When 16-year-old Albert Einstein ((1879-1955)) came to Switzerland, he was a school dropout and potential draft dodger from Munich, Germany. Due to difficulties with the family business his parents had moved to Italy while he remained in Munich to finish school. Lonely and alienated by the military style and strictness of the Munich school he decided to leave. Einstein came to Zurich to apply directly to the prestigious Swiss Federal Polytechnic School (later to become the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). Back then, this was possible even without the equivalent of a high school diploma -- if the candidate passed the Polytechnic’s stiff entrance exams.

However, things didn’t pan out as planned. He excelled in mathematics and physics, but failed at French, chemistry and biology.[1] All the same he was allowed into the polytechnic on the condition that he first finish his formal schooling with a Baccalaureate, or, in the terminology of the Swiss educational system, a “Matura”. The school recommended to him was the Cantonal school in Aarau, which was known for its high academic standards, being the oldest secular academic high school in Switzerland.

In October 1895 – in the middle of term – Einstein joined a third grade here in Aarau choosing the technical pathway, which focused on mathematics and natural sciences. Einstein was the youngest among his 15 fellow students – of which 9 would eventually take the Matura exams, roughly one year later.

According to the school’s annual report, high school life back then offered a number of recreational activities. These were of the educational type such as school trips and scientific excursions but also included social activities such as gymnastics, various concerts and theatrical performances – often with the added bonus (we presume it was a bonus!) of the participation of the students from near-by Higher Girl’s School. Einstein was unlucky in that a three-day school trip to the Alps in June 1896 was cancelled. We know, however, that he was a member of the school’s orchestra. Einstein attended the regular curriculum with the exception of choir practice and PE. Also, being a foreign citizen, he was exempt from military training classes.

Einstein boarded at Laurenzenvorstadt 119 – just across the street right behind us. He lived with the family of Dr. Jost Winteler ((1846-1929)) who taught History and Greek. Einstein loved living with the Winteler family – not least because he grew very close to Winteler’s daughter Marie. Einstein’s sister, Maja, would eventually marry Winteler’s son Paul and the two families remained lifelong friends.

From his window Einstein could see the construction of the new school building – where you are sitting right now –, which was completed in 1896 and which was to carry Einstein’s name some hundred years later. The inauguration of the new main building of the Aarau Cantonal School on April 26, 1896 marked a milestone in the school’s history. That same year, the Commercial College, which also accepted female students, was incorporated into the Cantonal school and in September of 1896 Albert Einstein passed his Matura exams and went on to attend the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich -- just as he had intended a year before.

Einstein always looked back fondly on his time at our school in Aarau. In his “Autobiographical Notes” he wrote:

This school, with its liberal spirit and the unpretentious, serious attitude of the teachers, who relied on their own judgment rather than any outside authority, made a lasting impression on me. Comparing this with my six years of education at a German high school run by authoritarian methods made me acutely aware that it is far better to teach people to act freely and on their own responsibility than to educate them on principles of military drill, external authority, and ambition. Genuine democracy is not an empty illusion.[2]

[1] cf. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Einstein. Accessed July 5, 2021.

 [2] quoted from: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691200118-022/html. Accessed July 5, 2021.