History

If you wish to understand the present, knowledge of the past can provide essential insights. This is precisely the aim of the subject History, in which students at the Vocational Grammar School St. Pauli explore a range of topics and questions over three years—topics that have shaped and continue to influence our modern world.

You will examine, for example, how industrialisation fundamentally transformed people’s lives, what can be learned from the cultural encounters of colonial history, and which strategies have been—and still are—used to secure power and maintain control. A particular emphasis is placed on modern German history.

Our approach to learning is source-based and diverse: history is not confined to reading old, sometimes obscure texts. It also reveals itself through images, films, and even digital content. We enrich our learning experience with excursions that take history beyond the classroom, and we invite history into the classroom by welcoming and interviewing eyewitnesses who bring the past vividly to life.

All of this takes place in just two lessons per week. At the same time, these lessons offer a solid foundation for students who choose to take either the written or oral examination in History as part of their Abitur.