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The Lessing Gymnasium is one of the oldest and most respected secondary schools in Germany. It is the oldest surviving school in Frankfurt am Main, one of the largest German cities. (Similar schools were called grammar schools in England. I am not sure what the school was called when it was founded.) The school was founded in 1519 by the merchant dominated city council. Similar schools were being founded at this time in other European countries, especially the northern countries of western Europe. The historians among us will recognize the date. Europe was changing rapidly in the early-16th century as the developing economy was creating more demand for young people who could write abnd do sums. And the school was founded 2 years after Martin Luther nailed his '95 Thesis' on the church door igniting the Reformstion which rapidly spread throughout Germany. This created even more emphasis on literacy and education. The school is still operating today as a gymnasium. The gymnasium program places a considerable emphasis on foreign languages. This begins with Latin and English in 5th grade, children of about 11 years of age. The students in the 7th grade the pupils choose between French or Ancient Greek. The school also offers a fine arts program, an area thst has been expanded in recent years. It has several orchestras and choirs. A nice photo of German High School students (10th grade, which is about 13-14 years old). The portrait we have is tentatively dated 1937, but we think was taken a few years earlier. The boys wear a variety of school clothes, mostly with short trousers and long stockings but a few with "Kniebundhosen" (literally knee pants), which in German means knickers that come just to the knee--not the baggy or longer style knickers).
The Lessing Gymnasium is one of the oldest and most respected secondary schools in Germany. It is the oldest surviving school in Frankfurt am Main, one of the largest German cities. (Similar schools were called grammar schools in England. I am not sure what the school was called when it was founded.) The school was founded in 1519 by the merchant dominated city council. We are not sure what the sdchool was called when it was founded.
The first gymnasiums appeared in Germany only a few years after tthis school was founded in Frabnkfurt. The German Gymnasium grew out of the humanistic movement (16th century). The first school for younger children with the gymnasium system and curriculum was founded in Saxony (1528). Greek and Latin added to the curriculum later. These classical languages became the core of the academic program of the Gymnasium. Hebrew was also taught in some Gymnasia.
Similar schools were being founded at this time in other European countries, especially the northern countries of western Europe. The historians among us will recognize the date. Europe was changing rapidly in the early-16th century as the developing economy was creating more demand for young people who could write abnd do sums. And the school was founded 2 years after Martin Luther nailed his '95 Thesis' on the church door igniting the Reformstion which rapidly spread throughout Germany. This created even more emphasis on literacy and education.
The school is still operating today as a gymnasium.
The reader who forwarded us the image here from the 1930s tells us that there was also a Lessings Gymnasium in Berlin and the portrait was taken there. The information we found on the internet, however, was about the Frankfurt school.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing is a famous German Enligtenment philosopher. He was born in Saxony (1729). He was noted as a writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic. He is one , and one of the most respected German figure of the Enligtenment--a period more known for French figures. His plays anbd other works had arofound affect on German literature as jt developed ag=fter the Reformation. Germans generally point to Lessing as the first important German dramatist.
The gymnasium program places a considerable emphasis on foreign languages. This begins with Latin and English in 5th grade, children of about 11 years of age. The students in the 7th grade the pupils choose between French or Ancient Greek. The school also offers a fine arts program, an area thst has been expanded in recent years. It has several orchestras and choirs.
Here we have a portrait of a group of German secondary students who look to be about 12-13 years old (figure 1). The portrait we have is tentatively dated 1937, but we think was taken a few years earlier in the eaerly 30s. The boys wear a variety of school clothes, mostly with short trousers and long stockings but a few with "Kniebundhosen" (literally knee pants), which in German means knickers that come just to the knee--not the baggy or longer style knickers).
The two boys in the front row with Knikebundhosen wear interestingly patterned socks. The boys who wear long stockings seem to be wearing supporters because of the unwrinkled state of their hosiery (perhaps Strapsleibchen or maybe
Strumpfhaltergueurteln, i.e., boys' garter belts like hockey garters). Some of the boys wear suits, others various sweater and shirt combinations (both with and without neckties). One boy in the back row wears the rather old-fashioned sailor suit, probably with short pants because sailor suits were never worn with knickers, at least to my
knowledge. Most of the boys with long stockings seem to in for black or very dark brown, but we also see the beige or light tan color. The teacher is very fasionably dressed with a double breasted dark suit and bow tie.
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