Hohe Schule

Former university (1591) in the historic city centre of Burgsteinfurt, An der Hohen Schule 14. Renaissance characteristics, two impressive towers.

During the era of religious conflict, the dissemination of and support for the respective belief systems was of crucial significance to Count Arnold IV. zu Bentheim und Steinfurt (1554-1606) and his contemporaries. In 1588, the first Jesuits came to Münster where they assumed responsibility for the highly respected Catholic Paulinum Grammar School. At the same time, in September 1588, the reformed Latin School in Bentheim County, established by Count Arnold and located in a dissolved convent, commenced instruction.

In 1591 this school was relocated from Schüttorf to Steinfurt and raised to the status of an academy. Except for the fact that it lacked the right to award doctorates, it was equivalent to a university. It had the same faculties as universities of that era: theology, law, philosophy, history and oratory. Lectures were held in physics, geometry and astronomy, which were deemed to be branches of philosophy.

The structure swiftly erected in Burgsteinfurt displayed clear Renaissance characteristics. The tripartite stone cruciform windows and the three-staged gable underline the representative nature of the building, constructed using stone rubble. The characteristic towers, visible from afar, are surmounted by copper welsch domes. Between 1593 and 1605, in order to decorate the towers, Count Arnold arranged for them to be surmounted by splendid weather vanes bearing his coat of arms and that of his wife, Countess Magdalena von Neuenahr and Limburg. The large square tower is distinguished by a gallery running around the circumference of the dome, with a very beautiful wrought iron railing which acted as an observatory.

In 1807, after Napoleon's troops invaded, soldiers were stationed in the building. Between 1811 and 1813, the Hohe Schule was also home to the Imperial French Tribunal. The building subsequently served as the setting for a boys' school for some years, until 1851 when the premises had to be closed due to structural decay. After the building was transferred to the ownership of the Prussian Ministry for Justice, it was subjected to a complete restructuring in 1867. During the course of this, an additional storey was added and the great double doors were built; these continued to serve as the main entrance following renovation. From then until the building was bombed in 1945, it served as the seat of the district court. After the war the building was converted for use as the Town Hall, and was used for administrative purposes from 1958 to 1981. Today, it is home to the school of music and the college of further education, and is also used as a public office by the city administration. The exterior was thoroughly renovated in 1996.