The Collegium Fridericianum (also known as the Friedrichskolleg, Friedrichskollegium, and Friedrichs-Kollegium) was a prestigious
gymnasium in
Königsberg,
Prussia. Alumni were known as Friderizianer.[1]
History
18th century
Using the
Francke school of
Halle (Saale) as a model, Theodor Gehr (died 1705), an official of
Brandenburg-Prussia, founded a
Pietist private school in
Sackheim on 11 August 1698.[2] It became a royal school of
Frederick I,
King in Prussia, on 4 March 1701.[3] For 16,000 guilder in 1703, it acquired the hall of Obermarschall von Creytzen on Collegiengasse in eastern
Löbenicht[4] and was designated the Collegium Fridericianum or Friedrichskolleg in honor of Frederick on 10 May.[3] The Pietist school was the first in Königsberg not to be affiliated with a parish church.[5] The school's first director in 1702 was
Heinrich Lysius (1670-1731) of
Flensburg, pastor of
Löbenicht Church. The school received an organ built by
Johann Josua Mosengel in 1707.
The Collegium was admired by King
Frederick William I of Prussia; in a decree on 25 October 1735 the king mentioned the school as an example for other schools in Prussia.[6] Over 50
Baltic German students went to the school before attending university in the 18th century.[7]Immanuel Kant began attending the school in 1732, while
Johann Gottfried Herder taught there from 1763 to 1764. The school consisted of a
Latin school, a German school, and a boarding school often used by foreign students. It also contained a wooden tower utilized as an observatory and a small church in service until 1853.[3]
The gymnasium's building was dismantled and rebuilt in 1853, with the new structure dedicated on 17 October 1855.[9] In 1858 the 36,000 volume library of Director
Friedrich August Gotthold was donated to the
Royal and University Library. The gymnasium counted 508 students in 1865. During the
Franco-Prussian War the school's volunteers included two teachers and nine students, all of whom survived the war.[4]
In 1890 the Prussian government acquired the property of the stately Groß Jägerhof on Jägerhofstraße between
Königstraße and
Vorder-Roßgarten. The school moved into this new property, which was remodeled by
Ernst von Ihne and dedicated in 1893. The Collegium's former location on Collegiengasse was later used by the
Burgschule. The teacher Gustav Zippel began a history of the Friedrichskollegium to commemorate its bicentennial in 1898.[1]
20th century
In 1901 the Friedrichskollegium consisted of 32 teachers and 845 students; it was the largest school in Königsberg prior to
World War I.[1] By 1902 its faculty library consisted of 9,000 volumes and its student library had 1,200 volumes.[10] Upon the outbreak of war in 1914, 20 teachers and 139 students volunteered for service, with hundreds following during the course of the war. Casualties included three teachers and fifty students.[4]
The gymnasium was destroyed during the 1944
Bombing of Königsberg in World War II, with interim classes ceasing in January 1945. At least 160 representatives of the school had been killed during the war or in its aftermath by 1948.[4] The
Landfermann-Gymnasium of
Duisburg[4] has sponsored the traditions of the former Friedrichskollegium through several endowments since 28 May 1955.
Notable people
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's
verifiability policy. Please
improve this article by removing names that do not have independent
reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate
citations.(January 2022)
Albinus, Robert (1985). Lexikon der Stadt Königsberg Pr. und Umgebung (in German). Leer: Verlag Gerhard Rautenberg. p. 371.
ISBN3-7921-0320-6.
Armstedt, Richard (1895). Heimatkunde von Königsberg i. Pr (in German). Königsberg: Kommissionsverlag von Wilhelm Koch. p. 306.
Gause, Fritz (1968). Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg. Band II: Von der Königskrönung bis zum Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs (in German). Köln: Böhlau Verlag. p. 761.
Wiese, Ludwig (1902). Das höhere Schulwesen in Preussen (in German). Berlin: Verlag von Wiegandt & Grieben.