Thomasschule zu Leipzig

Infobox School
name = St. Thomas School of Leipzig
native_name = Thomasschule zu Leipzig
latin_name = Schola Thomana Lipsiensis

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imagesize = 200px
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location = Hillerstraße 7
04109 Leipzig
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state = Saxony
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country = Germany DEU
coordinates = coord|51|20|13|N|12|21|36|E|display=title|region:DE-SN_type:edu_source:dewiki|display=inline
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religion = Roman Catholic (1212–1539) and since then influenced by Protestantism
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affiliation =
superintendent = Burgomaster Prof. Dr. phil. Thomas Fabian (University of Applied Sciences), Alderman for Youth, Social, Health and School
trustee =
founder = Augustinians
specialist =
president =
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head =
chairperson =
principal = Kathleen C. Kormann
viceprincipal = Dr. math. Ute Hofmann
dean =
administrator =
rector =
chaplain = Pastor Christian Wolff (St. Thomas Church)
director =
custodian =
staff = 67
graduates = 87
year = 2007
gender = Coed, Boys' choir
lower_age = 10
upper_age = 18
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type = Public Boarding School
products =
grades = 5 to 12
age range =
medium =
language = German
classrooms = 40
campus = Forum Thomanum
campus size =
campus type = Urban
rival = School of the Cross, Dresden
mascot =
mascot

sports =
patron = Thomas the Apostle
team_name =
nickname =
school_colours = color box|Green color box|White
Green and white
newspaper = Thom Times
established = 1212
students = 485
alumni = Old Thomaner
free_label = Alumni
free_text = Thomanerbund e.V.
free_label1 = Chair
free_text1 = Prof. Dr. theol. Christoph M. Haufe
free_label2 = Choir
free_text2 = St. Thomas Choir
free_label3 = Cantor
free_text3 = Prof. Georg C. Biller
homepage = [http://www.thomasschule.de/ www.thomasschule.de]

St. Thomas School of Leipzig (German: "Thomasschule zu Leipzig"; Latin: "Schoola Thomana Lipsiensis") is a coed and public boarding school in Leipzig, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world.

St. Thomas School is well known for its art, language and music education in the Free State of Saxony. The Humanistic Gymnasium has a very long list of distinguished former students, including Richard Wagner (1813–1883) and many members of the Bach family (e.g. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788)).

From the 800-Year Anniversary Celebration in 2012 the trias St. Thomas Church ("Thomaskirche"), St. Thomas Choir ("Thomanerchor") and St. Thomas School) are going to be part of an internationally oriented educational center, called Forum Thomanum.

History

St. Thomas School was founded as "schola pauperum", run by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, in 1212 by Margrave Dietrich von Meißen (1162–1221). The St. Thomas Church was founded with the school. For the first few years the school served as a monastery.Fact|date=September 2008 The St. Thomas School is first mentioned in documents dating to 1254 making it among the oldest schools in Europe.Fact|date=September 2008

In 1539 the city of Leipzig took over ownership of the school. All members ("Thomaner") of the boy choir "(Thomanerchor)" attend the school along with other pupils. The Thomaner live in the school's own boarding school, the "Thomasalumnat".

The school's first building was in the present courtyard of the St. Thomas Church. In 1553 an outbuilding was built there. Johan Sebastian Bach extended these buildings during his time as rector; in 1829 they were reconstructed. In 1877 a new building was erected in the Schreberstraße to meet a shortage of space. In 1881 a new building for the boarding school was finished.

During the Nazi era the school continued its normal curricula. The school endured the bombings of the night of December 3, 1943 with only the gym and the buildings across from the boarding school being destroyed. The then-rector, Günther Ramin, decided to move the choir boys to the "Königlich Sächsische Fürsten- und Landesschule Sankt Augustin" school in Grimma. Because of this, and because most of the older students were enlisted, the University of Leipzig was allowed to use the school's building for its own purposes. The rector's decision to move the choir boys was proved right during the bombings of February 20th 1944 when the school's buildings were destroyed. After that, the remaining pupils attended "41. Volksschule" on the "Hillerstraße". At some stage, the choir boys rejoined these pupils at "Hillerstraße".

In 1973 the school moved into a new building in the "Pestalozzistraße" (now "Telemannstraße"), but the boarding school remained in the "Hillerstraße". The new communist regime in East Germany tried to make an exemplar atheist school out of St. Thomas school, but the church's influence was immense.Fact|date=September 2008

After the German reunification in 1990 the pupil's numbers increased. In 2008 the school offers its students mathematics, natural sciences, music, and linguistic courses.

On September 2000 the school moved into the restored original building on the "Hillerstraße". In 2008, there are 485 pupils and 67 teachers. Prior to 1973, all the Thomascantors were also teachers at the school and all presidents of the Thomaschoir were also the school's rectors. Since 1973 those roles have been separated.

Foreign languages

Cultivating classical languages is an old tradition at St. Thomas School. All students study Latin as their first or second foreign language, including the Qualification in Latin ("Latinum"). Combined with the modern language English the pupils learn fundermatel foreign language skills. Although there are offered advanced courses ("Leistungskurse") in those subjects. Interested students are welcome to take the First Certificate in English (FCE). The tradition of the school and its roots in European culture are the motive for providng Ancient Greek classes from 8th grade as well as a Qualification in Greek ("Graecum"). Also St. Thomas School offers Romance languages, like French and Italian.

Student exchange programs and stays in Europe and in Anglo-America are possible.

Notable alumni

* Martin Rinckart - German clergyman and hymnist
* Paul Fleming - German poet
* Johann David Heinichen - German Baroque composer and music theorist
* Reinhard Keiser - popular German opera composer
* Christoph Graupner - German harpsichordist and composer of high Baroque music
* Wilhelm Friedemann Bach - eldest son and pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach
* Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - German musician and composer
* Johann Christian Bach - composer of the Classical era
* Johann Friedrich Kind - German dramatist
* Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld - German painter
* Rudolf Hildebrand - Germanist
* Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber - German physician and university teacher
* Richard Wagner - German composer, conductor, music theorist and essayist
* Günther Ramin - influential German organist, conductor, composer and pedagogue
* Jörg-Peter Weigle - German professor of choir direction
* Die Prinzen - German music group

Notable former teachers

* Johann Sebastian Bach - prolific German composer and organist
* Karl Ferdinand Braun - German inventor, physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
* Sethus Calvisius - German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer and teacher of the late Renaissance
* Moritz Hauptmann - German composer and writer
* Johann Adam Hiller - German composer, conductor and writer on music
* Sebastian Knüpfer - German composer
* Johann Kuhnau - German composer, organist and harpsichordist
* August Leskien - German linguist
* Günther Ramin - influential German organist, conductor, composer and pedagogue
* Georg Rhau - German publisher and composer
* Ernst Richter - German musical theorist
* Wilhelm Rust - German musicologist and composer
* Johann Schein - German composer of the early Baroque era
* Johann Gottfried Schicht - German composer and conductor
* Karl Straube - German church musician , organist, and choral conductor
* Christian Theodor Weinlig - German music teacher, composer and choir conductor
* Johann Schelle - cantor 1677-1701, composer

ee also

* St. Thomas Church, Leipzig
* Thomanerchor

References

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External links

* [http://www.thomasschule.de Thomasschule zu Leipzig]
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.thomasschule.de/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DThomasschule%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DHPAB,HPAB:2006-42,HPAB:en Thomasschule]