Canisius-Kolleg Berlin
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The Canisius-Kolleg Berlin (CK) is a
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,
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
Gymnasium (German type of
college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or p ...
) directed by the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. The school is named after Saint
Peter Canisius Peter Canisius (; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit priest known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The ...
. It is known as one of Berlin's most prestigious schools.


Jesuit college

Canisius College Berlin is a Jesuit high school in the tradition of
Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...
, the founder of the Jesuits. In this tradition it offers reflection trips – so-called "oases" – social internships, stays abroad, and youth work in the ISG. Canisius is one of three Jesuit colleges in Germany. Unlike the Kolleg St. Blasien and
Aloisiuskolleg The Aloisiuskolleg is a co-educational, Jesuit (Catholic church, Catholic), University-preparatory school in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany, which includes boarding school, boarders. It is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Highly ranked academically ...
, however, it has no boarding school. The school is located in a central but also very calm area next to a large park called " Tiergarten". This is near the Potsdamer Platz in the so-called "diplomatic district" near numerous embassies, including those of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and
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and other political and economic organizations like CDU's headquarters and
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. Just south of the campus on Köbi Road are two American nettle trees which because of their beauty are considered a national monument in the city of Berlin.


School

Canisius College, like the Französisches Gymnasium and the Evangelisches Gymnasium, receives hundreds of applications every year, as the most popular schools in Berlin. About 90 students are accepted in each class, grades five through thirteen. The majority of students are baptized
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, with about 20% Protestant. Tuition is €80 per month (€960 per year), which is subsidized by the school for families that have difficulty paying. Financial support comes from Canisius Kolleg Friends and Supporters and from the Canisius College Foundation.


Courses and extracurriculars

Religion is a compulsory subject up to high school. It can also be chosen for credit in high school. English and Latin are taken from the fifth grade, and after the eighth grade there is a choice of ancient Greek or French, together with natural science. Japanese may be taken from the ninth grade through high school, but not as advanced course. Working groups offer additional foreign languages. Students can participate in sports, artistic and musical clubs such as photography, literary writing, or theater.


School trips and study abroad

Class trips usually take place once in the lower level (grades 5-7), in the middle class (8-10), and in the upper stage (11-13). In the middle class, a student exchange is often held instead of a class trip. In the seventh, eighth, ninth, and twelfth grades students in a class can voluntarily join a teacher who accompanies them for reflection and retreats. During the eleventh grade students have the opportunity to go abroad for one year. As a rule, the students have to repeat that school year in Germany; though the school management can wave this.


Social internship

Since the school year 1987/1988, a four-week service internship has been binding for tenth or eleventh graders. Service takes place mostly in facilities for the disabled, the homeless, children, or people in nursing homes. The purpose is to give students some exposure to "the marginalized, disadvantaged, ostracized, those deprived of their rights and dignity or forced for other reasons to live in difficult conditions."


History of Canisius College

The Jesuits were banned in the
German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...
from 1872 to 1917. Then in 1925, at the suggestion of Bishop Josef Deitmer and through the initiative of Bernhard Lichtenberg "the establishment of a private Catholic higher educational institution for male youth" was established. However, the Ministry of Culture forbade using the name Canisius College, so the college officially received its name from its location in Berlin-
Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
: Gymnasium at the Lietzensee. Beginning of the 1930s, the school had about 500 students, making it the second largest boys' school in Germany. From 1936 the National Socialist government gradually decreed the closure of the school, which was completed by March 1940. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the old school building was completely destroyed. At its refounding on 1 June 1945 the school was officially named Canisius-Kolleg Berlin. Fr. Klein, S.J., appealed to the
Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...
on behalf of the five Catholic secondary schools for resumption of their school activities, receiving approval in the spring of 1946. Teaching was conducted in different places in the city. After the acquisition of a building in 1947 and its restoration with the help of the pupils, the school was reopened that year with 500 pupils in twelve classes. Until 1974, Canisius College was an all-boys high school, but then became coeducational.


The plot

Since the 16th century the Tiergarten was a fenced hunting area, whose southern end reached today's Tiergartenstraße. The area south of the Tiergarten remained undeveloped. At the end of the 18th century, wealthy Berlin citizens began to build summer and country houses there. In 1799, the royal councillor Mölter built a country house on plot 31 Tiergartenstraße with Friedrich Gilly as architect; the adjacent plot 30 remained undeveloped. In 1863 the banker David Hansemann had architect Friedrich Hitzig design a villa on plots 30/31. The house was preserved until its demolition in 1936. In the first half of the 20th century, Tiergartenstraße became the diplomatic quarter; especially from 1938 with the construction of the " Germanic World Capital" foreign representatives were relocated here. After the Second World War, Tiergartenstraße was initially in ruins, largely a wasteland – a condition that changed only slowly after the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
.


Krupp headquarters to Jesuits

The
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
firm acquired the Tiergartenstraße 30/31 property in 1936. There they built their Berlin headquarters, since the 1933 plans for Berlin forced them to relinquish their previous premises. The headquarters was more than an administrative building; it included housing for the owner's family and guest apartments for senior staff. Paul Mebes and Paul Emmerich were the architects, and completed their work in 1937. The building was slightly damaged in the Second World War, but remained mostly intact along with its furnishings. In 1947 Krupp gave up its headquarters in Berlin and sold the house to the Jesuits. In 1999/2000, the facade and the entrance of the building were restored, with help from
Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation __NOTOC__ The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation is a major German philanthropic non-profit Foundation under civil law. It was founded by Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. With his death on 30 July 1967, his entire private fortun ...
. The building was enlarged in 1979/1980 and again in 1999/2000. It is now a historical monument. The guest house on the grounds of the College is named after the Jesuit
Alfred Delp Alfred Friedrich Delp (; 15 September 1907 – 2 February 1945) was a German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance. A member of the inner Kreisau Circle resistance group, he is considered a significant figure in Catholic ...
(1907-1945), sentenced to death for high treason in 1944.


Alumni

After finishing school, former students sometimes retain connections. All former pupils of the
Aloisiuskolleg The Aloisiuskolleg is a co-educational, Jesuit (Catholic church, Catholic), University-preparatory school in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany, which includes boarding school, boarders. It is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Highly ranked academically ...
, Kolleg St. Blasien, and the Canisius-Kolleg Berlin can contact each other and see current addresses in the data base at the Stellaner webpage.


Allegations of child sexual abuse

In 2004 and 2005, two former students of the school told the headmaster of the school that they had been
sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...
by two of their former teachers in the 1970s and in the 1980s. In December 2009 and January 2010, two other boys contacted the headmaster and claimed the same about the same teachers. The headmaster decided to write a letter to all former students in which he stated that he was deeply sorry for what happened. An investigative report detailing allegations of substantial
abuse Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...
was released in 2010, with abuse ranging from beating on the bare buttocks to more overt sexual abuse on the part of three Jesuits. More apologies and financial compensations were issued to the sex abuse victims as well.


See also

*
Aloisiuskolleg The Aloisiuskolleg is a co-educational, Jesuit (Catholic church, Catholic), University-preparatory school in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany, which includes boarding school, boarders. It is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Highly ranked academically ...
*
Education in Germany Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German States of Germany, states (), with the federal government only playing a minor role. While kindergarten (nursery school) is optional, formal education is compulsory for a ...
* Kolleg St. Blasien *
List of Jesuit sites This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association. Nearly all these sites have be ...


External links


Canisius-Kolleg Berlin Website

Jesuit Alumni Worldwide

Jesuit Alumni Germany

Jesuits Europe

Jesuits Worldwide



References

{{Authority control Schools in Berlin Private schools in Germany Jesuit secondary schools in Germany Gymnasiums in Germany Educational institutions established in 1925 Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Germany Violence against men in Europe 1925 establishments in Germany Sexual abuse scandal in the Society of Jesus