Even outsiders have to admit that the grammar school in Markneukirchen is rather special. The pupils present one fully fledged cultural project after another and the teachers create an environment where imagination and ideas can develop.

The grammar school was the only educational institution to receive the Vogtland Honorary Award in 2012 – the highest award in the Vogtland District was presented for the musical entitled “Anastasia”. The school is now very well-known in the region. 

The school as an arena for development: in education, art and music

The highly regarded school in Markneukirchen is located on the edge of the town. Two entrances on the bright red brick building recall stricter times in the past: "Boys" is the heading over one and "Girls" over the other. Today the grammar school is regarded as a place that provides space for young thinkers and musicians. "The school has a reputation for being particularly liberal and open. I knew about that before coming here," Norbert Hildebrand explains. He has been the head teacher at the grammar school in Markneukirchen since 2008 and admits that he needed some time to get used to the place at the outset. "Bells don't ring to regulate the school day in a strict manner." He now believes, "We don't want a factory atmosphere. The lessons are more harmonious if they don't end abruptly and we don't subject the children to stressful conditions." The 55-year-old director describes the teachers' goal in this way.

"The pupils shouldn't be afraid - but learn that you can achieve a great deal through constructive behaviour. Now that the final exams are over, we notice once again that many school-leavers continue to come to the school as if this was the most normal thing in the world."

He underlines the school's musical/artistic focus with its spotlight on music. "You can always hear somebody playing an instrument somewhere or sitting on the stairs with a guitar." This causes him to tell a little story. "A class was completing an exam recently. Rehearsals with a brass band class were taking place in the room above it with the orchestra leader Elke Schuster. I asked if we should change the room, but the pupils said the music didn't disturb them at all." The musicals produced every two years are the school's flagship.

Hildebrand says,

"But we always have plenty to do. We're always preparing for a play, a dance performance or an exhibition in our art workshop."

The grammar school's choir recently put on a concert with about 150 participants for the international instrumental competition. And the pupils in the final year not only coped with their school-leaving exams, but also produced the play by Georg Büchner entitled "Danton's Death". Norbert Hildebrand explains,

"The pupils learn how to express themselves with conviction and prepare cultural projects at a high level on their own."

The full-time school in Markneukirchen with 676 young people also provides a special focus on the sciences - and on social sciences starting this autumn. But it is the musical/artistic focus that has particularly impressed many young people in the long term. Former pupils, who have turned their natural gifting into their career, are just one example of this. They include the musician and composer Sebastian Wildgrube, who became choir director of the Chursächsisch Philharmonic in Bad Elster some time ago, the dance teacher Christine Schramm, the drama teacher Otto A. Thoss, the stage designer Philip Rubner or the actors Rolf Bach and Benjamin Petschke.

Rehearsals are already taking place for the next projects. The drama group directed by teacher Michaela Popp is presenting two plays in September; the choir is practising a musical show with the well-known singer Nico Müller under choir leaders Michael Straube and Dr. Enrico Weller and the musical ballet group is preparing for a dance theatre performance at the King Albert Theatre in Bad Elster in January.

Vita Norbert Hildebrand

• Born in Thuringia in 1960
• Studied biology and chemistry to become a teacher
• Taught at the children's and young people's sports school in Klingenthal and was deputy head teacher at the Klingenthal and Oelsnitz grammar schools until 2008
• Head teacher at the grammar school in Markneukirchen since February 2008
• Married with one daughter and three grandchildren