Johann Gottfried Herder
Originally named the Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium, in honor of Johann Gottfried Herder the German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic, it began operating in 1909 as a reform school, and graduated its first class in 1917. In 1910 the school moved to a current location on the Friessenstrasse 3-4. In the 1930s the school had become Halle's most populated all-boys school. Seven years later during the Third Reich the school was renamed in "Friedrich-Nietzsche-Schule". After World War II and the beginnings of the GDR the school was renamed again in "Friedrich-Engels Oberschule". Only two years later the "Friedrich-Engels Oberschule" and "Ina-Seidel-Schule" were forced into a union. In 1955 the school name and its profile changed again and the school became the Specialized Children and Youth Sports Schools "Friedrich-Engels". In 1969 the "Dr. Kurt-Fischer-Schule" moved into the building on the Friessenstrasse 3-4. After Germany's reunification in 1990 the school got its original name "Johann-Gottfried-Herder" back. In addition in 1991 the school became a secondary school again, after which it has been called "Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium". As a result of communal policy the Tor-Gymnasium Halle and Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium Halle formed a new school in 2004. It was decided to uphold the name Johann-Gottfried Herder Gymnasium for the new school. In October 2017 the school was renamed again, after the recently deceased Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a famous alumni of the school