Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium Chemnitz is a public secondary school in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, for grades 5–12. It is one of seven secondary schools operating in Chemnitz, BernsdorfGymnasien in Chemnitz. Website of the city of Chemnitz listing all secondary schools operating in the school district of Chemnitz.
Its name changed multiple times, and the school is now named after the famous German poet and natural scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. One can find several statues of him all over the building. It is near a Netto which is the only attraction.
The Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium has an annual average enrollment of about 666,5 students and 46 teachers. It offers a variety of 18 extracurricular activities. The principal of the school is Elke Trompelt and the assistant principal is Miss Cyrnik.
The school building was established in 1910 after only one year of construction work to educate the increasing number of students due to the emerging population of . Throughout the years, the school faced several changes to its school system. In the early years, the school separated boys and girls and served as a common board school to teach children for eight years. The school went coed in 1949, still distinguishing itself in Bernsdorf School I and II, and added grades 9 and 10 in 1959. After the German reunification in 1989, schools in East Germany mostly adapted the West German curriculum. After closing both Bernsdorf schools and opening the Bernsdorf secondary school in 1992, the school was renamed Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium on the 23 March 1993. Its name hasn't changed since then.
No damage was done during World War I. The school was severely damaged in World War II and in 1945 all the windows, the tower on top of the building, and parts of the roof were destroyed. Several classrooms caught fire during these bombings. A few repairs were done following the war, but it was only completely rebuilt in 1972: the roof was restored and a new heating system was installed. Further refurbishment work started in 1999 and was completed in 2000.
History
Schools in Chemnitz-Bernsdorf
The first school in Bernsdorf The first school in Chemnitz-Bernsdorf opened on the 30 October 1822. At the beginning of the 19th century, the village commune Bernsdorf became a suburb of the urban community Chemnitz. In 1805, school attendance became compulsory and the suburb was forced to build a school for the children. But with only 300 citizens in total living in Bernsdorf, the community was not able to finance and maintain their own school building. The children were required to attend a school in the urban core. Pastor Gottlob Heinrich Hunger bought a small house with his own funds to offer public education for children from Bernsdorf. The school building was inaugurated on the 30 October 1822 and 60 students attended it at the beginning. Because of poverty during the industrialization in the middle of the 19th century, parents took their children to school in the factories. The minors had to work 12 to 14 hours a day and were able to attend school after that. The family had to pay around 6 Groschen for each child. On account of the devastating situation in the school system, a committee with pastor St. Johannis at the head, started to supervise schools in Chemnitz. Children who didn't attend school were reported to the royal Land court. Schools were included in the town's budget and children from poor families received teaching materials. This way, every child was given a chance to pursue education. The number of students being taught at the small building rose so much that it eventually became too small.
The second school in Bernsdorf In 1862, a new school building was built and inaugurated on 4 September 1862. The committee worked out a plan to teach 113 students in four different classes: Number of students Class time 27 6:00 – 8:00 29 8:30 – 11:30 45 13:00 – 16:00 12 In another building The school building had to be enlarged because of the continuously rising number of residents. In 1872, the building was extended by another two classrooms. More than 220 children attended the school, all being taught by teacher Knorr. To overcome this situation, school fees were doubled and students not coming from Bernsdorf were suspended. In 1872, a second teacher, Mr. Nestler, was hired.
The third school in Bernsdorf
Even though the second school was enlarged in 1872, the population of Bernsdorf rose so rapidly that four classrooms were not enough. Another building was built in 1899 and opened on the 24 August 1899. It was located right behind the second schoolhouse and offered an additional 4 classrooms. Both schools were now combined to one school complex. Led by principal Julius Nobis, seven teachers taught all children coming from Bernsdorf. This third school building is a preschool nowadays.
Construction of the new school building In 1907, Bernsdorf completely gave up its autonomy and became a district of Chemnitz. The borders vanished and it became necessary to build one big schoolhouse.
The city council advertised a competition for planning and designing the new building. 104 concepts were turned in and the design "Fritz und Elly" by the architects Adolf Alfred Christian Zapp and Erich August Leo Basarke persuaded the jury the most. They received a prize of 3000 Marks. The architect's office was put in charge of building the schoolhouse by signing the contract on the 3 February 1909. They planned to finish construction work around Easter 1910. Having cost more than 750,000 marks, the school was inaugurated on the 25 April 1910. 846 girls and 1345 boys enrolled and started school the next day.
The school between 1910 and 1933 Although the students and their families enjoyed the new school, it was facing problems with absent students. 871 students were absent for at least three days during the school year and 82 children were not able to attend classes for more than three weeks. The school administration counteracted by making the students go to swimming and sports classes, and offering them milk and a warm breakfast to lower the number of absences. Due to World War I, many teachers were drafted into the army. Classes were consolidated and cancelled in the winter of 1916 and 1917. As a result of the war, 6 out of the 46 teachers died. In 1919, the city council passed a law that majorly changed the school system. The tripartite division in lower, middle, and higher board school was abolished and the common board school was introduced. Classes were reduced from 45 students to 35 students and school fees were abolished. (As part of this, pedagogues started an experimental study with classes whose students were able to study and work on group projects with other students).
The school during the National Socialism After the fascist takeover in 1933, the school system had been reorganized. In the spirit of the National Socialism, all school types supporting self-determination were abolished. The Bernsdorf School was reorganized and became a board school but still separated girls and boys. Everyday school life was influenced by the ideology such as the, "Führer principle" and unquestioning obedience. The Parents Council did not have much influence anymore and the youth associations, Hitlerjugend and Bund Deutscher Mädchen, were included in the school system. The regime tried to unionize teachers in the "National-sozialistischer Lehrerbund". They were trained politically and informed about the changes in the school system. Non-Aryan teachers had been suspended and teachers were forced to become members of the NSDAP. The interior design was changed and walls were decorated with Nazi symbols, photos of Adolf Hitler, the Reich's flag, and National Socialist publications. Some of the wall decorations were part of an exhibition that changed on a regular basis.
School life changed tremendously during World War II. Young teachers were conscripted in 1939 and 1940 so that older teachers taught two classes at the same time. Additionally, students from the Diesterweg School had been incorporated. Parts of the basement had been converted to be used as a dugout and were located where the fitness room is nowadays. After the raid on Poland a growing fear of chemical warfare developed and the decontamination squad was deployed in the basement of the school building as well. In January and February 1940, the school had to close because of freezing temperatures in the classrooms and the absence of heating fuel. Students were required to keep a diary with their experiences about the war and to collect donations. The school garden was used to cultivate vegetables to feed the people. In the school year of 1942 and 1943, sirens were installed on the roof to warn students and people living near the school. If possible, students were sent home after hearing the pre-alarm. At the beginning of 1945, the first refugees came and two classrooms of the boys school were furnished for the homeless. Parts of the girls school served as a sickbay. For 37 classes with up to 40 students each, there were only 20 rooms available. Lessons were shortened or sometimes even shut down because of missing heating fuel. With the beginning of air raids, the school was completely shut down. The bombings destroyed the protectory right next to the school and killed 39 children. The windows, the whole tower and parts of the roof were destroyed. Several classrooms caught fire. In the following months, only teachers were allowed to enter the school building to start clearing work. 22 students who attended the school died during the war.
The school from 1949 – 1989
In the summer of 1945, craftsman started to replace the broken windows in the rooms that could still be used and renewed the roof provisionally. The school opened on the 1 October 1945 and had 13 rooms for 32 classes. Lessons were shortened and other schools were used to teach all students. A shack was set up on the school yard that could be heated during the winter months since the heating in the actual schoolhouse had not been usable for years. Coldness, hunger, and malnutrition made many of the children sick. On the 22 November 1945, as part of the denazification, 22 teachers were dismissed. Lay teachers were hired and had to spread the democratic ideas. In the following years, new teachers were employed and as early as 1946, the first curriculum was published. The school was still being rebuilt and in 1949 the school went coed. Its names changed from Boys School and Girls School to Bernsdorfer School I and II. After the founding of the GDR, teachers were required to influence students politically as given by the curriculum and to deal with special topics, for example the GDR anniversary and Liberation day. School life was characterized by extracurricular activities. The organisation Young Pioneers had been founded on the 13 December 1948 to influence the children politically. In 1959, the school type changed to a ten-class general-education polytechnic secondary school. Grades 9 and 10 were now added to the curriculum and compulsory for all students. The socialist government added classes, such as astronomy and introduction to the socialist production. Starting in 1972, the school building was being rebuilt completely. The roof was renewed and a new heating system was installed. Parts of the first floor were reshaped to serve as a refectory. This all happened during the lessons. The building was all solely provisional and was never really finished. As part of the Cold War, the GDR enacted a new lesson plan that included military education for grades 9 and 10. A mayor of the National People's army went to the school to instruct the students with film material. They were taught on how to use gasmasks, give first aid, and much more.
The school after the reunification