Institut auf dem Rosenberg
Address
Höhenweg 60

9000 St. Gallen

Switzerland
Coordinates47°25′31″N 9°21′53″E / 47.4254°N 9.3647°E / 47.4254; 9.3647
Information
Other names
  • Rosenberg
  • The Artisans of Education
Former namesInstitut Dr. Schmidt (1889–1924)
TypePrivate, international boarding school
MottoTo learn to live is the goal of all education
Established1889 (1889)
PresidentBernhard Gademann
GenderCo-educational
Age range4–18
Enrollment300
Average class size6–12
Campus typeSub-urban
Websitewww.instrosenberg.ch

Institut auf dem Rosenberg,[lower-alpha 1] often referred to as Rosenberg, is a private, family-run, international boarding school located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Established in 1889 by Elrich Schmidt, Rosenberg was originally known as Institut Dr Schmidt and gained its current name in the 1930s after the death of its founder.

Owned and managed by the Gademann family, Rosenberg is among the most expensive schools in the world, maintains a strict policy of secrecy regarding the names of its alumni, and unlike most other private institutions, does not accept donations of any kind. As of 2019, it had a student body of around 300 students drawn from 48 nationalities.

The Swiss educational reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi inspired the philosophy of the school and one of his quotes, "to learn to live is the goal of all education", is reflected in the motto.[2]

History

The Institut auf dem Rosenberg was founded in 1889 by Ulrich Schmidt and originally carried the name of the founder, Institut Dr. Schmidt.[2] With the death of the school's founder in 1924, the school was renamed and acquired by the Gademann family in the 1930s.[3]

A 1910s postcard of Rosenberg

The school developed multiple sections due to its international character, each of which prepared students to sit different qualifications; these were Swiss, German, Italian, and Anglo-American.[4] By the 1960s the Anglo-American section of the school typically had around 60 pupils aged between eleven and eighteen. Irrespective of country of origin, the bulk of the international students would also sit for the American SAT.[4] During this period the staff turnover was apparently high. Milton Toubkin, an educationist who founded Southbank International School, argued the school at this time was more concerned with money than academic standards.[4]

Bernhard Gademann, who was a pupil in the 1980s, is the fourth generation of his family to head the school, and took over after a prior career in finance and technology.[5]

Admissions

Rosenberg has a limited student body and has been described as among the more exclusive Swiss boarding schools.[6] Families are encouraged to apply early as spaces are allocated on a first-come basis and judged on merit; although, in theory, it is possible for a new student to join after the academic year begins.[7] Successful entry depends on passing a personal interview and an admissions exam.[7]

Various figures have been suggested for the total enrollment. A 2019 article in the magazine Air Mail claimed 300 students from 48 different nationalities, while the South China Morning Post reported in the same year that "no more than 260" are enrolled.[5][6] Other sources have repeated a lower figure of 230.[8]

Fees

As of 2019, Rosenberg is the most expensive school in the world when both tuition and boarding costs are taken into account.[6]

The base fee covering academic tuition, school meals and similar is CHF93,000. Additional fees for housing, extracurriculars and personal expenses amount to CHF57,000 on average.[9] This makes for a combined cost in dollars of around $150,000 per year.[6]

Academic curriculum

Institut auf dem Rosenberg Main Building in 1902

Rosenberg prepares its students for a broad range of external exams including the IGCEs, A-Levels, Advanced Placement (AP's), the International Baccalaureate (IB) as well as the GIB DP Programme (German International Baccalaureate). Additionally, Rosenberg is an official testing centre for CEFR A1-C2 (including Cambridge, Goethe, DELF), SAT and the IELTS.

An important element of the school is the Rosenberg International Curriculum (RIC), which enables students to supplement core classes with a variety of co-curricular courses. More than 60 such courses are available, examples being 'Wealth Creation & Investment', 'The Art of Strategy & Game Theory', 'Biotechnology', and 'Applied Robotics'.[7][5] In a 2019 interview, Headmaster Gademann boasted that "we teach pretty much anything from international law to product design and entrepreneurship".[5]

There is a strong focus on creativity and interpersonal skills alongside academic elements in general.[10] Individual Development Plan (IDP) specialists design plans for each student.[3] Such plans are described by the school itself as a way of ensuring student interests and ambitions are matched to their aspirations for university and beyond.[11] It is claimed this "artisanal guidance" means students receive an education most appropriate to them and encourage them to take more ownership over their learning.[7]

For 2021, Rosenberg students scored an average of 38 on the IB, compared to a worldwide average of 33. It is not uncommon for students to take qualifications and courses ahead of their age group.[12]

Institut auf dem Rosenberg offers a range of summer camps and winter courses that provide language lessons with skills development.[13][14]

Accreditation

The school is a member of the Swiss Federation of Private Schools (SFPS) as well as the Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS).[15]

By Swiss authorities

Rosenberg's Kindergarten, primary education programs (Pre-School and Primary School, grades 1–5) and lower secondary education program (Middle School, grades 6–8) are accredited by the bureau for elementary school (Amt für Volksschule), department for education (Bildungsdepartement), canton of St. Gallen.[16]

Rosenberg's upper secondary education programs (High School, grades 9–12) is not accredited by the department of education (Bildungsdepartement), canton of St. Gallen, nor by the Swiss Federal State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).[17][18]

By international authorities

Institut auf dem Rosenberg is internationally accredited by Cognia (formerly AdvancED).[19] The school is a member of the European Council of International Schools and accredited for the International Baccalaureate (IB) - Diploma Programme.[20]

Campus life

Aerial view of the campus

The Rosenberg campus is 100,000m² of private parkland.[8] Students are housed in restored art-nouveau villas according to gender and age.[14] These feature single or double rooms with en-suite bathrooms.[2][14]

One of the social highlights of the year is the Rosenberg Ball, for which pupils are coached by professionals for two months in preparation.[21]

Sport

Owing to its location between Lake Constance and the Alpstein mountain range, Rosenberg provides the chance to ski in winter and take advantage of other outdoor activities. Ice skating, mountain biking, football, golf, swimming, volleyball and basketball are examples of the numerous sports on offer.[22]

Uniform

There is no official school uniform but a formal dress code comprising suits for boys and skirts for girls. This applies from Monday to Friday during breakfast, lunch, and academic lessons. Smart casual is acceptable at dinner and on the weekend.[7]

Awards and recognition

The school was recognised as the "Most Prestigious International Boarding School" in 2019 by Corporate Vision Magazine.[23]

Notable alumni

Rosenberg alumni form a close, international network that helps them in their later careers.[14] The school operates a "strict privacy policy" and does not confirm or deny names of current or former students, although the case of Mario J. Molina, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is a notable exception.[21][24]

Information on alumni therefore depends on either personal admission or media reports. Those known to have completed at least part of their education at Rosenberg include, in addition to the previously mentioned Molina, businessman and landowner Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern, mathematician Walter Rudin, and the playboy photographer Gunter Sachs.[25][26] The exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky is said to have educated his children at Rosenberg.[26]

The school's reluctance to discuss the names of famous former students is said to reflect a "quiet confidence" in the quality of its product.[5] Gademann has claimed that both "Silicon Valley figures" and members of "industrial dynasties" have attended Rosenberg.[5]

Notable staff

The German writer W.G. Sebald taught for a year at the school from 1969 to 1970.[27]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The registered name of the school is Institut auf dem Rosenberg – The Artisans of Education[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Internados en Institut Auf Dem Rosenberg". Boarding Schools (in Spanish). 15 August 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Institut auf dem Rosenberg". Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Bilan Magazine". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Toubkin, Milton (2017). Without Walls : A Memoir by Milton Toubkin. Matador. pp. 66–67. ISBN 9781788035279.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bullmore, Joseph (19 October 2019). "Welcome to Davos for Children". Air Mail. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Williams, Dan (31 October 2019). "6 top Swiss boarding schools for kids of the super-rich". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Institut auf dem Rosenberg: Details and Fees". International Schools Database. Prague, Czech Republic. 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Institut auf dem Rosenberg". Premium Europe. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Fees". instrosenberg.ch. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  10. ↑ "Institut auf dem Rosenberg". Spear's 500. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Academics". instrosenberg.ch. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  12. ↑ Editorial (13 July 2021). "Despite outstanding 38-point average, top scoring school Institit auf dem Rosenberg says: "Exam results don't matter"". Relocate Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Swiss Schools". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Swiss Learning". Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Member schools". Swiss Group of International Schools. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  16. ↑ "Privatschulen – Privatschulen im Kanton St. Gallen" (PDF) (official site) (in German). St. Gallen, Switzerland: Amt für Volksschule, Bildungsdepartement, Erziehungsrat, Kanton St. Gallen. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  17. ↑ "Private Mittelschulen" (official site) (in German). St. Gallen, Switzerland: Amt für Mittelschulen, Bildungsdepartement, Kanton St. Gallen. 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  18. ↑ "Maturität – Liste der anerkannten Maturitätsschulen" (XLS) (official site) (in German, French, and Italian). Berne, Switzerland: Swiss Federal State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, SERI. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  19. ↑ http://www.advanced.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary?institutionId=58672
  20. ↑ "Institut auf dem Rosenberg". International Baccalaureate®️. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  21. 1 2 Telegraph Reporters (15 August 2018). "The world's most exclusive boarding schools". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Athletics". instrosenberg.ch.
  23. ↑ "Institut auf dem Rosenberg". Corporate Vision Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  24. ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  25. ↑ Rubin, Walter (1992). The Way I Remember it. American Mathematical Society. p. 39. ISBN 9780821872550.
  26. 1 2 Aschwanden, Erich (19 January 2022). "Behind the doors of Switzerland's most elite boarding school". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  27. ↑ Carole Angier (2021). Speak, Silence : In Search of W.G. Sebald. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 252–253. ISBN 9781526634788.
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