Lessing-Gymnasium Karlsruhe

Lessing-Gymnasium Karlsruhe
type of school	high school
founding	1893 ; (today's building 1911)
address	Sophienstrasse 147
place	Karlsruhe
country	Baden-Württemberg
Country	Germany
Coordinates	49 ° 0 '29 " N , 8 ° 22' 31" E Coordinates: 49 ° 0 '29 " N , 8 ° 22' 31" E
carrier	City of Karlsruhe
student	about 780
Teachers	about 70
management	Ulrike Seitz
Website	lessing-gymnasium-karlsruhe.de

View over the school yard

The Lessing-Gymnasium is a general education high school located in the west of Karlsruhe . It was founded as the first girls' high school in Germany and is named after the Enlightenment poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781).

history

The history of the Lessing-Gymnasium Karlsruhe is closely linked to the history of girls' education in Germany. The women's education reform association founded by Hedwig Kettler in Weimar in 1888 had petitioned various state parliaments in the German Empire with the request for approval of a girls' high school . In the liberal Grand Duchy of Baden this was approved and after the city council of Karlsruhe had provided the association with 83 classrooms in the Waldstrasse building, reform of women's education was able to open Germany's first girls' high school with a ceremony on September 16, 1893 . When in 1897 the existence of the school was endangered due to financial and organizational problems at the sponsoring association, the city of Karlsruhe took it over as a high school branch of the higher girls' school , Sophienstrasse 14, where the first four pupils were able to take their school- leaving exams in 1899 .

The number of female students soon grew so much that the previous building became too small. A new building was erected on the property at Sophienstraße 147, which was occupied in 1911 by the high school train and part of the girls' secondary school. It is still the main and core building of the Lessing-Gymnasium today. At the suggestion of the then director Friedrich Keim , it was named after the poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing . The Fichte high school is now housed in the original building .

Co-education was introduced in 1973 .

In 1961 a new building was added to the old building, which housed the scientific departments and an auditorium. Since the Lessing-Gymnasium continues to grow, the construction of a solitary building in the schoolyard began in spring 2009, which , in addition to two classrooms, the teachers' room and meeting rooms, mainly houses the administration and a cafeteria . The construction work was finished in January 2010.

In 2011 the Lessing-Gymnasium Karlsruhe officially celebrated the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone with a series of events.

In 2018, the Lessing-Gymnasium celebrated the anniversary of "125 years of the first German girls' high school" in cooperation with the Fichte-Gymnasium and as part of the European Culture Days Karlsruhe.

Mission statement

The Lessing-Gymnasium sees itself as a school that is in constant dialogue. The self-developed concept names three levels on which this exchange takes place. The associated pedagogical guidelines aim to promote technical, methodological, personal and social skills. These three levels are defined as "School in dialogue during everyday school life", "School in dialogue with society" and "School in dialogue with art and culture".

profile

The Lessing-Gymnasium offers both a linguistic and a scientific element. All students start in the fifth grade with the first foreign language English. In the sixth grade, French or Latin follow as a second foreign language. From the eighth grade onwards, students choose the linguistic train with the third foreign language (Spanish) or the natural science train ( science and technology - NWT).

Pupil care

Since the 2008/2009 school year, the Lessing-Gymnasium has been offering support for lower-level students within the school. It is organized and supported by the Karlsruhe Children's City Church. It encompasses lunchtime supervision including meals and afternoon supervision, which lasts every day from the end of school until 4:00 pm.

In addition, the student co-responsibility (SMV) organizes homework supervision for grades 7 and 8 from Monday to Thursday between 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. It is led by committed high school students.

Known teachers or graduates

Joachim Draheim (* 1950), musicologist, music teacher and pianist; Latin and music teacher
Johanna Kappes (1873–1933), first medical student at the University of Freiburg (doctorate in 1904); pupil
Johann Georg Längin (1827–1897), Protestant theologian and writer; Teachers and sponsors
Magdalena Neff (born Meub ; 1881–1966), first student at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and first licensed pharmacist in Germany; pupil
Thekla Schild (1890–1991), architect, second graduate engineer in Germany; pupil
Rahel Straus (née Goitein ; 1880–1963), doctor, social worker, women's rights activist and Zionist; pupil
Herbert Wetterauer (* 1957), painter, sculptor and author; Senior teacher
Else Winnewisser (* 1937), painter, graphic artist; Director of Studies