Bundesrealgymnasium Kandlgasse

GRG 7 Kandlgasse stands in Neubau, the seventh district of Vienna. The school building, completed in 1907, is a protected monument with a carved double-headed eagle above its main entrance. Its classrooms and corridors carry the weight of more than a century of lessons, debates and decisions. The school began as a humanist gymnasium teaching Latin and Greek. Over time it expanded into a realgymnasium and later introduced coeducation. The school’s history includes difficult chapters. During the 1930s Jewish pupils were excluded after the Anschluss. Former pupil Georg Kreisler recalled how Christian classmates lined up to insult and attack them as they left. After the Second World War the school became coeducational again in stages, finally admitting girls permanently in the late 1970s. Despite these challenges, the school has produced notable figures in science, law, medicine and the arts. Inside, the building houses two gymnasium halls, science laboratories and a small library. A large assembly hall doubles as a music room with a stage. The school’s modern focus is on ecology, social responsibility and networking. It organises special days on ecology and gender, runs an after-school care programme and won Austria’s School Prize for sustainability in 2016. Known alumni include paediatrician Hans Asperger, composer Georg Kreisler and footballer Andreas Heraf.