The Wilhelmsgymnasium is a gymnasium (selective school) in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Founded in 1559 to educate local boys, it is now coeducational. Wilhelmsgymnasium is one of the few remaining gymnasiums in Bavaria to be a "pure ''Humanistisches Gymnasium''" (humanities gymnasium), meaning that it traditionally focuses on the Classics: all students are required to study

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, in addition to mainstream school subjects.

History

The Gymnasium was founded in 1559 by Duke

Albrecht V Albrecht ("noble", "bright") is a given name or surname of German origin and may refer to: First name *Albrecht Agthe, (1790–1873), German music teacher * Albrecht Altdorfer, (c. 1480–1538) German Renaissance painter * Albrecht Becker, (1906� ...

of Bavaria as a "Paedagogium", but was renamed in 1849 after its probable sponsor, Duke Wilhelm V. By 1773, the Gymnasium was overseen by the Jesuits ("Jesuit Gymnasium"). The present building on Thierschstraße (corner of Maximilianstraße) was erected in 1879 in

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

style. In 1893 it was granted ''Seminarschule'' status, meaning that it accepted trainee teachers. Much of the school compound was destroyed during the Allied bombing of Munich in 1944 and eventually rebuilt over the years. Girls were admitted during the 1970s. Between 2015 and 2018 the school operated out of a temporary location while the historic building's interior was completely gutted and refurbished with modern facilities. It re-opened for the 2018–19 academic year.

Notable former pupils

* Johannes R. Becher *

Count Otto von Bray-Steinburg Otto Kamillus Hugo Gabriel Count von Bray-Steinburg (* 17 May 1807 in Berlin – † 9 January 1899 in Munich) was a Bavarian diplomat and politician. He was a son of the diplomat Count François Gabriel von Bray, who was from Rouen, France. Ea ...

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. Feuchtwanger's J ...

* Franz Xaver Gabelsberger *

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

* Philipp Loewenfeld *

Golo Mann Golo Mann (born Angelus Gottfried Thomas Mann; 27 March 1909 – 7 April 1994) was a popular German historian and essayist. Having completed a doctorate in philosophy under Karl Jaspers at Heidelberg, in 1933 he fled Hitler's Germany. He followe ...

* Klaus Mann *

Max von Pettenkofer Max Joseph Pettenkofer, ennobled in 1883 as Max Joseph von Pettenkofer (3 December 1818 – 10 February 1901) was a Bavarian chemist and hygienist. He is known for his work in practical hygiene, as an apostle of good water, fresh air and proper ...

Richard Riemerschmid Richard Riemerschmid (20 June 1868 – 13 April 1957) was a German architect, painter, designer and city planner from Munich. He was a major figure in ''Jugendstil'', the German form of Art Nouveau, and a founder of architecture in the s ...

Carl Spitzweg Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era. Life and career Spitzweg was born in U ...

* Johann Georg SeidenbuschHans Pörnbacher, “Seidenbusch, Johann Georg” in ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' Vol. 24 (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 2010, , p. 178 (in German) *

Ludwig Thoma Ludwig Thoma (; 21 January 1867 in Oberammergau – 26 August 1921 in Tegernsee) was a German author, publisher and editor, who gained popularity through his partially exaggerated description of everyday Bavarian life. After graduation from ...

* Gunnar B. Stickler * Hermann Stieve *

Konstantin Wecker Konstantin Alexander Wecker (born 1 June 1947, Munich) is a German singer-songwriter; he also works as a composer, author, and actor. Life and work Classically educated at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Wecker got one of his first jobs as a songwriter a ...

* Maximilian von Weichs

References

External links

Official Homepage of the Wilhelmsgymnasium

Research on the history of the Wilhelmsgymnasium München
by Peter Kefes Schools in Bavaria Education in Munich Educational institutions established in the 1550s 1559 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Bavaria-struct-stub