Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster

Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster
Address
Salzbrunner Straße 41–47 D-14193 Berlin Germany
Information
Type	Independent school
Established	1949
Founder	Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
Headmaster	Brigitte Thies-Böttcher
Grades	5 - 13
Enrollment	800 (approx.)
Website	www.graues-kloster.de

The Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, located in suburban Schmargendorf, Berlin, is an independent school with a humanistic profile, known as one of the most prestigious schools in Germany. Founded by the Evangelical Church in West Berlin in 1949 as the Evangelisches Gymnasium, it continues the traditions of the ancient Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, the oldest Gymnasium in Berlin, which for hundreds of years was situated in former monastery buildings in the city's Mitte district, closed by the East Germans in 1958. In 1963 the Evangelisches Gymnasium of West Berlin adopted its traditions and added "zum Grauen Kloster" to its name.

The Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster is one of the last schools in Berlin offering the entire range of classical education with Latin and Ancient Greek as compulsory subjects. The students learn foreign languages in this order: English (year 5), Latin (year 5), Ancient Greek (year 8), French (year 9 optional). Additionally, it is possible to learn Hebrew and Dutch.

The debating society deserves particular mention as members of the society have won several Jugend debattiert student competitions over the last years.

The original school was established on 13 July 1574 by Elector John George of Hohenzollern as the first Protestant Latin school in Brandenburg at the site of a medieval Greyfriars monastery (Graues Kloster), that had been secularised in 1539 in the course of the Reformation. The premises were centered around the Gothic abbey church dating from the 13th century, whose ruins are still being visible near Alexanderplatz.

...
Wikipedia