Once a unique place in the DDR. That is Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium. It is now a language-oriented high school in Berlin. It stands on the edge of a typical DDR housing estate. You can find it between Anton-Saefkow-Platz and the Storkower Straße S-Bahn station.
The school building is a typical DDR design. It underwent extensive renovation from 2014 to 2018. The sports hall was last renovated in 2020. During the renovation, the schoolyard was redesigned. Part of the yard now serves as a sports area. It includes 100-meter running tracks and a basketball court.
Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium emerged from a special school for foreign languages. It was founded in 1975 in the Lichtenberg district. The school was unique in the DDR. It had a special language profile. From the 3rd grade, students were taught English or French. This was their first foreign language. The goal was to achieve a language proficiency certificate in addition to the Abitur. Russian was taught more intensively from the 5th grade.
After German reunification in 2007, a school fusion occurred. It merged with the Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Gymnasium. This created the current Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium. It still maintains a language focus. It adopted the school building and ecological focus. These came from its fusion partner.
The gymnasium is generally four-track in secondary level I. Two classes are accepted into the basic branch in the 5th grade. These basic classes are prepared for the bilingual profile. This is done with enhanced English instruction. From grade 8, geography is taught in English. From grade 9, history is also taught in English. In the upper school level, political science is taught in English. Students can acquire the CertiLingua excellence label. This is part of their Abitur.
Besides English, the school offers various other languages. These languages can be chosen in different combinations. It depends on whether students are in the basic or modern language stream. Russian is offered as a second foreign language from class 5. Spanish is also a second foreign language from class 5. You can also choose Spanish as a second or third foreign language from class 7. French can be a second or third foreign language from class 7. Latin is offered as a third or fourth foreign language from class 9.
As part of the language profile, student exchanges and language trips take place. These occur in several grade levels. In 2015, John B. Emerson visited the school. He was the US Ambassador to Germany. He attended a town hall meeting during an exchange with Texas.
Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium is involved in cultural education. It has been part of the Kulturagenten program since 2016. Concerts, exhibitions, and theater projects occur regularly. In political education, there are Model United Nations. These are held in English. There is also Youth Debates or Herder’s Rebellion.
The Herderzeitung reports on school events. It is published several times a year. It uses social media. It has received many awards for this. 52.5 percent of the students have a non-German native language. The Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium is a school without racism. It is a school with courage. In 2019, it was recognized as a Fair School by EPIZ Berlin. In 2020, the Herderzeitung won a special prize. It was the “Ideas. Implement” award from the BDZV. In 2022, Tatjana Inkin received the German Teacher Award.