Thomas Mann Gymnasium

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Thomas Mann Gymnasium is a co-ed, independent German-Hungarian international school in Budapest, Hungary. It is part of the network of German Auslandsschulen (German independent schools in foreign countries). The school was called "Deutsche Schule Budapest" until September 2004.

[edit] History

Thomas Mann Gymnasium, Budapest, seen from the south. The red building houses the library, the south entrance is to the right. The building to the left is the first school building, currently housing the primary school.

The former Deutsche Schule Budapest was re-established as the continuation of, first, the 1908 Reichsdeutsche Schule Budapest, and later, the German Government School in Budapest. The founders were Baden-Württemberg, the Federal Government of Germany, the City of Budapest and the Hungarian government, in succession to a tradition of German abroad schools in Hungary dating back to the late 19th century. Since then, it has evolved into a state-of-the-art education facility for about 500 students, with forms from grade 1 to 4 (Grundschule) and 5 to 12 (Gymnasium).

The school is part of the German federal education system and accredited to issue the German Abitur/Reifeprüfung. At the same time, leavers of the Hungarian branch get the Hungarian Matura (Érettségi). The education between the 5th and the 10th grade is split into two branches. The S branch (forms with "s" designation, e.g. 6s - "S" stands for Seiteneinstieg, meaning "side entry" in German) is for Hungarian students, with strengthened German language education, while the A branch follows the regular curriculum of a German Gymnasium. In grade 10, the two branches are 'remixed' and their curricula differ only in minor points.

[edit] Directorate

The Headmaster of the TMG is currently Uwe Christiansen, serving his sixth and final year. The school is co-governed by two Deputy Headmasters, the Hungarian Deputy Headmaster (currently Mendly Lajos, in office since 2003) and the German Deputy Headmaster (Niels Wallman, in office since 2004).

[edit] Academics

The TMG has a stringent academic curriculum, which is evidenced by a graduation rate of virtually 100%, and one of the highest admissions rates among Hungarian schools. While not coming top in the Neuwirth tables, the nationally accepted admissions rate table in Hungary, this is only because admissions to foreign universities, which make up for as much as 45% of all TMG graduates, are not recorded in the Neuwirth tables. Considering graduates enrolled at foreign institutions, the admissions rate is around 95%, currently beaten only by Fazekas.

[edit] Admissions

Admission is in most cases through a preparatory course lasting a year, and is highly selective: from the more than 100 applicants who enroll in the preparatory course each year, no more than twenty are admitted. Besides outstanding elementary school grades and good performance at the preparatory course, good results at an intelligence test (Cattle-Koch) and a good overall impression on interviews as well as a well-rounded personality is required. Newly admitted entrants are required to pay a registration fee, currently €1,500.

[edit] Climate

The flags of the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Hungary in the upper yard.

The TMG, as an independent school, has some tension resulting from wealth differences. While the school fees are high, especially in comparison with Hungarian circumstances, the school offers extensive need-based bursaries and scholarships. Nevertheless, TMG remains one of the most preppy educational establishments in Hungary, despite being less expensive than the American School in Nagykovácsi or SEK: fees start at €1550 and end at €3550, depending on the nationality of the pupils.

The school prides itself on its diversity, its students representing more than thirty different nationalities. National tensions are a thing of the past, and especially the higher forms (10-12) serve as examples of inter-cultural understanding, something that is emphasised in the compulsory Social Sciences course. The school is religiously independent, and offers Roman Catholic and Reformed religious education, as well as a confession-neutral course in ethics.

[edit] Extracurriculars

The TMG is one of currently nine Hungarian schools participating in the Model European Parliament project. TMG gave in the last 2 years three international delegates with a total of seven international session attendances and a President of National Session to the MEP. Students of the TMG/DSB have participated in several international and national projects. The Class of '05 won a first prize on the Federal Competition of Political Education in 2003, and the school had several contestants in the finals of the prestigious OKTV competition in the last few years. The school has close links to the prestigious Europa-Kolleg, a two-weeks research scholarship program for annually twenty high school student, organised by the state foundation of Lower Saxony, the Stiftung Niedersachsen.

[edit] Athletics

The school soccer pitch, above the new school building, has an extraordinary view on the whole city and the Buda hills

Following the concept of education to a well-rounded personality, the school emphasises the importance of athletics. The school football team is one of the best school teams in Budapest, frequently playing (and defeating) other international schools in the area. The basketball first team has also had notable successes recently, not the least thanks to the annual student-teacher match on the last school day before Christmas break, widely attended by almost the whole student population.

The girls' volleyball team is also one of the best school teams in the area, represented in almost every major high school level tournament. Minority sports, such as hockey, similarly enjoy popularity as part of the very diverse PE curriculum. Four square (Australian rules) and Fives are popular with the lower grades, though less so since the restructuring of the campus. The school's sailing club and yacht squad organises outings every weekend at Lake Velence, where the school's holiday house is located.

[edit] Traditions

[edit] Gombócz-Runde

Named after one-time school coach and PE teacher Gábor Gombócz, the Gombócz-Runde is a 1,3km cross country run on an area near the school with extreme inclines and uphill parts. As such, it is strenuous exercise even for generally fit pupils. Tradition has it that every pupil has to run it at least once a semester to pass in PE, although this has lately been abandoned. The run itself nevertheless remains part of the PE curriculum. It is partly due to the tradition of the Gombócz-Runde that Thomas Mannians are regularly seen at various city marathons and charity runs.

[edit] Adventsbasar

The Adventsbasar is a flea market co-organised by the Parents' Conference that takes place in early December, but always after Szalagavató. It is a Christmas-themed event where most forms get a stall and sell pancakes, mulled wine, and various trinkets. The income usually goes to charity. The Adventsbasar is widely attended by alumni and has recently become a social event for more recent alumni to meet up.

[edit] Szalagavató

Once finalists have passed their first semester of finals year and are admitted to leaving examinations, they are allowed to wear a distinctive bright-blue ribbon on their coats. The Szalagavató is the ceremony when the ribbons are officially handed over to the pupils. The Szalagavató takes place usually in late November to early December, and marks the final stage of a pupil's school career. It is usually a white tie event taking place in the school, commonly presided over by the German Ambassador to Budapest or another high-ranking state officer.

[edit] Ballagás (passing out ceremony)

Ballagás is the actual ceremony of leaving school, on the last day of ordinary school schedules for the finalists. It takes place on the last Friday before the start of the preparatory and examination period, at the end of which the oral parts of the leaving examinations are taken. Finalists march through classrooms decorated with flowers for this purpose, singing traditional commercium songs, such as Gaudeamus Igitur.

[edit] Gárdony (school holiday house)

The school owns a holiday house in Gárdony, on the shore of Lake Velence. The house can accommodate more than thirty people, and has a fully equipped kitchen, community rooms and harbor facilities. It is a favorite destination for weekend form excursions during term-time, and it also serves as the base for the school sailing club. The mandatory 10th form maritime ecology, environmental chemistry and environmental biology practicals are usually held at the lake, involving bird observation, practical water chemistry and examination of samples, and environmental assay.

[edit] School slang

Due to its international traditions, the school has several idiosyncratic expressions, from both German and Hungarian.

Deutgarisch - Portmanteau from "deutsch" (German language) and "ungarisch" (Hungarian language): the language allegedly spoken at the school, a mixture of German and Hungarian.
Abistreich - Some usually harmless prank perpetrated by the leavers before the end of their final year.
Mensa - from lat. mensa = table: the school dining hall.
Kisbolt - lit. little shop: a tuck shop close enough to the school to be able to get there and back again in the 20-minutes period breaks, selling reasonably priced food and drink.
Aquarium - Group room 1, overlooking the entrance hall, with so many windows that it actually appears from the distance like a glass aquarium.
128 - The bus between the city centre and the school.
L128 (short for Linie 128) - The independent school newspaper. Published every two weeks in termtime, it features news, an art section and interviews with a different teacher in each edition.
Vadászház - Originally meaning huntsman's lodge, it was the first school house. Currently houses the preparatory school.
Aula - from lat. aula = hall: the school meeting hall, houses a stage and capable to accommodate all students and faculty. It is usually used for the headmaster's start-of-term and end-of-term address.
Vertretung - Substitute classes. A daily published plan for cancelled and substituted classes is displayed next to the main entrance to the central building.
Amphitheater - A circular, open-air stage in the school park.
Wandertag - Random weekdays selected by the school for open-air excursions.
SV - The school student government. Fakt - The specific name of the additional higher level Hungarian language and literature classes.
Vasas - A large sports field geared towards track and field in the city. During summer term, sports classes sometimes take place there. Vasas-classes are not quite favoured, as the tasks usually entail exhausting and pointless exercises.
DG - German history classes. Used to distinguish it from Hungarian history classes, for students who are taking both.
Projektwoche - The week (usually) at the start of Easter term, when instead of regular classes, students work on projects in cross-grade teams.
Schneefrei - Occurs when the school buildings cannot be reached because of heavy snow.
Blau and Grün (Blue and Green) - Two former school houses, demolished 2001 to make place for new buildings.

Classes are formally named after the subject, but usually referred to by students by name of the teacher.
Teachers, regardless of nationality and family status, are addressed by Herr/Frau and last name.

[edit] After graduation

TMG students graduate with top results and almost all of them proceed to select universities and facilities of further education. The graduation rate is virtually 100%, the admissions rate above 95%. In the last years, the TMG sent several students to Oxbridge, leading universities in Germany, including Heidelberg, the United States and Austria. There are significant contingents of old Thomas Mannians at the universities of Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Munich and Oxford.

Famous alumni of the schools are represented in business, sports and public life of both countries. Eva Szekely, gold medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, attended the school when it was called the Reichsdeutsche Schule Budapest (Imperial German School of Budapest).

[edit] Links

Website of the TMG
Which school? site of the TMG
Tagesspiegel article about the school
Satellite picture of campus