Coordinates: 50°15′25″N 10°57′56″E

Casimirianum Coburg
The Casimirianum, known to the students as the "Casi", is a
Gymnasium in Coburg, Bavaria. It was founded in 1605 by Johann
Casimir, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg (1564-1633), and named after him.
Today the Casimirianum is a linguistic and humanistic high school with
the curriculum in the Latin language from 5th Grade, English from 6th
Grade, and Greek, French or Spanish as the third compulsory foreign
language. With the school year of 2009–10, the program was expanded
with a scientific-technological branch with Latin as a second language.
The Casimirianum was once involved with a German pilot program,
"The European Gymnasium" and was one of 44 Model Schools of
"MODUS21", but both programs were closed by 2009.

Contents
History
Architecture
Traditions
Notable former students Renaissance style Casimirianum
Notable teachers
Quotations
References
Bibliography
External links

History
The Casimirianum is a Renaissance building designed and built by Peter Sengelaub. On 2 September 1601, the foundation stone was
laid by Duke Johann Casimir and he returned on 3 July 1605 the inauguration. According to the foundation charter, the Duke
intended this state school to be ein medium oder Mittel[1] (German, "a medium or middle") between a Trivialschule (an elementary
school) and a high school or academy. The lectures were to be public et gratis (Latin, "free to the public"). A Convictorium (Latin,
"boarding school") was established "with two tables, of twenty-four boys, one table free, and the other
, for a weekly fee of 7groschen
by any person"[2] The Duke understood "how sometimes . . . poor people's children, who are naturally good and capable of
intelligence, and the same to seek and learn, are also eager to be educated, are often times overlooked, ignored and neglected; that we
would not like to hear or be heard in the least..."[3]

From the Bewiddungsbrief (Letter of Evaluation) of Duke Johann Casimir, the Foundation Charter of the Casimirianum, dated 3 July
1605: "Undoubtedly, in the view of these regulations and foundation of our school, the praeceptores [Latin, "teachers"] held truly and
abundantly, and the public lectures multiplied. Also the beneficium communis mensæ [Latin, "common good of the table"] must be
properly conducted; it will follow and further such Christian work, to honor God, to edify Christendom, and to maintain our lands,
."[4]
with the time of good-hearted people and foremost our descendants, that it achieves the original goals intentionally
 On 11 November 1677 Emperor Leopold I granted the Imperial privilege to establish
a new university in Coburg. In 1705, on the occasion of the centennial of the school,
the University of Coburg was proclaimed. But, in1723, it was abandoned because of
the infighting among the seven participating Ernestine princes and of the lack of
funding. So were the efforts of a joint committee for a second university for Jena.
The Casimirianum Gymnasium has continued to use the original building, built in
1607.

Architecture
Across the street from the Morizkirche (St. Maurice’s Church), on the corner lot at
Neugasse, Ratskornhaus, built in 1496, stood until 1601. Then Duke Johann Casimir
had it razed and rebuilt. On this spot, in 1605, Nikolaus Bergner and Peter
Sengelaub created a Hohe Schule mit Convictorium (high school with a dormitory).
For Bergner, it was the second of his three buildings in Coburg. The construction of
Inauguration program, dated 5 July
the government offices at Stadthaus and Rathaus on Marktplatz in the center of
1605, for the Casimirianum
Coburg had just been finished, and it would be followed by the Zeughaus, now the
State Archives of Coburg.[5]

The two-story gable roof in the

Renaissance style is outlined by a
series of six spire lights with richly
detailed edges and each of the spire
lights is sloped as steep as a
pyramid. Both three-story-tall ends
of the gable roof are very ornately
designed with barrettes of volutes
and each of the five pyramids
slopes to the bottom of the
partitions. The three-to-eight
The Casimirianum of Coburg in 1975
window bays on the upper floors
are designed as large windows with
mullions; only the gable ends have only one window in the middle. The ground floor
is bisected, approximately in the middle, by a portal with a sculptured arch, which
consists of overlapping rods and this entablature with an architrave, a frieze and a
Statue of Duke Johann Casimir at
cornice resting on the corbels. Left of this door is an entrance porch, with a low
the Casimirianum
round arch supported by corbels with leaf volutes and topped with a cornice with a
cymatium and a dentil. On the northeast corner, facing the church, at the level of the
upper floor, is the stone figure of the school’s founder, Duke Johann Casimir, replaced in 1638 by Veit Dümpel. Originally, the
gable’s face at the right side of the figure was painted with the images of famous scientists. In the middle of the roof, set on the top of
the ridge, there is an outstanding polygonal stair-tower with a spiral staircase of stone, an onion dome and a lantern, from which the
Gymnasium’s little bell hangs. In the auditorium of the Gymnasium, there are wood panel paintings featuring the allegories of the
Seven Virtues, which were discovered in theMuenzmeisterhaus Muenzmeisterhaus in 1957.[5]

Over the course of four hundred years, many renovations and additions as well as the demolition of the surrounding townhouses
created the present campus of the Gymnasium. The last enlargements 1961 were the construction of a gym with a recreation hall at
Ketschengasse.[5]
the Neugasse and, between 1986 and 1988 and an additional school building with a music room in the direction of

Traditions
At the end of each school year during the annual festival, the foundation of the stone figure of the school's founder Duke Johann
Casimir is "crowned" at the corner of the Renaissance building of the school. A student or a student girl in the upper third (in terms of
his or her school performance) of the 12th Grade makes a speech. Then he or she, along with the year's valedictorian, climbs up a
ladder to the figure of the school's founder and lays a wreath on the keystone. Another wreath is attached to the arm of the former
ruler. Then the students empty three consecutive glasses of beer (sometimes apple juice as a substitute), each time with the following
Latin words Gymnasium Casimirianum Vivat, crescat, and floreat in aeternum (Translation: "Long live Casimirianum Gymnasium,
may it grow and bloom forever") and throw them to the ground. The shards of the glasses are avidly collected by the students because
they are supposed to bring them good luck and good grades in the next school year. In the festivities, the three-verse school song
[6]
(melody: Vom hoh'n Olymp, From high Olympus) is also sung, the first two verses before the coronation, the last at the conclusion.

Since 1861, the Schülerverbindung Casimiriana (Casimirana Students Society), an independent and egalitarian fraternity for male
students, has been connected with the higher grades at the Gymnasium.

Notable former students

Michael Erich Franck (1691–1621), novelist in theRococo era, attended from 1709 to 1713
Johann Caspar Goethe(1710–1782), father ofJohann Wolfgang Goethe, attended from 1725 to 1728
Johann Georg Meusel (1743–1820), historian, and lexico-bibliographer, attended from 1758 to 1764
Friedrich Hofmann (1813–1888), writer, attended from 1828 to 1834
[7]
August Schleicher (1821–1868), linguist and pioneer of Indo-European Studies, attended from 1835 to 1839
Bernhard Fischer (1852–1915), attended from 1862 to 1871
Richard Leutheußer (1867–1945), lawyer and politician, graduated 1887
Hans Berger (1873–1941), a neurologist and psychiatrist, graduated 1892
Constant Griebel (1876–1965), food chemist, attended from 1886 to 1893
Helmuth Johnsen (1891–1947), an Evangelical Lutheran bishop, populist and activist, graduated 1911
Georg Hansen (1904–1944), resistance fighter of 20 July 1944, attended from 1914 to 1923
Hans Morgenthau (1904–1980), a lawyer and political scientist, attended from 1914? to 1923
Peter von Butler (1913–2010), Lieutenant General (Ret.) in the Bundeswehr, graduated 1931
Michael Stoschek, chairman of Brose GmbH & Co. KG, attended from 1957 to 1967
Thomas Keyßner, lawyer and local politician, attended from 1966 to 1975
Norbert Kastner, lawyer and mayor since 1990 of Coburg, attended from 1970 to 1979
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Evangelical Lutheran bishop from Bavaria, graduated 1979
Carl-Christian Dressel, politician and university professor, attended from 1980 to 1989

Notable teachers
Andreas Libavius (1555–1616), founder of modern chemistry[7]
Johann Matthäus Meyfart(1590–1642), professor since 1617, director since 1623 fought as Protestant theologian
against the persecution of witches[7]
Johann Christoph Kohlhans(1604–1677), author of writings on Greek and Hebrew as well as mathematics and
physics[7]
Erdmann Rudolf Fischer(1687–1776), Lutheran theologian
Ernst Salomon Cyprian(1673–1745), 1700–1713 director, Lutheran theologian, opponent ofPietism[7]
Johann Friedrich Gruner(1723–1778), Lutheran theologian, historian, orator and teacher
[7]
Johann Christoph Matthias Reinecke(1768–1818), geologist, geographer and cartographer

Quotations
He had spent his youth at the Coburg Gymnasium, which among German schools took one of the first places. He was
placed on a good foundation there in the languages, and what else was expected of a learned education...
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on his father Johannes Caspar Goethe, cited from Aus meinem Leben, Dichtung und Wahrheit, Erstes
Buch, p. 21, line 31 and p. 22, lines 1-4, from the English translation by John Oxenford, The Autobiography of Goethe: Truth and
Poetry, From My Own Life (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1848),p. 20)

References
1. (in German) Johann Casimir, Constitutionem et Dotationem, p. 4, paragraph 1
2. (in German) Johann Casimir, Constitutionem et Dotationem, p. 8, paragraph 1
3. (in German) Johann Casimir, Constitutionem et Dotationem, p. 8, paragraph 1
4. (in German) Johann Casimir, Constitutionem et Dotationem, p. 7, paragraph 3
5. Morsbach and Titz, Stadt Coburg, p. 48
6. (in German) “Gymnasium Casimirianum”(http://www.casimiriana.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id
=8&Itemid=67), Schülerverbindung Casimirianaat www.casimiriana.de. Retrieved 4 February2013.
7. (in German) Silvia Pfister, ”Bedeutende Gelehrte aus dem Casimirianum”

Bibliography
(in Latin) (in German) Johann Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, Chapter 4: “Scriptum Qvod Gymnasii Constitutionem
et Dotationem continet” [Latin: Written List containing the Constitution and Endowment of the Gymnasium]; In:
Inauguratio Illustris Gymnasii Casimiriani ab Illvstrissimo Principe Ac Domino D. Iohanne Casimiro, Duce Saxoniae,
Landgravio Thuringiae, Marchione Misniae, &c. apud Coburgenses aperti. Quae Feliciter Coepta & peracta die 3.
Julii, anni currentis Et In Patriae Ac Regionum vicinarum gratiam literis prodita fuit, A Designatis Scholarchis,
Rectore & Collegis Gymnasii Casimiriani[Latin: From the Inauguration of the Illustrious Casimirianum Gymnasium
by the Illustrious Prince and Lord Duke Johann Casimir , Duke of Saxony, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of
Meissen, etc., and opened in Coburg, Which Happily Began and ended on the third of July in the current year And in
the Country and neighboring Regions, for which the program was produced And Designed by Scholars, Rector &
Faculty of the Casimirianum Gymnasium] (Coburg: Justus Hauck, 1605)
(in German) Festausschuss [Festival Committee], ed.,Festschrift zum 350jährigen Bestehen des Gymnasium
Casimirianum Coburg [Festival Program of the 350th Anniversary of the Casimirianum Gymnasium of Coburg]
(Coburg: [“Riemann in Komm.”,] 1955)
(in German) Rudolf Brückner, ed., Casimiriana 1861 - 1961, Hundert Jahre einer Schülerverbindung[Casimiriana
1861 - 1961, One Hundred Years of a Student Society] (Coburg: Altherren-Verband der Casimiriana Coburg e. V.
[Old Boys Association of the Casimiriana of Coburg, Inc.], 1961)
(in German) Norbert Enser and Rudolf Brückner, eds., 125 Jahr Casimiriana: die Geschichte der Casimiriana und
das Leben der Aktivitas einst und jetzt[125 Years of the Casimiriana and the Life of the Brothers Then and Now]
(Coburg: Altherren-Verband der Casimiriana Coburg e. V., 1986)
(in German) Joachim Goslar and Wolfgang Tasler, eds., Musarum Sedes: 1605 - 2005, Festschrift zum 400-jährigen
Bestehen des Gymnasiums Casimirianum Coburg[(in Latin) “Seat of the Muses”: (in German) 1605 - 2005, Festival
Program for the 400th Anniversary of the Casimirianum Gymnasium of Coburg] (Coburg: Gymnasium Casimiranium,
2005) ISBN 3-9810350-0-3
(in German) Gymnasium Casimirianum and Schülerverbindung Casimiriana, eds.,Casimirianum - Casimiriana :
Festgabe der Schülerverbindung Casimiriana zu Coburg zum 400. Schulstiftungsfest des Gymnasiums
Casimirianum zu Coburg[Casimirianum - Casimiriana: Festival Program of the Casimiriana Students Society of
Coburg for the 400th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Casimirianum Gymnasium of Coburg] (Coburg: Altherren-
Verband der Casimiriana Coburg e. V., 2005; Würzburg: Studentengeschichtliche Vereinigung des Coburger
Convents [The Coburger Convent, Historical Society of the Students], 2005)ISBN 3-930877-39-2
(in German) Peter Morsbach, Otto Titz: Stadt Coburg. Ensembles-Baudenkmäler-Archäologische Denkmäler.
Denkmäler in Bayern. Band IV[City of Coburg. Assembled Monuments and Archaeological Monuments. Monuments
in Bavaria. Volume IV], p. 48. (Munich: Karl M. Lipp Verlag, 2006) ISBN 978-3-874-90590-9
(in German) Silvia Pfister, ”Bedeutende Gelehrte aus dem Casimirianum” [Prominent Teachers from the
Casimirianum], In: ”Ausstellung: Bibliotheca Casimiriana’ [Exhibition: The Casimiriana Library],Landesbibiliothek
Coburg.de [State Library of Coburg] (LBC). Retrieved 4 February 2013.

External links
Official website (in German)
Official Website of the Casimirianum's school newspaper
, the “Casiopeia” (in German)
 Official Website of the Casimirianum’s school fraternity, the Schülerverbindung Casimiriana[Casimiriana Students
Society] (in German)

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