Gymnasium Bernrode is a gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 in Heeswijk

Heeswijk

Heeswijk is a Dutch town. It is located in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands.Heeswijk was a separate municipality until 1969, when it merged with the adjacent village of Dinther. Since 1 January 1994 it has been part of the larger municipality of Bernheze, which...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It was established in 1886 by Gerlacus van den Elsen, abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of the Berne Abbey

Berne Abbey

Berne Abbey, a Dutch abbey of the Premonstratensians, or Norbertines, in Heeswijk, North Brabant, is the oldest extant religious community in the Netherlands. It has 27 brothers and priests ....

, a Norbertine

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

.

History

In 1886, Gerlacus van den Elsen, one of the Norbertine monks, founded the seminary Gymnasium St. Norbertus. Around 1950 this school had 125 students, most of them boarders. A disadvantage was that the seminary could not issue any officially recognized diplomas. In order to receive such a certificate the students had to pass a state examination. In the 1950s it was decided this had to be changed but the limited size of the school was a problem. Hence it was decided to cooperate with another seminary. The combination of schools took the name ‘Gymnasium Bernrode’ and in 1961 received permission to issue official diplomas.

Day students were also admitted so that the young people in the area could also profit from an education at a gymnasium: first boys only and later on girls were allowed as well. In the sixties the number of boarders diminished while the number of day students from the surrounding areas increased. This resulted in the closing down of both boarding schools at the beginning of the 1970s.