Bergen katedralskole

Infobox School
name = Bergen Katedralskole

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imagesize =
caption = The current main building.
motto = "Ex sapientia libertas"
established = 1153
closed =
type = Upper secondary school
affiliation =
district = Hordaland county municipality
grades = VG1 - VG3
president =
principal =
head of school = Hans Peder Vibe
dean =
faculty =
staff = 60
students = 465
athletics =
conference =
colors =
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mascot =
campus type = Urban
campus size =
free_label =
free_text =
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location = Kong Oscarsgt. 36 5017 Bergen
country = NOR
coordinates = coord|60.393134|5.331212
website = http://bks.hfk.no

Bergen katedralskole (English: "Bergen Cathedral School", Latin: "Schola Cathedralis Bergensis", formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Located in the city centre, next to Bergen Cathedral, the school has about 465 students,Cite web|url=http://utdanning.no/org/Vilbli_no_adr_8547|title=Bergen katedralskole|accessdate=2007-10-19|publisher=Utdanning.no|year=2007|author=vilbli.no|language=Norwegian] 55 full-time teachers,Cite web|url=http://bks.hfk.no/templates/Page.aspx?id=19016|title=Lærerpersonalet|accessdate=2007-10-18|language=Norwegian] and 5 administration personnel,Cite web|url=http://bks.hfk.no/templates/Page.aspx?id=2315|title=Administrasjon|accessdate=2007-10-18|language=Norwegian] including the headmaster, Hans Peder Vibe.

The school is thought to have been founded in 1153 by Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope Adrian IV), making the school the second oldest in Norway together with Oslo katedralskole and Hamar katedralskole, which were founded the same year, one year after the founding of Trondheim katedralskole.

History

Although the earliest written records documenting the school's existence date back to 1288, Bergen katedralskole is believed to have been founded in 1153 by Nicholas Breakspear, who became Pope Adrian IV in 1154. It was founded as a theological school for the education of priests. Pupils would start attending the school around the age of seven. Until the school reform in 1806, the school was tied to the church.The school moved to its present location in 1840. The original building is still in use as the offices for the administration, as well as some classrooms. This building also houses the school library. In 1869 the school's gyms were built, and the same year the school changed its name from "Bergen Latinskole" to its present "Bergen katedralskole".

The school was independent until 1896, but has been administred by the government since. In 1972, the school was made a regular upper secondary school administered by the county government.

Buildings

A classrooms only building was built in 1957. Another building, containing science laboratories, computer rooms and a cafeteria was built in 1992.

In July 2007, large amounts of mold were discovered in the building from 1840. This led to the building getting closed, resulting in a shortage of teacher offices.Cite web|url=http://www.bt.no/lokalt/bergen/article383043.ece|title=Stenger Katten|accessdate=2007-10-19|publisher=bt.no|year=2007|author=Christian Lura|language=Norwegian] The building contains several old classrooms, an auditorium and the school library, which is the oldest library known in Norway. For a while, the school administration considered delaying the start of the term, but this never happened as the teachers and the day-time adult education classes ended up moving into temporary barracks in the schoolyards of Bergen katedralskole and Tanks videregående skole.Cite web|url=http://www.bt.no/lokalt/bergen/article390259.ece|title=Husløse tre uker før skolestart|accessdate=2007-10-19|publisher=bt.no|year=2007|author=Gudrun Sylte|language=Norwegian] In February 2008, it was decided that the building will be renovated at a price of 6 million NOK as a temporary solution that will last until at least 2014.Cite web|url=http://www.hordaland.no/templates/page.aspx?id=9076|title=Mellombels utbetring ved Bergen katedralskole - Hordaland Fylkeskommune|accessdate=2008-04-01|publisher=Hordaland Fylkeskommune|year=2008|author=Stanley Hauge|language=Norwegian]

Academics

Of the mainline courses offered in Norwegian upper secondary schools, only the generalist line, "studiespesialisering", is offered by Bergen katedralskole. The school offers the only IB Diploma Programme classes in Bergen, from which about twenty students graduate per year.

According to a survey released in October 2007, the students at Bergen katedralskole at have the third best grades in Western Norway, and are beaten only by the students at Tanks videregående skole, also located in Bergen, and Sandane videregående skole.Cite web|url=http://www.bt.no/lokalt/bergen/article420100.ece|title=Vest best i skoletest|accessdate=2007-10-19|publisher=bt.no|year=2007|author=Øyvind Lefdal Eidsvik|language=Norwegian] The students in Hordaland, the county in which the school is located, receive the second best grades in the country, after the ones in Sogn og Fjordane. The school has a reputation as a prestigious school, because of its history and high grade requirements.Cite web|url=http://www.bt.no/utdanning/article347772.ece|title=Katten og BHG ned fra tronen|accessdate=2007-10-19|publisher=bt.no|year=2007|author=Krister Clausen Hoaas|language=Norwegian] In 2007, however, the private school Akademiet had a higher grade point average (GPA) requirement than any other school in Bergen.

Notable alumni

A number of the most famous alumni in the history of the school are engraved in a plaque in the old 1840 building. Among the names are:
*Petter Dass (1647-1707), poet
*Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), writer, playwright and lawyer
*Michael Sars (1805-1869), theologian and biologist
*Johann Sebastian Welhaven (1807-1873), poet and critic
*Armauer Hansen (1841-1912), physician who discovered Mycobacterium leprae (cause of leprosy/Hansen's Disease)
*Christian Michelsen (1857-1925), shipping magnate and statesman (Prime Minister of Norway 1905-07)
*Helge Ingstad (1899-2001), polar explorer, lawyer, Governor of Norwegian Occupied East Greenland 1932-33
*Nordahl Grieg (1902-1943), poet, novelist, dramatist, and journalistOther alumni with Wikipedia articles about them include:
*Absalon Pederssøn Beyer (1578-1575), clergyman, writer and lecturercite journal | author=Gunnar Hagen Hartvedt| title=Bergen katedralskole| journal=Bergen Byleksikon| year=1994| pages=89–90]
*Martin Vahl (1749-1804), botanist and zoologist
*Jens Zetlitz (1761-1821), poet
*Frederik Stang (1808-1884), prime minister
*Harald Tveit Alvestrand (1959-), computer scientistFact|date=February 2008
*Heikki Holmås (1972-), politicianCite web|url=http://epos.stortinget.no/biografi.aspx?initialer=HEH|title=Holmås, Heikki (1972-) Sosialistisk Venstreparti|accessdate=2008-02-25|publisher=Stortinget|language=Norwegian]
*Gunnar Staalesen (1947-), writerCite web|url=http://www.bergensbladet.no/cgi-bin/mi/imaker?id=12886|title=En date med Gunnar Staalesen|accessdate=2008-02-25|publisher=Bergensbladet|year=2007|author=Katrine Lunde, Audun Eskeland|language=Norwegian]
*Siri Hustvedt (1955-), writerCite web|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2007/06/19/503857.html|title=Skjørtejegeren|accessdate=2008-08-12|publisher=Dagbladet|year=2007|author=Silje Kathrine Sviggum|language=Norwegian]

ee also

* List of the oldest schools in the world

References

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External links

* [http://bks.hfk.no/templates/SchoolFrontpage.aspx?id=2077 School website] no icon
* [http://web.hist.uib.no/delfag-h97/inge/skolen.htm History] no icon
* [http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/DaMeny.exe?meny=katedralskolen&nr=1 Digitalarkivet - Bergen Katedralskole] no icon