Gymnasium Petrinum is a state-funded secondary school and the oldest Gymnasium in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

town of

Dorsten Dorsten (; Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000. Dorsten is situated on the western rim of Westphalia bordering the Rhineland. Its histori ...

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 ...

History

The

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

n town of Dorsten is host to Germany's oldest continuous cloister of the

Franciscan Order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

, founded in 1488. Out of this cloister, Petrinum was established as a Latin school in 1642. Although the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–48) had badly derogated Dorsten's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

wealth and status as a member of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

of international trading cities, the town council mobilised support for the clerics' efforts. In 1823 the Latin school became a ''Progymnasium'', meaning that a more encompassing list of subjects was taught. The last Franciscan headmaster died in 1837 and in 1898 the school was made a full Gymnasium. Petrinum subsequently moved to a new building in 1902 and in 1904 the first

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 ...

exam was conducted at the school now officially named "Catholic Gymnasium (with compensatory education in Greek) at Dorsten". During the

Occupation of the Ruhr The occupation of the Ruhr () was the period from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925 when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region of Weimar Republic Germany. The occupation of the heavily industrialized Ruhr district came in respons ...

in 1923 the school building served as headquarters for Belgian troops, which meant that teaching had to take place in another building. After heavy disruptions 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 ...

, instruction returned to normal in 1948 although the school building still had to be shared with a

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

. Due to the continuing shortage of teaching rooms, the building was extended, completely overhauled and re-opened in 1963. In 1978 the first girls took the Abitur exam at the former boys' school and in 1982 Petrinum moved to a completely new building by the Wesel-Datteln Canal. The building was further extended by a new tract in 2003.

External links

Petrinum website (German)
{{Coord, 51, 39, 54, N, 6, 57, 48, E, region:DE-NW_type:edu, display=title Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia Gymnasiums in Germany Buildings and structures in Recklinghausen (district) Educational institutions established in the 1640s 1642 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire