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Joseph-König-Gymnasium is the only gymnasium in the Westphalian city of Haltern am See. With 1,360 students, it is one of the larger high schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. The school is named after the German chemist Joseph König. It continues tradition of 1844 founded 'Höhere Stadtschule' and later 'Städtisches Gymnasium Haltern'. It shares buildings with 'Alexander-Lebenstein-Realschule'.

On March 24, 2015, 16 of its students and two of its teachers were among the passengers murdered when the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 intentionally crashed into the French Alps. They were on their way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain. Haltern's then mayor, Bodo Klimpel, has described it as "the darkest day in the history of our city".

References

1. Kassam, Ashifa. "German pupils nearly missed doomed Germanwings flight" (Archive). The Guardian. March 25, 2015. Retrieved on March 26, 2015. "In the German town of Haltern, Ulrich Wessel, the headteacher of the Josef-König school, appeared physically shaken as he spoke to reporters about the 16 students and two teachers who were on the Germanwings flight. “Our sympathy goes out to the parents who lost their beloved sons and daughters … This is a tragedy that makes you speechless,” he said. “Earlier I was asked how many pupils there was at the school and I said 1,283, and I had to stop myself because I actually had 16 less than that.”"
2. "Germanwings A320 Crash Victims Include 15 German Schoolchildren, Local Media Reports". International Business Times. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
3. "16 schoolchildren believed to be aboard Germanwings plane that crashed in Alps". Yahoo News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.

External links

• (in German) Joseph-König-Gymnasium

51°44′20″N 7°10′56″E / 51.7389°N 7.1821°E / 51.7389; 7.1821

• Educational institutions established in 1844
• Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia
• Gymnasiums in Germany