800 years of Katharineum: Ceremony with music and prominent guests!

800 years of Katharineum: Ceremony with music and prominent guests!

An important date for Lübeck: On November 25, 2025, the Katharineum in Lübeck, the first branch of the Franciscan Order in Northern Germany, will celebrate its 800th anniversary. Originally founded as a monastery in 1225, the institution has changed over the centuries and is now a municipal Latin school. The transformation of the monastery took place in 1531 during the Reformation, with the monastery finally closing in 1542. All of this will be honored today with a ceremony starting at 6 p.m. that will include lectures, a concert of historical music and a reception. Special guests will be a delegation from the Franciscan Order from Hamburg as well as numerous alumni, including greats such as Heinrich Mann and Thomas Mann.

The celebrations are not only a look back at the long history of the Katharineum, but also an opportunity to celebrate current achievements. Three students at the Katharineum were honored for their outstanding contributions to the Federal President's history competition. In this competition, which has been encouraging young people to research historical topics for 50 years, the prize winners from the Q1 history profile were particularly successful. The cooperation with the city library and the city archives enabled intensive six-month research work. Particularly noteworthy is Mavie Vidal, who won the state victory with her podcast about “good” and “bad” addresses in Lübeck and will now continue to fight at the federal level.

The award winners in detail

• Mavie Vidal – Landessiegerin mit einem Preisgeld von 500 Euro. Sie thematisierte in ihrem Podcast die Entstehung des „Rufs“ zahlreicher Stadtteile wie St. Jürgen und Moisling durch Umfragen und Interviews mit Zeitzeuginnen.
• Henrik Rody – Er erhielt einen Förderpreis von 200 Euro für die Entwicklung einer innovativen interaktiven Stadtführung, die die Veränderungen im Wohnraum des Gründungsviertels über verschiedene historische Epochen hinweg beleuchtet.
• Merle Buscher – Ebenfalls mit einem Förderpreis ausgezeichnet, gestaltete sie einen Touristenführer über die „Gänge und Höfe der Hansestadt Lübeck“ und spürte den Wohnverhältnissen von alten und armen Menschen nach.

What should not be overlooked in all of these celebrations is the Katharineum's deep roots in Lübeck's history. In 1616, an independent library was founded from the holdings of the monastery, Lübeck's main churches and the council, which is now part of the Lübeck museum network. The former monastery church has been open to the public as a museum church since 1982.

Prominent graduates such as Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Werner von Siemens, Theodor Storm and Erich Mühsam have left their mark on the Katharineum. The memory of the two Mann brothers remains particularly memorable: While Heinrich Mann was a brilliant student, his brother Thomas Mann struggled with the demands and left the Katharineum in 1894 at the age of 19. An exciting insight into the educational history of Lübeck! If you would like to find out more about the history, you can visit Welt and Katharineum. Further information can also be found at Archive.org, where the history of the Long House can be read.