Augusta Victoria Lycée (K. Donelaičio Street 4)

People started thinking about higher education for girls only in the early 19th c. Before the opening of a girls’ class under the boy’s high school in 1806, richer families used to hire governesses. The numbers of pupils increased and 1829 marked the official opening of the Higher Daughters’ School (Höhere Tochterschule). As of 1844 it was allowed to prepare home-schooling teachers and later – primary school teachers.
Augusta Victoria School was officially founded in 1830, when the school and its 63 pupils were transferred to a separate building on the Market Street (Marktstrasse 30) at that time. With the increasing number of pupils and the new study programme for teachers, the school needed better premises and modern means of teaching. Therefore, 1911 marked the opening of the new high school building on Parko Street. The school was named after Augusta Victoria, wife of the Kaiser Wilhelm II, and it was the most modern school building in Prussia at that time. During the World War I the building was turned into a hospital and pupils were transferred to the Old Town’s Boy’s Middle School. Girls used to study in the morning and boys – in the afternoon, returning to their original school only for some particular lessons. In 1919 the school had 12 ordinary and 4 pedagogical classes, while the total number of pupils was more than 500.
After the World War I requirements for teachers’ education changed and as of 1924 the school discontinued its study programmes for teachers.
In 1937 it was decided that the Queen Louise Gymnasium should be open for girls too and thus Augusta Victoria Lycée became a middle school once again. The pupils mostly consisted of girls from German families, however, at various periods of time 20–40 % of the girls were Jewish. In 1940 the school had eight grades and almost 180 pupils. In 1941 the lycée was turned into a military hospital again, while its principal was mobilised and died at war.