed.): Program of the Gymnasium zu Northeim (with real substitute lessons in classes U III to U II incl.) . Northeim 1906 ( digitized version )
  • Gymnasium Corvinianum (Ed.): Annual report on the Gymnasium Corvinianum in Northeim (with real substitute lessons in classes U III to U II incl.) . Northeim 1907–1915 ( digitized version )
  • Günter Merl (editor): Corvinianum. 1477-1977. Festschrift for the 500th anniversary of the Northeimer Gymnasium . Gymnasium Corvinianum, Northeim 1977 (111 pages)
  • Gymnasium Corvinianum Northeim: 525 years of Gymnasium Corvinianum Northeim. Municipal school. 1477-2002 . Gymnasium Corvinianum, Northeim 2002 (117 pages)

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Gymnasium Corvinianum Northeim (Ed.): Gymnasium Corvinianum 525 years. Municipal school 1477–2002. via Hannoprint, Hannover 2002, p. 13.
  2. A detailed appraisal of Fankhänel can be found e.g. B. under this link: https://docelieb.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/clarorum-virorum-facta-moresque/
  3. See the contribution by Lydia Kretzer in Northeim in the 20th century, Heimat- und Museumsverein für Northeim und Umgebung e. V., Northeim 2002.
  4. More space for breaks . In: Northeimer Neuesten Nachrichten , No. 39/2012
  5. From the history of the Northeim Richenza School Gymnasium for girls until 1975. In: Festschrift 2002: Gymnasium Corvinianum 525 years, pp. 23–26.
  6. Christoph Brodhun: The Theater AG The matches. In: Program for "Romeo and Juliet", 2007.
  7. see e.g. B. the interview on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research: Archive link ( Memento from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive )