| Academic Gymnasium Danzig | |
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| Established | 1558 |
| Campus | Urban |
TheAcademic Gymnasium Danzig (German:Akademisches Gymnasium Danzig,Polish:Gdańskie Gimnazjum Akademickie,Latin:Gymnasium Dantiscanum) was a school founded inGdańsk,Poland. It was founded in 1558 byJohann Hoppe (1512–1565), who had previously worked at schools inKulm andElbing until CatholicPrince-BishopStanislaus Hosius closed them. For most of its existence it had a character similar to that of a university.
It was in operation as educational gymnasium forLutheran clergy until 1817.[1] It was one of the most developed educational centers in thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1] It also was the site of Collegium Medicum-one of the first associations of doctors in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1]
In the 16th century, as many cities in the Polish province ofRoyal Prussia becameLutheran, the population began to seek a Lutheran education. TheUniversity of Königsberg in neighbouringDucal Prussia, founded in 1544, was not big enough to educate all the new Protestant clerics and administrators needed for the newly Lutheran state in addition to arrivals from other parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, so local Latin schools in the Commonwealth were upgraded. The future home of the Gymnasium would be the formerFranciscan monastery turned into a school. In 1539, aSchola Dantiscana[2] program was started byAndreas Aurifaber. In 1558Johann Hoppe founded a secular gymnasium that would become the Academic Gymnasium Danzig.Achatius Curaeus (1531–1594), from theUniversity of Wittenberg, was made the first rector, but due to the theological conflicts betweenGnesio-Lutherans andPhilippists, he soon left.
In 1580, the school received the title Academic Gymnasium. Along with similar schools inElbląg andToruń, the gymnasium transformed the province of Royal Prussia into a center of classical studies in the 16th century.[3] The university ambitions of the Gymnasium can be proved by the fact that in 1580-1611 the following chairs were created: theology, philosophy, law and history, rhetoric, mathematics, medicine with anatomy, Greek, Hebrew and oriental languages. In 1589 a Polish language course was created.[4]
In 1817, after thePartitions of Poland, when Gdańsk became part of theKingdom of Prussia, the municipal gymnasium was founded and namedStädtisches Gymnasium Danzig (City High School of Danzig), in contrast to the earlier (royal)Königliches Gymnasium. The Academic Gymnasium Danzig was in operation until March 1945, when Danzig fell to theRed Army. Subsequently, the city asGdańsk, became again part of Poland.
Notable lecturers of the Academic Gymnasium includeBartholomäus Keckermann,Peter Crüger,Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius,Jan Schultz-Szulecki [pl],Abraham Calovius,Michael Christoph Hanow (Hanovius),Gottfried Lengnich,Paweł Świetlicki [pl],Joachim Pastorius [pl],Paweł Pater [pl]. Among its students and alumni wereJohannes Hevelius,Andreas Gryphius,Gottfried Lengnich,Hugo Münsterberg,Daniel Gralath,Zbigniew Gorajski [pl],Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau,Paweł Świetlicki [pl],Wawrzyniec Gabler [pl],Márton Szepsi Csombor.
In June 2008, the National Museum in Gdańsk unveiled a memorial table dedicated to Academic Gymnasium to mark the 450th anniversary of its founding.[5]
Rectors of Akademic Gymnasium Danzig:
First rectorHumanistAchatius Curaeus, advisorJohann Hoppe
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