Our History
The short list of a long tradition
Schools Today
We are a private Catholic school with public status and a boarding school under the auspices of the Cistercian Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau.
The basis of school and day care/boarding school is a coexistence based on Christian values with openness to other cultures. We are committed to a climate of appreciation and respectful interaction.
We are an educational institution with two main tasks:
• Education as a learning process - from a basic technical education in primary school leading to a university qualification in secondary school
• Education as personal development
• We attach great importance to personal responsibility
Since the school year 2016/17, Collegium Bernardi has been breaking new ground. Not only has the grammar school opened its doors to girls, but the grammar school education has also been given a new direction - starting with the first years. In the coming school year 2022/23, the existing 8th grade will still be run according to the familiar grammar school orientation. You can find all relevant information in our information folder.
An important milestone for our school was the 2017/2018 school year: Collegium Bernardi also runs a private elementary school for girls and boys, in ascending order, with all four school levels for the first time in the 2020/21 school year.
How It All Started
Anyone who, like Collegium Bernardi, wants to move into the future must always take a step back into the past. We look back on a long tradition with pride.
From 7 to 200
With the "second" foundation of the monastery by the Cistercians in 1854, the first school year at the monastic school with seven pupils and an attached boarding school began in the autumn. Word spread about the good school education: by 1894, monks were already teaching 200 pupils at Collegium Bernardi. Due to the rapidly growing number of pupils, the school was extensively expanded and new buildings were constructed. When the construction work was completed in 1886, the building was officially named Collegium Sancti Bernardi.
Difficult Times Around the Time of the First World War
During the First World War, the school continued to operate for around 150 pupils, although a k. und. k. reserve hospital was housed in the north wing of the Collegium. After the situation calmed down in 1919/20, further milestones in the history of the Collegium Bernardi followed: the foundations for the eight-year grammar school were laid and decisive structural changes were made. The school wing was built on the exact spot where it still stands today.
During and After the Second World War
During the Second World War, the Collegium Bernardi was abandoned - the buildings were mainly used as a military hospital from 1938 onwards and the monastery was shut down by the Nazi authorities. At the end of the war, the monks returned to the monastery and the Collegium Bernardi was also continued. However, as the school's premises were still in the hands of the French occupying forces, lessons were once again held in the monastery rooms.
In 1950, the school was completely relocated to the Collegium. After the school regained full public status in 1953, school-leaving examinations were held again in 1954 for the first time in 16 years
Modern Times at Collegium Bernardi
In 1974, the former agricultural school was remodelled, creating the so-called "new building", which housed the boarding area for the seventh and eighth grades. In 1982, the new gymnasium was built, which later facilitated the expansion of the school with a sports section.
After several structural adaptations, the school wing was completely remodelled in 1996/97 to meet the requirements of a modern school. Hermann Kaufmann, an internationally renowned architect from Vorarlberg, was the architectural director of the remodelling work.
Today, lessons take place in modern, light-flooded classrooms. All classrooms are multimedia-equipped with PCs, internet, projectors and sound systems.
