History

Kolleg St. Blasien is an internationally-oriented, Jesuit private school with boarding facilities for both boys and girls. It was founded in 1934 by the Jesuits and since then has been run by priests of the Society of Jesus. This Catholic, Jesuit college is a private, yet state-accredited grammar school which takes students of all faith persuasions from the fifth school year through to the Abitur (the German ‘A’ level or high school graduation equivalent). The boarding school strives, through a comprehensive programme and under the guidance of mature adults, to develop young men and women of good character, who are grounded in responsibility for the Church and social well-being in reflection of Christian beliefs and values.

In 1934 the Jesuit Order took possession of the abbey buildings after the failure in the late 1920s of the industry that had been lodged there and opened a boys’ boarding school in them. The first students came from the Jesuit Kolleg, Stella Matutina, in Feldkirch, Voralberg, where residence for German students became impossible because of Nazi policy. If one regards the evacuation of the students from one Jesuit school to another as a continuous history, then one can trace the history of Kolleg St. Blasien much further back to Swiss Freiburg and to the year 1596. That was where Saint Petrus Canisius founded the Jesuit Kolleg, “St. Michael.” After the defeat of Freiburg in the War of Sonderbund (German: Sonderbundskrieg) of 1847, the Jesuits had to leave the City. They founded the Stella Matutina in 1856 to provide for the students in their care.

Even after a new beginning in the Black Forest in 1934, all was anything but untroubled. A Catholic private school – especially one led by Jesuits – was objectionable to the National Socialists. As early as 1939 the school had to close once more. During the war the buildings were temporarily used as a hospital for military casualties. However, on May 1, 1946, under the most difficult of circumstances, the Jesuits again took up their educational work. The school grew in the decades that followed and eventually came to accept girls. The educational opportunities were further extended by popular demand with the addition of girls’ boarding facilities in 1989. The establishment in 1994 of a Euro-Class strengthened the international character of the Kolleg: now students could come from all parts of the world to spend a year, above all, improving their proficiency in German. The Chinese language – through a joint venture beginning in 1996 – has been offered since 2006 as a third foreign language on the main timetable, in conjunction with three months’ language immersion in Shanghai.

The development of students musicality is a major focus for the Kolleg. A building dedicated solely to music, called the “Bleiche” in reference to its historical usage, is able to house instrumental classes, the junior orchestra, the lower school choir, the Kolleg orchestra, the Kolleg choir and the Big Band. Instrumental instruction and voice coaching are offered in individual practice rooms.

There are many extra-curricular clubs and diverse leisure time activities which complete the broad range of opportunities available at Kolleg. Also, the Kolleg maintains numerous partnerships with Jesuit schools abroad and supports a regular programme of school exchanges. The Kolleg community consists of around 900 students (of whom about 300 are boarders) from more than 25 different countries. Today, the Jesuits, together with their many co-workers, are committed to the fully-comprehensive education of the whole person (academic and non-academic) for the young people of Kolleg St. Blasien.