Academic Gymnasium Danzig

Academic Gymnasium Danzig
Location
Gdańsk
Poland
Information
Established 1558
Campus Urban

The Academic Gymnasium Danzig (German: Akademisches Gymnasium Danzig, Polish: Gdańskie Gimnazjum Akademickie), was a school founded in Danzig (formerly in Royal Prussia and now Gdańsk, Poland) It was founded in 1558 by Johann Hoppe (1512–1565), who had previously worked at schools in Culm (Chełmno) and Elbing (Elbląg) until Catholic Prince-Bishop Stanislaus Hosius closed them. For most of its existence it had a character similar to that of a university, and after 1580 it was named Akademisches Gymnasium Danzig.

History

It was in operation as educational gymnasium for Lutheran clergy until 1817.[1] It was one of the most developed educational centers in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1] It also was the site of Collegium Medicum-one of the first associations of doctors in Polish-controlled territories.[1]

In the 16th century, as many cities in Prussia became Lutheran, the population began to seek a Lutheran education. The University of Königsberg in neighbouring Ducal Prussia, founded in 1544, was not big enough to educate all the new Protestant clerics and administrators needed for the newly Lutheran state in addition to arrivals from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so local Latin schools in the Commonwealth were upgraded. The future home of the Gymnasium would be the former Franciscan monastery turned into a school. In 1539, a Schola Dantiscana[2] program was started by Andreas Aurifaber. In 1558 Johann Hoppe founded a secular gymnasium that would become the Academic Gymnasium Danzig. Achatius Curaeus (1531–1594), from the University of Wittenberg, was made the first rector, but due to the theological conflicts between Gnesio-Lutherans and Philippists, he soon left.

In 1580, the school received the title Academic Gymnasium. Along with similar schools in Elbing and Thorn (now Elblag, Torun), the gymnasium transformed the province of Royal Prussia into a center of classical studies in the 16th century.[3]

In 1817, when Danzig was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, it was changed to a municipal gymnasium and named Städtisches Gymnasium Danzig (City High School of Danzig), in contrast to the earlier the (royal) Königliches Gymnasium. The Academic Gymnasium Danzig was in operation until March 1945, when Danzig fell to the Red Army. Subsequently the city, as Gdańsk, became part of Poland.

Famous people

People connected with it are, among others, Bartholomäus Keckermann, Johannes Hevelius, Andreas Gryphius, Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau, Peter Crüger, Abraham Calov, Michael Christoph Hanow (Hanov(ious), Gottfried Lengnich, Hugo Münsterberg, Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

In June 2008, the National Museum in Gdańsk unveiled a memorial table dedicated to Academic Gymnasium to mark the 450th anniversary of its founding.[4]

Rectors

Rectors of Akademic Gymnasium Danzig:

First rector Humanist Achatius Curaeus, advisor Johann Hoppe


References

  1. 1 2 3 Encyklopedia PWN "Gdańskie Gimnazjum Akademickie"
  2. ↑ Reinhard Golz, Wolfgang Mayrhofer: Luther and Melanchthon in the Educational Thought of Central and Eastern Europe, 1998, ISBN 3-8258-3490-5
  3. ↑ Urban Latin schools were remodelled into institutions of higher learning; from the middle of the sixteenth century, the three academic Gymnasia in Danzig, Thorn and Elbing transformed Royal Prussia into a centre of classical studies - Karin Friedrich: The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772
  4. ↑ Sprawy Nauki "Gdańskie Gimnazjum Akademickie"

Literature

External links

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