The ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' ( ''Academic School of the Johanneum'', short: Johanneum) is a Gymnasium (or

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

) in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by

Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ce ...

. The school's focus is on the teaching of Latin and ancient Greek. It is proud of having educated some of Germany's political leaders as well as some of Germany's notable scientists.Johanneum
/ref> The school is operated and financed by the city of Hamburg.

History

The Johanneum was founded by Johannes Bugenhagen, the spiritual representative of the reformer Martin Luther. In 1528 he came to Hamburg to give the city an Evangelical Lutheran church order, "the Erbarn Stadt Hamborch Christlike Ordeninge". On 24 May, 1529, the Johanneum first opened its doors in the building of the secularized old St. Johannis monastery, on the site of today's Rathausmarkt as the "Latinsche Schole". The actual school rooms were in half-timbered buildings in the inner courtyard of the monastery. In the beginning, the Johanneum was a school of scholars. Later, it devoted itself to the education of sons of merchants and traders in a second branch, the citizens' school.

New building at the Speersort

In 1826 the order for the new school was placed, but due to lack of funds it was initially not possible to implement it. From 1838 to 1840, the new building at the Speersort was finally built on the site of the cathedral demolished in 1806, where the germ cell of Hamburg once stood, the so-called Hammaburg. At the same time, the medieval Johannis monastery was demolished. The imposing classicist new building, designed by Carl Ludwig Wimmel (1786–1845) and Franz Gustav Forsmann (1795–1878), to be entered from the south through the main entrance, had two wing structures leading to today's cathedral street through arcades were connected. The building was based on competing designs by Alexis de Chateauneuf (1799–1853) and Carl Ludwig Wimmel. The patriciate of the city republic of Hamburg was brought up humanistically in the Johanneum, important scholars and authors of the early Enlightenment worked here (Hermann Samuel Reimarus, Barthold Heinrich Brockes, Michael Richey, Johann Albert Fabricius, and others), Georg Philipp Telemann and Philipp Emanuel Bach were cantors here, and this established a lasting tradition and reputation. The Johanneum survived the Great Fire of 1842, which caused numerous buildings to go up in flames.

New Maria-Louisen-Straße building

In 1914 the Johanneum moved into what is today the building complex designed by Fritz Schumacher on Maria-Louisen-Strasse, while the old building was now used entirely by the Hamburg State and University Library. The old building was largely destroyed in the bombing raids on Hamburg in 1943, the remains (including an arcade) were removed for widening the streets in 1955 (the foundations were uncovered again in 2005 during archaeological excavations on the cathedral square). The entire complex of the Johanneum in Maria-Louisen-Strasse with the Schumacher buildings has been a listed building since 1979. The Bugenhagen memorial created by Engelbert Peiffer in the courtyard has been a listed building since 1958. In 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, a group of students from the Johanneum visited London. Frederick Wilkinson, the headteacher of the Latymer Upper School, believed that only getting to know young people can bring about understanding, reconciliation and thus lasting peace in Europe. In this spirit, he initiated the student exchange that has taken place every year since then. Godolphin and Latymer School came later. Also, the exchange with schoolchildren from Greece is carried out in a young tradition. There is also an orchestral exchange with the two partner schools in London. There has also been a hockey exchange with Magdalen College in Oxford since 1982. In 1989 the Johanneum was one of the first schools in Hamburg to set up a school exchange with Poland. Always well endowed, it still houses an important historical library that is also open to research. In cheering competition with the 250-year-old Christianeum, which came to Hamburg with Altona in 1937, it maintained high standards. It still represents a humanistic-educative claim and you can or must still take your Abitur here in the old languages Latin or ancient Greek. The study trips in the school year of the Abitur also have to lead to ancient sites. The co-education started late at the Johanneum. Individual girls in the upper classes were admitted earlier, but it was not until 1977 that the first girls were enrolled in sexta. There are currently two active theater working groups in the Johanneum. Furthermore, concerts of the orchestras and choirs take place every six months, the summer and Christmas concerts. Since 2004 the Johanneum has had the school newspaper, "The Chauffeur", which has since been discontinued. For this purpose, the new school newspaper “Humanistic Manifesto” was published at the end of 2011 and was also sold. In the meantime the magazine “Johanneum” appears regularly, and the Res Gestae every year.

Forum Johanneum

The Johanneum has received a large new building through the donation of millions by a patron. It is a three-storey building with a total area of 2200 square meters, which contains art and music rooms, a cafeteria, a theater rehearsal room, and a sports hall. The Forum Johanneum was officially opened on 24 May 2007 as a new building. On the south facade there is an inscription in ancient Greek. It means translated: "All people naturally seek knowledge" and is a quote from Aristotle's metaphysics. The stairwell In summer 2015, work began on building another new building on the school premises. It replaces the eight provisional classrooms built in container construction, which have been installed between the main building and the forum since summer 2008. The stairwell is a three-story building with a total area of 1460 square meters. It houses twelve classrooms and five differentiation rooms and, after the opening ceremony on 17 November 2016, was initially occupied by eight classes on 24 November 2016. The name “stepped house” came from an allusion to a special design feature of the building: the terraces (“steps”) of the large outside staircase are provided with slogans in various languages, including the language of mathematics. The conception and order of the slogans symbolize the course of the languages taught in school. In addition, mathematics with the Pythagoras theorem forms a bridge between the ancient natural philosophers and the present day.

Twinned schools

The school is twinned with the two

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

schools

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

and

Godolphin and Latymer School The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent day school for girls in Hammersmith, West London. The school motto is an ancient Cornish phrase, ''Francha Leale Toge'', which translates as "free and loyal art thou". The school crest incl ...

''Journey to the Centre of the Earth''

In Jules Verne's novel, ''

Journey to the Centre of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...

'', one of the main characters, Otto Lidenbrock, is a professor at the Johanneum.

Hödhütte

''Hödhütte'' is the country house of the ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums''. Leased by the school since 1970, it is located in the

Radstädter Tauern The Radstadt Tauern (german: Radstädter Tauern) are a subrange of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. Together with the Schladming Tauern, the Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and the Seckau Tauern the Radstadt Tauern form the major range of mountain ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Living conditions are very simple (the house has only one tap, students sleep in communal bunks, there is no TV and no telephone and students are not allowed to bring their cellphones). All pupils are required to spend 11 days at ''Hödhütte'' during their seventh year of schooling. This is believed to build community spirit and strengthen character. The students will also learn how to

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

. Students from all years have the opportunity to spend their holidays in Hödhütte.

Visiting historical sites

The school feels that every student should have the opportunity of experiencing the sites of classical antiquity at first hand. The ''Verein zur Förderung von Schulreisen an klassische Stätten e.V.'' was formed to fund this activity.

Bibliotheca Johannei

The library of the school is called ''Bibliotheca Johannei''. It has 55,000 books written in Latin, Ancient Greek, English, French, Italian and German. The library prides itself in having the first editions of many of the milestones of European literature. The oldest book is a Latin bible dating from 1491.

Alumni society

The school has an alumni society called ''Verein ehemaliger Schüler der Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums zu Hamburg e.V.''. It has 1,300 members. One of its main tasks is to provide money for school activities.

Former teachers

Former teachers of the school include: * Johannes Classen (Director / Head teacher 1864–1874) *

Hermann Alexander Diels Hermann Alexander Diels (; 18 May 1848 – 4 June 1922) was a German classical scholar, who was influential in the area of early Greek philosophy and is known for his standard work ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker''. Diels helped to import the ...

* Johann Gottfried Gurlitt * Richard Hoche (Director / Head teacher 1874–1887) *

Johann Hübner Johann Hübner (17 March 1668 – 21 May 1731) was a German geographer and scholar, who taught by the question and answer method. Life Johann Hübner attended school in Zittau before studying theology, poetry, rhetoric, geography and history at ...

Adolf Kiessling Adolf Kiessling (15 February 1837 – 3 May 1893) was a German philologist born in Culm (present-day Chełmno, Poland). He was a specialist in the field of Roman literature.

* Ernst Gottlob Köstlin * Hermann Cäsar Hannibal Schubert * Gottlob Reinhold Sievers *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hild ...

(

Cantor (church) In Christianity, the cantor, sometimes called the precentor or the protopsaltes (; from ), is the chief singer, and usually instructor, employed at a church, with responsibilities for the choir and the preparation of the Mass or worship servi ...

) *

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

(

) * Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwenke ( Director of Church Music and Cantor)

Former pupils

Former students of the school include: * Marlo von Tresckow * Gant von Tresckow * Leon Leue * Carlotta Kenkel * Clara Brockhaus * Emilia Enders * Cougar von Tresckow * Adrian Mahnke * Henry Schrader * Arthur William Paas * Christian Wilhelm Alers * Wilhelm Amsinck *

Eduard Arning Eduard Christian Arning (9 June 1855 – 20 August 1936) was an English-German dermatologist and microbiologist from Manchester. Biography Arning received his early education from private tutors and at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in H ...

*Luis Rothenberg *

Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...

Johann Bernhard Basedow Johann Bernhard Basedow (11 September 1724 – 25 July 1790) was a German educational reformer, teacher and writer. He founded the Philanthropinum, a short-lived but influential progressive school in Dessau, and was the author of "''Elementarw ...

* Marcus Speh Birkenkrahe * "Büdi" Christian Blunck * Peter van Bohlen *

Justus Brinckmann Justus Brinckmann (23 May 1843 – 8 February 1915) was the first director of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg.B ...

Barthold Heinrich Brockes Barthold Heinrich Brockes (September 22, 1680 – January 16, 1747) was a German poet. He was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums. He studied jurisprudence at Halle, and after extensive travels in Italy, France ...

* Johann Heinrich Burchard * Johannes Classen *

Diedrich Diederichsen Diedrich Diederichsen (born August 15, 1957) is a German author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is an intellectual writer at the crossroads of the arts, politics, and pop culture. Diedrich Diederichsen was born and grew up in Hamburg ...

Hans Driesch Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch (28 October 1867 – 17 April 1941) was a German biologist and philosopher from Bad Kreuznach. He is most noted for his early experimental work in embryology and for his neo-vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also ...

Johann Franz Encke Johann Franz Encke (; 23 September 179126 August 1865) was a German astronomer. Among his activities, he worked on the calculation of the periods of comets and asteroids, measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and made observations ...

* Barthold Feind * Gottfried Forck * Hinnerk Fock * Ludwig Gerling *

Ralph Giordano Ralph Giordano (23 March 1923 – 10 December 2014) was a German writer and publicist. Life and career Giordano was born to a Sicilian father and a German Jewish mother in Hamburg. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to ...

Martin Haller Martin Emil Ferdinand Haller (1835–1925) was a German architect, who designed the Hamburg Rathaus and the building of the Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg, and a member of the Hamburg Parliament. Early life and family H ...

* Tobias Hauke *

Friedrich Hebbel Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Dithmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the '' Gelehrtenschule des Johann ...

* Gerrit Heesemann *

Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. The uni ...

* Gustav Ludwig Hertz *

Gerhard Herzberg Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg, (; December 25, 1904 – March 3, 1999) was a German-Canadian pioneering physicist and physical chemist, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971, "for his contributions to the knowledge o ...

* Johann Michael Hudtwalcker * Hans Jauch *

Walter Jens Walter Jens (8 March 1923 – 9 June 2013) was a German philologist, literature historian, critic, university professor and writer. He was born in Hamburg, and attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1941, when he gained his Ab ...

* Peter Katzenstein *

Harry Graf Kessler Harry Clemens Ulrich Graf von Kessler (23 May 1868 – 30 November 1937) was an Anglo-German count, diplomat, writer, and patron of modern art. English translations of his diaries "Journey to the Abyss" (2011) and "Berlin in Lights" (1971) rev ...

* Bernhard Klefeker * Johann Carl Knauth * Franz Knoop * Theodor von Kobbe *

Volker Lechtenbrink Volker Lechtenbrink (18 August 1944 – 22 November 2021) was a German actor on stage, in film and television, a singer-songwriter, dubbing artist, stage director and theatre manager. He played in the anti-war movie '' The Bridge'' in 1959 at a ...

* Eduard Lohse * Alfred Mann * Walter Matthaei * Max Mendel *

Eduard Meyer Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German historian. He was the brother of Celticist Kuno Meyer (1858–1919). Biography Meyer was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the univer ...

Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer (11 December 1753 – 21 November 1823), was a German- Danish philologist, theologian, librarian, bibliophile, palaeographer, diplomat, and Bible translator. Early life and education Moldenhawer was born in K� ...

* Johann Georg Mönckeberg * August Johann Wilhelm Neander * Hans Georg Niemeyer * Max Nonne * Hans Erich Nossack *

Adolf Overweg Adolf Overweg (24 July 1822 – 27 September 1852) was a German astronomer, geologist, and explorer of Africa. As a member of a mission to fix trade routes in Central Africa he became the first person of European origin to circumnavigate Lake ...

Fredrik Pacius Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music". Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...

Carl Friedrich Petersen Carl Friedrich Petersen (6 July 1809 in Hamburg – 14 November 1892 in Hamburg) was a Hamburg lawyer and politician, who served several terms as First Mayor of Hamburg. He was a Hamburg senator from 1855 until his death. Education and early care ...

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film '' Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include '' The ...

* Martin Eduard Warner Poelchau *

Robert Wichard Pohl Robert Wichard Pohl (10 August 1884 – 5 June 1976) was a German physicist at the University of Göttingen. Nevill Francis Mott described him as the "father of solid state physics". See also: "Components of the solid state", Nevill Mott, New Scie ...

Wolfgang Ratke Wolfgang Ratke (also Wolfgangus Ratichius or Wolfgang Ratich) (18 October 157127 April 1635) was a German educational reformer. Biography Early life He was born at Wilster, Holstein,Leichpredigt: Meyfart, Johann Matthäus: Programma Publicum In ...

Hermann Samuel Reimarus Hermann Samuel Reimarus (22 December 1694, Hamburg – 1 March 1768, Hamburg), was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics ...

* Johann Wilhelm Rautenberg *

Grigorij Richters Grigorij S. Richters (born 21 May 1987) is a director, activist, producer and official Forbes Council member. He directed the feature film ''51 Degrees North'' and co-founded the global awareness movement Asteroid Day with astrophysicist and Qu ...

Johann Rist Johann Rist (8 March 1607 – 31 August 1667) was a German poet and dramatist best known for his hymns, which inspired musical settings and have remained in hymnals. Life Rist was born at Ottensen in Holstein-Pinneberg (today Hamburg) on 8 Mar ...

Erwin Rohde Erwin Rohde (; 9 October 1845 – 11 January 1898) was one of the great German classical scholars of the 19th century. Rohde was born in Hamburg and was the son of a doctor. Outside of antiquarian circles, Rohde is known today chiefly for h ...

Albrecht Roscher Albrecht Roscher (August 27, 1836 – March 19, 1860) was a German explorer of Africa. He was murdered near Lake Malawi in 1860. Life Roscher was born in Ottensen on August 27, 1836. He attended grammar school at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneum ...

* Thomas G. Rosenmeyer *

Philipp Otto Runge Philipp Otto Runge (; 1777–1810) was a German artist, a draftsman, painter, and color theorist. Runge and Caspar David Friedrich are often regarded as the leading painters of the German Romantic movement.Koerner, Joseph Leo. 1990. ''Caspar Dav ...

Hjalmar Schacht Hjalmar Schacht (born Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht; 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970, ) was a German economist, banker, centre-right politician, and co-founder in 1918 of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner ...

* Heinrich Gottlieb Schellhaffer * Leif Schrader * Carl August Schröder * Emil Gottlieb Schuback *

Friedemann Schulz von Thun Friedemann Schulz von Thun (born August 6, 1944 in SoltauSon of Walter and Wilma Schulz von Thun of Hamburg; birth in Soltau due to wartime evacuation of women in childbirthbiography (schulz-von-thun.de)/ref>) is a German psychologist and expert ...

* Ulrich Seelemann *

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising i ...

* Kurt Sieveking * Eduard Wilhelm Sievers *

Wilhelm Sievers Friedrich Wilhelm Sievers (3 December 1860 – 11 June 1921) was a German geologist and geographer. He served as professor of geography at the University of Giessen. His field work focussed on South America, and his ''Allgemeine Länderkunde'' ...

Morris Simmonds Morris Simmonds (14 January 1855, St. Thomas – 4 September 1925, Hamburg) was a German physician and pathologist. He was born in St. Thomas, then part of the Danish West Indies (now the United States Virgin Islands). In 1861 he emigrated wi ...

Bruno Streckenbach Bruno Streckenbach (7 February 1902 – 28 October 1977) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was the head of Administration and Personnel Department of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). Streckenbach was responsible for many ...

* Georg Michael Telemann * Bernhard Tollens * Karl Ulmer *

Paul Gerson Unna Paul Gerson Unna, (September 8, 1850, Hamburg – January 29, 1929, Hamburg) was a German physician specialized in dermatology and one of the pioneers in dermatopathology. Biography Paul Unna was the son of Moritz Adolph Unna, a physician from H ...

Werner von Melle Werner von Melle (18 October 1853 – 18 February 1937) was a mayor and senator of Hamburg, as well as a jurist. Melle, who held multiple doctorates, also served on the first board of trustees for the Hamburg Scientific Foundation. __TOC__ Fa ...

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg, better known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, ...

* Friedrich Wasmann *

Christian Wegner Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Dietrich Wersich Dietrich Wersich (born April 27, 1964) is a German politician of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and physician. Since March 7, 2011 he is chairman of the CDU parliamentary Group in the Hamburg state legislature (Hamburgische Bürg ...

* Wilhelm Heinrich Westphal * Johann Hinrich Wichern * Henrik Wiese *

Wolfgang Zeidler Wolfgang Zeidler (2 September 1924 – 31 December 1987) was a German legal scholar and judge. He served as the 5th president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1983 to 1987. Zeidler also served as president of the British-Germa ...

* Paultheo von Zezschwitz *

Axel Zwingenberger Axel Zwingenberger (born 7 May 1955) is a German blues and boogie-woogie pianist and songwriter. Biography Zwingenberger was born in Hamburg, West Germany, and enjoyed eleven years of classical piano training. After listening to recordings by p ...

References

External links

Homepage of the school

* ttp://www.ehemalige-johanneum.de/ Homepage of the alumni society {{Authority control Educational institutions established in the 1520s Gymnasiums in Germany Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Nord 1529 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire