Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium Weimar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South view of the "old high school" on Herderplatz in Weimar (before the renovation)

The Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium at Herderplatz 14 in Weimar was founded in 1712 by Duke Wilhelm Ernst and is the oldest school building in the city. Here u. a. the writers Johann Gottfried Herder , Johann Heinrich Voss , Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer and Johann Karl August Musäus school lessons. The old grammar school is designated as a single monument and one of the few preserved secular buildings from the pre-classical period in Weimar. It is in a prominent urban development location in the old town and, as one of three Weimar Herder sites , it is part of the “ Classic Weimar ” ensemble , which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 .

history

Fencing master Weischner of the Weimar High School poses with a student for an illustration in his fencing textbook from 1765

The Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium was founded in 1712 at the behest of Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxony-Weimar instead of the old town and country school from 1561 as a new ducal school for the gifted under the name "Wilhelminum Ernestinum" . The teachers here included Johann Heinrich Voss , Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer and Johann Karl August Musäus . After several years of school use, General Superintendent Johann Gottfried Herder, who had been appointed to Weimar, took over the directorate of the grammar school in 1776 and, as Ephorus , was also given overall supervision over all schools in the Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach . From 1784 onwards, Grand Duke Karl August von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach left the ballroom to the Reformed community for worship. Around 1800 the school received a school library that had been lacking for a long time (parts of it came to the Weimar City Archives around 1950). In the 19th century the building continued to serve as a humanistic grammar school . On October 10, 1887, increasing numbers of pupils led to the move to a larger new school building at Amalienstraße 4 in Weimar (since September 1991 the Goethe Gymnasium Weimar ). The old building on Herderplatz served as the Grand Ducal Saxon Building Trade School from 1910 . The Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium was only referred to as such until 1945. In 1953, a museum for natural history was set up in the former grammar school in the GDR . The building also included the “Polytechnic Center” of the Weimar schools with teaching classes and production rooms.

Building

The Herderplatz from the southeast around 1840, on the right the Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium with outside staircase, steel engraving by L. Oeder
South entrance of the school with a stone staircase, in front of it the cast iron “Herderbrunnen” by CW Coudray

The baroque-style school building , which still bears the inscription “ Soli deo gloria ” (Latin for “Only God for Glory”), was built between 1712 and 1716 right next to the town church of St. Peter and Paul under the direction of master builder Christian Richter built. It is a three-storey building with a high, extended mansard roof and a small roof house. The facade is emphasized by a three-axis central projection, which is crowned by a two-storey dwelling . In front of the facade there is a sweeping, two - flight flight of stairs that dominates the entire forecourt. A staircase is built on the north side like a risalit, through which the floors are accessed. The originally probably stone staircase was replaced by a wooden staircase in 1860. In 1976 the once spacious foyer , which connected the ground floor with the upper floor, was closed in favor of an additional classroom and a massive staircase core was installed as a steel construction with concrete block steps. The building has six large classrooms and a hall on the ground floor and first floor, the stucco ceiling of which has largely been preserved. The teacher's apartments were once housed on the second floor and the attic. A few double-leaf doors and windows of the original doors and windows are still preserved, the rest were replaced at a later time. During the GDR era, a politically influenced mural made of painted tiles was installed in the entrance area.

Herderbrunnen

In front of the stone staircase of the Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium, in the direction of Herderplatz, there has been an octagonal, cast-iron fountain since 1832 based on the design of the architect and senior building director Clemens Wenzeslaus Coudray , which was appropriately named "Herderbrunnen" for the location. Its parts were cast in a Franconian iron foundry near Coburg . Its appearance is similar to the first cast iron fountain in Weimar, the "Goethe fountain", which was set up on the Frauenplan in 1822 (see: Fountain in Weimar ). Here, too, the inlet into the fountain can be seen above an obelisk with a crowning crater . The gargoyle has the shape of a devil's face. A stylized snake adorns one of the plates of the fountain in the middle. The edges of the panels, on the other hand, are each bordered by a continuous meander band . The base, the heel stones and the dog trough are made of travertine in contrast to the cast iron basin .

Todays use

This article or section needs revision: The article seems out of date.
Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

The premises of the building, now also known as the “Altes Gymnasium Weimar” , was used after 1990 by the non-commercial local radio “ Lotte ” (until 2008) and by the neighboring Weimar Adult Education Center, the latter still using it today. The UNESCO ensemble “ Classic Weimar ” from the former grammar school, the Herderhaus and the city church of St. Peter and Paul, known as the “ Herder Church ”, was restored with 5.4 million euros from the Federal Government's “National UNESCO World Heritage Site Investment Program” . No agreement has yet been reached for the subsequent use. In January 2010 the Friends of the Goethe National Museum suggested the idea of ​​setting up a “Herder Museum” in the former school building to commemorate the work of the poet, translator, philosopher and theologian at the place where he worked.

Directors

Senior directors and vice-directors of the grammar school (sorted by term of office):

  • Johann Matthias Gesner (1691–1761), classical philologist and librarian - vice rector from 1715 to 1729
  • Jakob Carpov (1699–1768), philosopher, theologian and mathematician, rector from 1737, director from 1745 to 1768
  • Johann Michael Heinze (1717–1790), philologist, rector
  • Johann Friedrich Hirt (1719–1783), Protestant theologian, orientalist, philosopher - Vice Rector from 1748 to 1758
  • Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), poet, translator, theologian, philosopher etc. - director from 1776 to 1791
  • Karl August Böttiger (1760–1835), philologist, archaeological writer - director from 1791 to 1806
  • August Gotthilf Gernhard (1771–1845), philologist - director from 1819 to 1845
  • Johann Friedrich Röhr (1777–1848), theologian, writer, Goethe's oratory - Ephorus from 1820
  • Hermann Sauppe (1809–1893), classical philologist, pedagogue and epigraphist - director from 1845 to 1856
  • Gustav Weiland , director from 1856 to 1860
  • Hermann Rassow (1819–1907), Graecist and Aristotle researcher - director from 1860 to 1881
  • Hugo Ilberg (1828–1883), respected grammar school teacher - vice rector from 1861 to 1862
  • Ludwig Less (1841–1926), director from 1881 to 1908
  • Paul Koetschau (1857–1939), director from 1908 to 1923
  • Carl Theil (1886–1945), director from 1923 to 1924
  • Emil Herfurth (1887–1951), director from 1932 to 1945, politician (DNVP, NSDAP)

Teacher

Sorted by apprenticeship period

  • Johann Karl August Musäus (1735–1787), writer, philologist, collector of fairy tales - from 1769 professor of ancient languages ​​and history
  • Johann Traugott Leberecht Danz (1769–1851), church historian and theologian - teacher until 1798
  • Heinrich Voß (1779–1822), classical philologist - from 1804 to 1806 professor of Latin and Greek
  • Franz Passow (1786–1833), classical philologist - from 1807 to 1810 professor of Greek
  • Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand (1786–1851), classical philologist - from 1810 professor of philosophy and Greek literature
  • Johannes Schulze (1786–1869), Prussian theologian, philologist, educator and cultural officer - from 1808 to 1812 professor
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer (1774–1845), philologist, writer, librarian, Goethe's secretary - professor from 1812 to 1821
  • Heinrich Graefe (1802–1868), pedagogue - spiritual teacher at the grammar school
  • Christian Gottlob Tröbst (1811–1888), theologian, philosopher and mathematician - from 1847 professor
  • Otto Apelt (1845–1932), classical philologist and translator - from 1869 to 1898 senior teacher or professor
  • Hermann Rassow (1819–1907), classical philologist, director 1860–1881, high school councilor in the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach
  • Rudolf Quantity (1845–1912), classical philologist and teacher - from 1867 to 1876 teacher at the grammar school

Students and graduates

Well-known high school students and graduates (sorted by year of birth):

See also

literature

  • Walter, Karl: Herders Typus Lectionum for the Wilhelm-Ernst Gymnasium in Weimar . Hof-Buchdruckerei, 1905.
  • Walter, Karl: Herder and Heinze: from the history of the Weimar high school . BG Teubner, Leipzig 1908.
  • Francke, Otto: History of the Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium in Weimar . H. Böhlau, Weimar 1916.
  • Dempe, Hellmuth: The Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium in Weimar around 1820 and his Ephorus Johann Friedrich Röhr . Dietrich Pfaehler, Bad Neustadt 1982.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm-Ernst-Gymnasium Weimar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 53 ″  N , 11 ° 19 ′ 47.2 ″  E