Queen Olga pen

Queen Olga Stift Gymnasium Stuttgart
type of school	high school
founding	1873
address	Johannesstrasse 18
place	Stuttgart
country	Baden-Württemberg
Country	Germany
Coordinates	48 ° 46 '31 "  N , 9 ° 9' 49"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 46 '31 "  N , 9 ° 9' 49"  E
student	approx. 540
Website	www.olga-stift.de

The Königin-Olga-Stift (often abbreviated as KOSt ) is a grammar school in Stuttgart founded by Queen Olga in 1873 . Since 1992, the Königin-Olga-Stift has been the first bilingual grammar school in the country to offer classes in English in the subjects of geography , history and biology (as well as other bilingual content). As one of four schools in Baden-Württemberg, the Königin-Olga-Stift has also been a member of the “Association of Mathematical and Scientific Excellence Centers in Schools” (MINT EC) since 2007 .

School history

The Königin-Olga-Stift was founded in 1873 by the wife of the Württemberg ruler Karl I. Queen Olga as a girls' school. This status was retained until the middle of the 20th century, since the Königin-Olga-Stift is now a public, general high school for boys and girls.

Due to the age, parts of the school building are under monument protection.

Bilingual teaching

In 1992, the Königin-Olga-Stift introduced bilingual teaching as the first grammar school in the country. This regularly comprises the subjects geography (7th grade), history and geography (8th grade - 9th grade) and biology (9th, 10th and 11th grade; since 2006 also in the course level for the international Abitur ).

As further offers in the bilingual area there are several working groups, such as the Debating Club , which regularly participates in regional and international competitions with schoolchildren according to the rules of the World Schools Style , a preparatory course for the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English , a business English course, as well as the opportunity to attend a seminar course in English in the upper level .

Due to its pioneering role in this area, the Königin-Olga-Stift has often participated in national information events and has appeared in national media several times; In 2002, among other things, an article in the American TIME magazine reported on the Queen Olga Pen.

Partner schools

Not least because of the bilingual tradition, the Königin-Olga-Stift has a large network of partner schools worldwide. In the US, there is a partnership with McNary High School and West Salem High School , both of which are located in the capital of the state of Oregon , Salem . In India there is a partnership with Springdales School in New Delhi and due to the Russian tradition at the school a partnership is also maintained with High School No. 1 in Samara , Russia .

architectural art

At the end of the 1950s, an extension with six additional classrooms and a gym was built for the Königin-Olga-Stift according to a design by the architect Walter Salver (1907-2000), which was ready for occupancy in 1962.

The Stuttgart sculptor Eva Zippel was commissioned to artistically design the floor drinking fountain and the staircase wall to the gym. The orders were carried out by her in 1961.

Insect wall

General view of the insect wall

Individual tiles of the insect wall (numbering from top to bottom)

The white plaster of the stair wall to the gym consists of irregular vertical strips of rough and smooth plaster, which are bordered by scratch plaster lines. Most of the ceramic tiles of various sizes are lined up along a line of scratched plaster in a wide, smooth plastered field. The rest are loosely distributed, mainly along a rough plaster strip. The 17 colored tiles bear the reliefs of naturally depicted insects.

drinking fountain

Eva Zippel also created the artistic decorations for the drinking fountains, which were installed on the individual floors.

Wall fountain

Free standing fountain

The wall fountain with open, chrome-plated installations consists of an artificial stone basin and a back wall with a mosaic of rectangular ceramic plates of various sizes, the color of which changes between pink and dark purple. The free-standing, conical round fountain (height 80 cm, diameter 60 cm) is covered with a ceramic colored mosaic. It shows stylized fish romping about in a sea-colored environment of green and blue hues.

Web links

Commons : Queen Olga Pen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the Queen Olga Monastery

Individual evidence

1. ↑ TIME Article
2. ↑ 125 precious years 1873 - 1998. Jubilee journal Gymnasium Königin-Olga-Stift Stuttgart. Stuttgart 1998, p. 34.
3. ↑ Eva Zippel's website, catalog raisonné .