Kapitel 4 Textbuch

AHohenzollern-Gymnasium in Sigmaringen
ktuelles
A visitor to a German Gymnasium may assume that the
curriculum and academic activities are the same in all
secondary high schools in Germany. Such an assumption will
most likely prove to be incorrect. Although local and regional
differences from one Gymnasium to another become quite
apparent, there are nevertheless many similarities.
The Hohenzollern-Gymnasium is located in Sigmaringen, a
small town in southern Germany, about 30 miles north of
Switzerland and 70 miles northwest of Austria. The school was
founded in 1818, at which time most of the students were
taught by the clergy. Since 1975, when a new school was built,
the Hohenzollern-Gymnasium has been a public secondary
school under the jurisdiction of the City of
Sigmaringen.
The school is attended by 680 students (grades
5-13) in 28 classes. Less than half of these
students come directly from Sigmaringen, with
the rest commuting from 26 other towns or
communities. Most students come by bus or
train. During the warmer months, many
students ride their bikes or walk to school. Since
German teenagers cannot get a driver’s license
before they are 18, only very few students come
by car or motorcycle. About 4 percent of the
students in this school are foreigners from such
countries as Turkey, Afghanistan, Italy, Hungary
and Yugoslavia.
School starts Monday through Friday at 7:45 A.M. Each class period is
45 minutes long. After the first two periods, there is a 15-minute
recess (Große Pause) followed by two more periods with a second 10minute
recess. After another two periods, students are dismissed
three of the five days at 12:50 P.M. On the other two days, students
have a lunch break (Mittagspause) until 2:20 P.M. and get out of school
after 4:55 P.M. Most students bring sandwiches or snacks to school
which they eat during their recess or lunch break. They also can
purchase food in a cafeteria around the block from the school or at a
fast-food restaurant nearby. Beverages can be bought from a vending
Lektion A
Wie kommen sie in die
Schule?
Die Stadt Sigmaringen
The name Hohenzollern
goes back to the Graf von
Zollern in the 11th century.
In the year 1805, the
Duchy of Hohenzollern
became a sovereign
principality and remained
as such until 1849 when it
was integrated into
Prussia. Today, there are
still some family members
of the royal family in the
Sigmaringer Schloss.
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