At the end of the Middle Age, Sopron was one of the eight Hungarian
towns which sent altogether more than 100 students to foreign universities
from 1440 to 1514. Due to this fact, Sopron was one of the towns
- now belonging to the territory of Hungary - to be touched upon for the
first time by the Reformation which also made impact on school education.
Finally in 1553, the parochial school was relieved from the care of
the town parish and from the Catholic Church too, so the town council made
up of Lutheran members got the supervision over the school thus alone
organizing the new, Protestant school belonging to citizens of Sopron without
aristocratic patrons to replace the town magistracy, priests and teachers.
There have been several data available proving that in 1557 - at the border
of today's city center - a new, Latin school was built by the support of
Kristóf HUMMEL, on his estate, on the former "pavement" (an Plaster)
thus preceding the establishment of the Lutheran congregation (1565). For
centuries this school has been considered as the legal predecessor of the
Lutheran Lyceum. Besides the Lyceum, a German school had operated since
1569 and since the 1570s a Hungarian school, too.
After a peaceful development of 25 years, the restoring Counter-Reformation
forced the Council to dispose of the Lutheran school masters who could
return to their profession only after the Peace of Vienna in 1606. At that
time a new period started in the lives of Lutherans: the town council in
power stood at the top of the parish as the presbytery thus providing the
means needed to the maintenance of the school available. Kristóf
LACKNER DR (1571-1631), the mayor of Sopron, played a primary role in the
developing of the Latin school and in acquiring the rank of a gymnasium
to it. He aimed at winning excellent teachers of distant regions to the
educational affairs of the town with great success. In the 1610s he annually
wrote school tragedies which were performed by the students of the gymnasium
in halls of the Town Hall. As a supervisor, he often visited the school
and gave out a regulation entitled "Leges scholasticae". By the first half
of the 17th century the number of students significantly grew partly due
to his aims.
Not much after LACKNER's death, the Jesuits established a gymnasium
in Sopron in 1636, so the following two decades could be described in terms
of rivalry as far as the relationship of these educational institutions
was concerned. The town established a Hungarian gymnasium in the "Long
Row" to the proposal of WITTNYÉDI - the lawyer of Miklós
ZRÍNYI at the site of the today school building. The first rector
of this school Pál KÖVESDY was the man who regarded outstandingly
important the co-operation with the Latin school and the teaching of Hungarian
in his curriculum: "since the purpose of this gymnasium to reach a Latinity
harmonizing with Hungarian, therefore German is to be exiled". Due to his
"Elementa Linguae Hungaricae" - used throughout two centuries - he registered
his name into the history of the Hungarian literature. So in the 60s of
the 17th century there were two prospering Lutheran gymnasiums in Sopron.
After the liquidation and revenge of the Wesselényi's conspiracy,
"in the decade of mourning" (1671-81), the Counter-Reformation deprived
the Lutherans almost all of their rights. Their schools had to be closed
down. Even until 1681 Protestant private teachers could not be employed
in the town, those to break these regulations were sentenced to prison.
Most of the teachers and priests had no other choice but to escape to a
foreign country.
The Parliament of 1681 in Sopron ceased the forced, involuntary situation,
priests and teachers could return to Sopron. The Lutherans could open their
school in the building of the former Hungarian gymnasium on 9th July 1682.
From that time until 1853 the supervision and maintenance of education
belonged no longer to the Council but to the Parish of Sopron. Curricula
prepared during the 18th century proved that philosophical, human and theological
studies had gained more and more ground in senior classes and besides Latin
- still considered to be the first foreign language - Hungarian and German
were also taught. A lot of excellent natural scientists had been teaching
among the walls of the Lyceum such as the rector, János FRIDELIUS
(1682-1712) who was regarded as the first anthropologist in Hungary, or
the rector János Kristóf DECCARD (1712-1740) who was one
of the first Hungarian botanists.
The Hungarian spirit was further succeeded in new schools: the rector,
János RIBINY delivered a speech -still in- Latin to students
about the cultivation of the Hungarian language in his speech at the opening
of the school year in 1751, first referring to the theory of language reform
in Hungary. Partly it was due to this attitude there were so may prominent
patrons in the cultural life of the period grown up in the Lyceum between
the Josephinism and Reform Era. János KIS with four of his companions
founded Hungarian Society, the first school literary and debating society
in Hungary; it has brought up several famous characters throughout its
two-century-existence. Outstanding figures such as Dániel BERZSENYI
or Lajos SCHEDIUS - the later aesthetician and university teacher - were
Kis' schoolmates; among their teachers it is enough to mention the name
of Márton SCHWARTNER, the first Hungarian statistician and certificate
scientist. Soon German and Slovak companies were formed in the Lyceum,
there were not any ethnical conflicts in the school of the Reform Period,
though there were years during the 19th century when 34 other countries
sent their students to the Sopron Alma Mater.
Meanwhile, the school building was renewed: the foundation stone of
the school was put down in 1824 with the inscription on its front wall:
AEDES MUSIS ERECTAE MDCCCXXV (Home for Muses, 1825). These words cut in
the stone are still visible above the entrance of the school yard. In the
same year the library of the Lutheran Convent was joined to the school
library, which was improved until the end of the 19th century and which
has been bearing approximately 40000 volumes. There are a lot of rare books
in our collection, moreover there are incunabula of 44 pieces.
The Deákkút County founded in 1827 for the fostering
of the Hungarian culture can be considered as the predecessor of today's
student self-government. In 1829 teacher training started within the frame
of senior classes, which institutionally divorced the gymnasium in 1858.
The building of the independent Lutheran Teacher Training Center was seriously
injured during the Second World War bombings, the operation of the institution
was finally ceased in 1957.
Probably the most radical movement of students took place in the Lyceum
in the times of the Revolution in 1848. Students occupied the school building
and stood out against the out-of-date educational system. Unfortunately,
they could not reach a real change. According to the Entwurf of 1849, the
right for publicity was taken away from the school, which also meant among
others that the Lyceum was not allowed to issue valid certificates accepted
by the state. Finally the situation was solved by ordering the Lyceum under
the Supervision of the Transdanubian Church District in 1853. Nothing changed
until the nationalization in 1948. Still the right for publicity was returned
to the school in 1855. Despite the endeavors for Germanization in 1860
the language of education left to be Hungarian.
In 1892 there was a significant change in the system of the school.
The gymnasium of eight classes and the three-class-Institution for theology
had been so far under the same supervision, but now they became separated.
The Lutheran Theology Academy now situated in Budapest still considers
the Sopron Lyceum to be its predecessor, which fact is expressed in its
coat-of-arms and date of foundation being the same as that of the Sopron
Lyceum.
The school suffered a lot during the years of the First World War:
authority ordered classrooms, then corridors to function as emergency hospital;
several students were enlisted for military service. In wartime, in 1918
the Association of Students of the Sopron Lutheran Lyceum was founded;
its main objects were to promote devotion to the Alma Mater and to form
the students' hostel. This conception was realized in 1934. The building
of the hostel belongs to the property of the congregation again, now a
primary school works there. The new hostel of the Lyceum was consecrated
on 2nd December 1993 by the bishop, Imre Szebik. The dormitory in Mátyás
király street was named after Lajos Hetvényi, a teacher of
religion who did his best for the Association of Students and for the reestablishing
of the first student hostel.
Student took part in the struggle against annexing Sopron and its surroundings
to Austria in 1920 and in the preparation of the referendum in 1921, due
to which Sopron remained to be part of Hungary for good.
From the 1930s the teaching staff and students successfully struggled
against the spreading idea of national socialism. One of the most significant
means of this fight was the school newspaper, The Western Guard led by
the teacher József Csaba; it was published in 1938 and became the
common student issue of the Lyceum, the Teacher Training Center and the
Academy of Theology. Its central idea followed that of March Front, rural
writers and last but not least the program of László NÉMETH.
New copies of the New Western Guard came out in 1953.
In 1944 German, then after Russian occupation Russian military hospital
worked in the school building, students could return only after 1946. In
the year of nationalization (1948) the school received its name after its
most famous student, Dániel BERZSENYI. The new type four-year-school
whit its sixteen classes finally developed by 1963. For years education
went on according to curricula of human and nature sciences. The educational
system with branches was introduced in this school as the second one in
Hungary: students could learn biology, chemistry and Russian in increased
lesson number. From 1952 education of adults started in evening and correspondent
classes; these classes became available for every working man over 20 years
after 1959; this age limit has become invalid by today. The school could
maintain and add to the heritage of the Lyceum over the 50 years: there
are new traditions among the old ones (e.g. Deákkút graduation):
in the form of study competitions, foundations, scholarships.
Dániel Berzsenyi Secondary School of Sopron became Lutheran
again on 1st July 1991, thus referring to the closing of a period. Since
that time the official name of the school has been Dániel Berzsenyi
Lutheran Gymnasium (Lyceum), the operation and ownership was returned to
the Northern Lutheran Church District and The Hungarian Lutheran School.
The Church has taken the responsibility for establishing a school in
the spirit of ancient traditions to face challenges of our age, to educate
students in fear of God to lead a moral life in Lutheran spirit and to
teach them culture, science and ways to enrich our nation.
Since September 1992 the traditional eight-class-school has been re-established
with one or two parallel classes. Classical languages, Latin and Greek
have become more stressed again. We would like to maintain a four-class-school
for students coming from distant regions. Since 1993 we have pursued nationality
education, too. Moreover, our aim is to set up and renew a primary school
of Lutheran education with a few classes. After 1996 the previous Lyceum
hostel has become a Lutheran Primary School in Hunyadi János street.
Besides the today taught languages - English, German, Russian, French
and Latin - we wish to widen the range of modern languages - e.g. Finnish,
Slovak -to be chosen.
God Bless Our Work!
Application of Graduates
We would like to ask graduates of the Lyceum and Berzsenyi Gymnasium
to write a short letter to our e-mail address to help the organization
of class meetings, maintenance of communication, know about school programs.
Please, display the following data:
* Name, maiden name or former name
* Data of birth
* Address
* Phone number, e-mail address
* Year of graduation, please show the letter and number of the class
* Membership of Lyceum Association of Students (regular or supporting)
* The person who is responsible for organizing class meetings
* Highest qualification
* Working place
* Profession, title
* Other data (membership etc.)
* Have you got an ex- Lyceum student in your family ?
Information printed in thick letters are collected and issued in a publication
regularly, parallel to the Calendar of the school. Those having sent us
their data are going to get a copy.
Gyula Lampérth
headmaster
Róbert Pölczman
teacher responsible
for processing