Gymnasium Schwertstraße

The Gymnasium Schwertstraße in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany was established on 15 October 1841 as the Höhere Bürgerschule, and is the oldest and most traditional of the four gymnasiums in the city.HistoryThe school opened with 23 pupils with lessons being held in the Rathaus, and later in the Catholic Pfarrhaus in the Brunnenstraße and the former Vollmannschen Lateinschule on the corner of Klosterwall and Neustraße. In 1859, it moved into its own building in Friedrichstraße, and in 1897 to the new building in Schwertstraße. In 1899, it changed to being a gymnasium, and in 1902, it had pupils completing the abitur for the first time. From 1918 to 1924, the school building was used to accommodate a Scottish regiment, and lessons were held in the local court and in a vocational school. In 1930, 28 pupils from the school and from the Junior Technical School in Chatham each visited the other school. This is claimed to be the oldest proven instance of schools in Germany and England having a student exchange. In 1935, the school was renamed Moeller-van-den-Bruck-Schule. From 1943 to 1945, lessons were held in Salzungen und in Goethe-Schule in Ilmenau. The school building was destroyed in air strikes on 4 and 5 November 1944. From 4 October 1945, lessons were held in a shift system in Schule Zweigstraße an in nearby grammar school August-Dicke-Schule. A World War II Hochbunker still stands on Gymnasium Schwerstrasse's school grounds today. It was built on the same spot on which the Solingen Synagogue Malteserstrasse used to stand until it was destroyed during the Night of Broken Glass on 9–10 November 1938. In January 1946, the school was renamed Gymnasium Schwertstraße. On 27 October 1952, the school moved into the rebuilt site in Schwertstraße. In 1971, the school became co-educational by accepting girls for the first time. Until this day, Schwerstrasse students are responsible for projects regarding the Old Synagogue as well as the upkeep of Solingen's old Jewish cemetery.