Kopernikus-Gymnasium knowledge
| Copernicus High School | |
|---|---|
| type of school | high school |
| founding | 1946 |
| address |
Pirzenthaler Strasse 43 |
| place | Knowledge |
| country | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 47 '13 " N , 7 ° 43' 2" E |
| carrier | Altenkirchen district (Westerwald) |
| student | 772 |
| Teachers | 58 |
| management | Katja Weidt |
| Website | www.gymnasium-wissen.de |
The Kopernikus-Gymnasium is a high school in knowledge in northern Rhineland-Palatinate .
history
The origin of today's Kopernikus- Gymnasium lies in a "private secondary school ", which was created on the initiative of some citizens of the region in 1861, who wanted to offer young people an education beyond the elementary school , which had just become compulsory at the time , but not only to children and young people wealthy families, but as many as possible. Knowledge itself had about 1500 inhabitants at that time.
A first attempt (1861-1919)
Despite financial problems, more than 70 children were taught two years after it was founded, a success that was also noticed by the municipal council, which took over the private school in 1863 and decided to build a school building. It was also stipulated that children from Protestant families, which at that time were a clear minority in the region, were allowed to attend school, which was rarely allowed. The school, which was also the first communal school in the entire Altenkirchen district, was run by a Catholic clergyman. Due to massive problems in getting teachers in the Westerwald and at high costs, this school was then closed again in 1878. Until 1886 there was only the elementary school in Wissen, then a second attempt was made at a private secondary school, which, however, received no support at all from the public and was housed in a coffee shop, where there were only two rooms available for teaching .
Knowledge gets a high school (1919–1951)
With the Wissen mayor Stein, who realized that a grammar school in Wissen would be important not only for the developing city but for the entire surrounding area, the maintenance of the city for a grammar school sponsored by the municipality of Wissen was secured. In addition, the school got its own school building again, which was located in Mittelstrasse. The grammar school was now directly successful if you take the number of students as a measure: if you counted 40 students in the year it was founded, five years later there were 150.
The city of Wissen wanted to bring the grammar school to a higher level known at the time as the Progymnasium , a type of school that was not supported by a city or municipality, but by the government. However, this insisted on suitable rooms and demanded that the co-education be terminated . The city of Wissen was only able to solve these problems in 1928 when it was decided to build a new school building and convert the grammar school into a Realprogymnasium , which could be attended after attending primary school. The girls should be taught in an independent girls' school , but at the middle school level, to be equated with today's secondary school . Building land was made available on the Löh as the school site for the new Realprogymnasium, where the new school building was inaugurated in 1929. The first headmaster of the Realprogymnasium was Johannes Müller as director of studies, the only teacher at the inauguration was Heinrich Holschbach, who had already worked as a study assessor in the private high school and was to teach knowledge as a teacher for over thirty years. In order to take account of the increasing number of students, additional positions for student councils were advertised and the school's equipment was also brought up to a high level. At that time, the equipment was considered progressive, as a gym and even an auditorium were built in addition to rooms for the natural sciences.
In 1936 the National Socialists , who did not like a school with a Christian character, ended the existence of the Realprogymnasium on the grounds that the maintenance costs were no longer affordable. Incidentally, the girls' school remained, while the district vocational school moved in on the Löh. Of course, the boys had to continue to be offered lessons so that they also went to middle school with the girls. Classes ended in 1945 when the war reached the Wisserland and regular classes were no longer possible.
After the end of the war, the high school on the Löh was reopened as a secondary school and attended by girls and boys. This meant that lessons could already be started in class 5, so that the grammar school became a "full institution", which it is to this day. Headmaster Müller, who was deposed by the National Socialists in 1935, returned and took over management until his retirement in 1951.
About Victory (1951–1972)
Müller's successor at the beginning of the 1952 school year was Paul Kämpchen, who came from Boppard , started his service in knowledge and fought the shortage of space that arose. He stubbornly defended himself against school barracks and pushed through an extension to the existing school building on the Löh, which was available in 1957. Under the direction of Kämpchen, the school was also "internally" expanded, because he introduced the student administration and took care of libraries and scientific collections. His eight years as headmaster ended when he was called back to Boppard. This happened very suddenly, because the post of headmaster was vacant for over a year until Josef Twieg could be appointed in April 1961.
The next major development step was initiated under the direction of Twieg, because in March 1967 the district council decided to build a new school building at a new location - in Pirzenthaler Straße, where the grammar school is still located today. In September 1971, more than four years after the resolution was passed, the foundation stone was laid. Actually, a completely different plot of land, located “Am Blee”, was planned for development. This area belonged to the Catholic parish, which was to be acquired by the Altenkirchen district via barter. The church agreed directly, the Ministry of Education and Culture approved the idea unconditionally, but after the exchange, the district of Altenkirchen withdrew the site from its intended purpose (without justification and without prior information to the city of Wissen, its citizens and also to the annoyance of the Ministry of Education) To offer an alternative for the new building.
The delay and the resulting barracks around the existing school building made those responsible rethink and plan a school with over 30 classrooms. The community wanted to use the site of the exploited clay pit on the Hämmerberg as a new school location, but to do this, neighboring houses would have had to be bought and demolished by the community beforehand. A new building on the Löh was also considered; due to the low development potential of the location, this plan was quickly rejected.
In the end, four options were shortlisted: on the outskirts in Köttingen , on Kuckucksberg, in Kalkschlade in Schönstein and on Pirzenthaler Straße. The location in Kalkschlade in particular would have offered many possibilities, a school center was even up for debate. In the end, however, the committees decided to build on Pirzenthaler Strasse, for which purpose 25,000 square meters were purchased from the Fürstlich- Hatzfeldt administration. The purchase price was generated through the sale of the community-owned Hoppenstein forest.
The problems with the new building did not end there. In 1968 an architecture competition was announced, which the architects Elsbeth and Konrad Schloßberger from Andernach were able to win in April 1969, but in the middle of the further planning work a construction freeze was imposed - the building, according to the reasons given by the responsible authorities, might be in the wrong place built. They checked whether they should build in the Kalkschlade after all. The construction freeze was lifted a few months later, but the planners and craftsmen had long since accepted other work that had to be completed first. The groundbreaking ceremony could not take place until September 11, 1970, and the foundation stone was laid on June 16, 1971. At the beginning of the school year in September 1972, the grammar school was able to move into the new building.
Restructuring and renovation (1973-2018)
A few years after moving into the new school building, a 40-year cooperation began with the local secondary school , with which the orientation level was shared under the direction of the grammar school . At the beginning of the millennium, the Kopernikus-Gymnasium introduced two profile classes, beginning with class 7: A laptop class, which was increasingly taught medially and digitally, and a "Begys" class (BeGys = gifted education at high schools), in which the pupils Grades 7 to 10 can be completed in just three instead of four years, skipping a class level in the class as the content of the lesson is learned in three quarters of the school year instead of a full school year.
In 2014, the renovation of the school began to make it fit for the future: A new building in the natural science wing led to modern subject rooms with a wide range of options for modern, practical teaching; The rooms that became free were redesigned into spacious classrooms, the facade was renewed and the school modernized in every respect. In the meantime, every classroom is equipped with internet connections, a close-range projector, a digital board in addition to a double pylon board and whiteboards.
today
The Kopernikus-Gymnasium is now a school that is firmly rooted in the region and has seen a sharp increase in the number of pupils over the past 10 years. Due to the special situation in the orientation level (see below), the school currently has eight classes in class 5, six classes in class 6 and, from class 7, usually four to five classes for medium class sizes. School trips take place in grades 6 (three days) and 8 (five days). In the upper level, attention is paid to a wide range of advanced courses, so that in addition to the usual advanced courses in German, English, French, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history and social sciences, the subjects of fine arts, sports and Latin are also regularly offered . The KGW is one of the first schools in Rhineland-Palatinate to teach "performing games" in the basic course area. In grade 11, the students take part in a two-week supervised internship. In the second half of year 12 there are study trips for the upper level, organized by the alternating departments. In addition, language trips to Italy , France and Spain are offered and carried out on a regular basis.
The first foreign language of all pupils in the fifth grade is English , in the sixth grade there is a choice of French and Latin , for the voluntary third language the respective other is provided, in addition, computer science and Spanish can be chosen. In the upper level it is possible to take Spanish and, in the form of study groups, Italian and Russian .
The Kopernikus-Gymnasium has two partner schools with which there is a regular and intensive exchange: with the French Collège Louise Michel in Chagny and the Polish Jan Kilinski Liceum in Krapkowice . In addition, there is regular student exchange with Polish schools and the Bad Marienberg Evangelical Gymnasium.
Special features in the orientation level
The Kopernikus-Gymnasium cooperated with the local Marion-Dönhoff- Realschule for over 40 years in the orientation level (grades 5 and 6) . The children registered at both schools were taught together at the secondary school for the first two years, the place of instruction was the grammar school. With the amalgamation of the secondary and secondary schools in Rhineland-Palatinate to form Realschule plus, the system was fundamentally retained, but due to the large grades that have now emerged, one grade at the grammar school and the next at the secondary school were accommodated alternately. After the 6th grade, the division was made between grammar school and secondary school plus. Since the 2018/19 school year, both schools have also been independent in the orientation level after clear votes.
Others
- For many years there have been working groups a. an archery group school choir, the school newspaper " Querkopf ", an environmental group with its own shop, an experimental group for the middle school, a beekeeper group with its own bee colonies or a theater group.
- The Kopernikus-Gymnasium has a school medical service, which is run and organized by schoolchildren and is able to provide first aid to sick and injured people in emergencies.
- Together with the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium in Betzdorf , the Ruanda-AG organizes a biennial trip to Rwanda , the partner country of Rhineland-Palatinate, to get to know the partner schools and the country as well as the living conditions.
- The Kopernikus-Gymnasium has been a training school for teaching at grammar schools since August 1, 2010, connected to the state study seminar in Koblenz with the branch in Altenkirchen (Westerwald) .
- On December 10, 2011, the grammar school celebrated 150 years of higher education in knowledge as part of an alumni meeting that included all former students, teachers and employees and an "open door" in the grammar school . The focus in teaching projects and documentation was the history and future prospects of the Kopernikus Gymnasium.
Former students
- Thomas Enders (* 1958), manager, CEO of the Airbus Group .
- Andreas Rödder (* 1967), Professor of Modern History at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz .
- Josef Sanktjohanser (* 1950), President of the Main Association of German Retailers (HDE).
- Jessica Weller (* 1983), politician (CDU), member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament
literature
- Ulrike Kögler u. a .: 25 years of Kopernikus-Gymnasium . Rewi, Wissen 1997.
- Horst Günther Koch: State high school knowledge. For the inauguration of the new building in 1972 . Vorländer, Siegen 1972.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The school management at the Kopernikus Gymnasium. In: www.gymnasium-wissen.de. Retrieved March 5, 2020 .