History

No one knows for sure, but it is said that in the spring of 1644 the first class in the history of Gymnasium Rissen took place on the property where the school buildings are today. This first class was given by Magister Timotheus Lange to only three children. Today there are about 40 teachers and 500 students at Gymnasium Rissen.
The actual schoolbuilding was built in 1971. Until then the old Kahlkamp-school which was built in 1864 in Blankenese served as a Gymnasium for Rissen’s students. The building is still used today: Eager preschool pupils visit it every day.
The new school was supposed to be built in Rissen so the students in Rissen would not have to travel to Blankenese every day. Since the students could not wait for the new school, a modern way of building houses ( with precast concrete slabs) was applied to Gymnasium Rissen as was for many other Gymnasiums built during that time. (The new method of building houses was cheaper and quicker than it used to be.) School started in September 1971, only four and a half months after the foundations of the school were laid. At that time the place was still a building site. When all of the construction work for the school was finally done there were so many pupils that two extra pavilions had to be built. After a while the number of students at our school decreased and the pavilions were not needed anymore. Today there is a pond where the pavilions used to be. The science department uses it for environmental experiments and research.
The schoolbuildings from 1971 are the same ones that are still used today. But the school keeps changing: The old windows with the ugly brown window frames for example were replaced by new windows with double glazing. Very soon the cafeteria is going to be renovated for the students who have classes in the afternoon. Gymnasium Rissen is always changing according to the needs of its pupils.