Knight Academy (Brandenburg an der Havel)

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Building of the knight academy in the cathedral courtyard

The Knight Academy (originally knight school , then knight college ) in Brandenburg Cathedral , or after its incorporation in 1929 in Brandenburg an der Havel , was a school founded in 1704, which was affiliated with the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul . The Evangelical Gymnasium at Brandenburg Cathedral and the Evangelical Primary School Brandenburg an der Havel see themselves in the tradition of the Knight Academy. The old school building is used by the primary school. The building is listed.

history

In 1704, the Brandenburg Cathedral Chapter founded the Knight School with the approval of King Friedrich I in Prussia . On January 26, 1705, classes began in the school in the cathedral courtyard. Since 1717 its name has been Rittercollegium. The aim of the school was the training of Brandenburg and Pomeranian aristocracy . For example, foreign languages ​​such as French and natural sciences were taught . The focus, however, was on legal and political studies.

The school gained great importance after King Friedrich Wilhelm I decreed on June 8, 1729 that anyone who wanted to be employed in the Prussian civil service in the future had to attend such a school for at least two years. With the introduction of high school diplomas in 1788, a fixed timetable was introduced in the school. Since 1803 the name of the school has been Knight Academy .

In the course of the Prussian school reform, the Knight Academy became a grammar school in 1809 . During the wars of liberation , the school lost a lot of graduates and has since been converted into a hospital . After the resumption of classes, the school got problems again due to the absence of young noblemen, who now also attended municipal high schools. Starting in 1842, therefore, pupils from the middle classes were also admitted after the Prussian government had made this mandatory one year earlier.

In the years 1848/49 and especially when the Prussian National Assembly met in the Brandenburg Cathedral, the Knight Academy had to be protected by the military. Again the graduates stayed away, so that it was finally dissolved in 1849. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. , Who was particularly connected to Brandenburg an der Havel, ordered the re-establishment on April 30, 1855. Just one year later, on October 21, the knight academy was reopened in the presence of the king.

The building was rebuilt between 1868 and 1871 after the number of graduates had risen sharply again. On February 23, 1901, the association of former pupils of the knight academy was founded.

In 1937 it was decided to close the knight academy. Only the boarding school was to remain. The students were assigned to what was then the Saldern-Gymnasium . In 1948 it was decided to use the cathedral chapter as the legal successor to the knight academy. However, the school was never formally dissolved. In the following years, a high school moved into the rooms of the school, which it used until 1974.

Today there are parts of a Protestant elementary school in the building. In addition, the tradition of the Knight Academy is continued in a newly founded Protestant cathedral high school. On June 11, 2005, the anniversary was celebrated on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the knight academy. Among the guests were, for example, Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia , head of the Hohenzollern family , and the former graduate Otto Graf Lambsdorff .

Student (selection)

Teacher (selection)

  • Ernst Siegfried Köpke (1813–1883); Philologist, director from the 1850s until at least 1860
  • Ludwig Hasper (1825-1890); Classical philologist, senior teacher 1863–1867
  • Otto Heine (1832–1906), director of the school from October 15, 1883

literature

  • Program of the Knight Academy in Brandenburg . ( Digitized version )
  • Report: about d. School year from Easter ... to Easter ... ( digitized version )
  • The king of the most ... in the fixed hall of the Knights Academy held celebration of the Most birthday of His Majesty invites ... a . ( Digitized version )
  • Walter von Leers: The pupils of the Knight Academy in Brandenburg aH 1705-1913. Ludwigslust 1913

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the state of Brandenburg: City of Brandenburg an der Havel (PDF) Brandenburg State Office for Monument Preservation and State Archaeological Museum

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 55.7 ″  N , 12 ° 34 ′ 0.6 ″  E