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The Französisches Gymnasium is a long-existing bilingual highschool in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1689 by Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm III for the children of the Huguenot families who settled in Prussia by his invitation, being prosecuted for their protestant beliefs in Catholic France.
History
Since its foundation, the school has had an almost continuous history, occupying several buildings in Berlin. During a brief period under the Nazi regime, it had to close down due to the prosecution of its Jewish pupils and teachers. Several of its pupils (have they graduated or flung the school) have become well-known later on, among them engineers Ernst Werner Siemens and Wernher von Braun, songwriter Reinhard Mey and social-democrat Gesine Schwan.
The school today
The school has moved to its current building in Berlin-Tiergarten in 1972. It educates both German- and French-speaking pupils from francophonic countries all over the world. Grades are from 5 to 12, bilingual classes and teaching starting in grade 7. Other taught languages are English, Latin, Ancient Greek and Spanish. The pupils can graduate with either of two diplomas (though many Germans pass both): the Abitur (German highschool diploma) and the Baccalauréat (French highschool diploma).
On June 15, 2002, a gang of ex-pupils burgled the school, vandalizing many facilities and stealing electronic equipment to sell it in the street. The damage was estimated to 100 000 euros. Their motivation was apparently vengeance for their problems at the school, since they also destroyed personal belongings of the teachers.
External links
- Official website (http://www.fg-berlin.de) (in German)
- A news report on the vandalism from Berliner Zeitung (http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2002/0611/lokales/0026/) (in German)