Gesamtschule Berger Feld is a ''

gesamtschule A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

'' in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

. It is located in the Erle region and has 1325 pupils and 118 teachers. It is known for the fact that a great number of its former students have become professional association football players.

History

When the ''gesamtschule'' was introduced in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

in 1969, the school was established as Gesamtschule Gelsenkirchen, and was the only one in North Rhine-Westphalia to start with grades 5 and 11, so that the first students took the

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1972. It was accommodated in various buildings until 1974, when it moved to the newly built school building in Berger Feld in Adenauerallee, and it changed its name to the current one.

Features

The school participates in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Comenius programme The Comenius programme is a European Union educational project. It concerns school-level education, and is part of the EU's Erasmus Plus, Erasmus + 2014-2020 Programme. It aims "to help young people and educational staff better understand the ran ...

, organising school sports festivals for neighbouring primary schools. As part of the ''100.000 Watt-Solar-Initiative für Schulen in NRW'', the school was equipped with a

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

plant. The school is located next to the grounds of

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

, with whom it co-operates. Since 1995 it has the ''Talentzentrum Gelsenkirchen'', and since 2000 the ''Fußballschule Auf Schalke/Teilinternat Gesamtschule Berger Feld''. In June 2007, the school became the fourth German school to be awarded the title ''Eliteschule des Fußballs'' by the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

Notable alumni

Among the students of the partial

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

who have later become professional footballers are

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his ball control, technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision, he is widely re ...

, Sead Kolašinac,

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munic ...

, Julian Draxler, Joël Matip, Benedikt Höwedes,

Alexander Baumjohann Alexander Baumjohann (born 23 January 1987) is a German footballer who most recently played for Sydney FC as an attacking midfielder. After developing as a star junior with Schalke 04, he moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach and enjoyed great suc ...

, Sebastian Boenisch, Tim Hoogland, Michael Delura, and Alexandra Popp.

References

External links

Official web site

Team DEG, Comenius-Projekt
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Gelsenkirchen Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia Educational institutions established in 1969 1969 establishments in West Germany