From Royal New Gymnasium to Albrecht-Altdorfer-Gymnasium: A Historical Sketch

After the "Old Gymnasium" in Regensburg had become too small, and the local "Realgymnasium" (with a focus on science, founded in 1864) did not yet meet the demands of the upper social echelons of a bascially conservative city, on September 17, 1880, King Ludwig II of Bavaria signed a founding document of Regensburg´s second school of higher, classical education. Named Royal New Gymnasium it opened on October 1. The "State Ministry of the Interior for Church and School Matters" had cooperated with the regional government of the Upper Palatinate to divert from the older schools staff, funds, and equipment to cope with the public demand for another classical teaching institution.

270 (male) pupils joined twenty-four teachers at the historic building of Thon-Dittmer-Palais, on downtown Haidplatz (today´s Public Library). Students were transferred to the new school, and, instructed by its headmaster, already in its first year of existence fourteen students graduated. Attendance hours were from 8 to 12 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m., including Saturday. Foreign languages were Latin, Greek, and French - each taught seven lessons per week. Pressure on students seems to have been high, considering the fifteen assessment tests a year in Latin alone. On the other hand, mathematical education amounted to only two lessons, the same space of time granted to calligraphy! Proud of their scarlet school cap, graduates then joined their peers from the "Old Gymnasium" in a special Regensburg fraternity at Bavaria´s most important university in Munich, its capital.

The school grew fast, and between 1892 and 1894 a new building, in neo-renaissance style, was completed on the present site next to the historic Ostentor, Regensburg´s only surviving medieval city gate, and the ancient city walls can still be seen in the basement today. During World War I students as well as teachers were drafted to the battlefields, and the building soon served as a hospital. By the end of the war, the school population had been cut by half.

When reopened on November 14, 1918, it was on a new and more democratic note: Republicanism had done away with the royal reference in its name, and it was now plainly called New Gymnasium. Democratization brought students´ assemblies and an improved status for the parent´s council. Girls were admitted for the first time. Starting out with Latin (at eight lessons per week), students could then choose between Greek (followed by English) and English (by French) as their second and third foreign languages. School fees were high, though, and during the Depression were even raised drastically, so that only children from privileged backgrounds could afford to attend. A few scholarships for the poor were to be earned year by year. In 1925 the school became a teachers´ training institution, which—for changing combinations of subjects—it has remained since.

The Nazi government brought the New Gymnasium in line with Nazi ideology. Teachers deemed unfit as educators were expelled, and life for Jewish or left-wing students became ever more unbearable. The ideology of "Blut und Boden" ("blood and soil") penetrated the curricula. Girls were excluded again, the focus of subjects shifted from languages to science (and to militarism)—and the school was renamed Oberrealschule für Knaben im Aufbau. Historical irony has it that World War II was over before the re-organization was completed. By the end of the war, students had to give up the building, which first became a barracks for the SS, and afterwards was again turned into a hospital.

In the immediate post-war years everything from books to furniture was used as heating materials. Under most adverse conditions the school was revitalized, with its old name and again with the former focus on languages. In 1962 the name changed to the present Albrecht-Altdorfer-Gymnasium, after Albrecht Altdorfer, the 16th century city councillor and painter. New students could now choose between two educational concepts, one with a classical focus ("humanistisch"), and one emphasizing modern languages ("neusprachlich"). English became an optional first foreign language in 1977, sharing this status with Latin.

Today the Albrecht-Altdorfer-Gymnasium is one of the city´s four state-run schools of the "Gymnasium"-type. It is the only one located close to the ancient heart of the city. Its student population—aged 10 through 20—come from both urban and rural backgrounds. The number of girls attending the school has increased to an astonishing 70 per cent today. In addition to the core subjects (languages, science, humanities, arts) there is a vast pool of electives, ranging from music (choirs, orchestra, jazz big band) through performance and visual arts (drama, photography, ceramics) to various types of sports (from archery to chess). Extensions of the old building have long been under way. Indoor sports facilities were improved, additional classrooms added, and presently an extended cafeteria section is being built to cater for the increasing number of student who attend classes in the afternoons. The "Friends of the AAG," a voluntary support organization based on former students, help out with ideas and money wherever other financial resources do not suffice, from investments not covered by the state to the big band´s various visits all around the world.