Old Cantonal School Aarau

The old cantonal school of Aarau was founded in 1802 and is the oldest non-church secondary school in Switzerland.

From 1802 to 1896, the cantonal school was housed in what is now the Amthaus on Laurenzenvorstadt. Johann Samuel von Gruner, the factory owner Johann Rudolf Meyer and the writer Andreas Moser, who created also Switzerland's first gymnasium here, were involved in its foundation. The founders were strongly influenced by the ideas of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. The school was non-denominational and saw itself as a reform school. The first director was Georg Franz Hofmann, the secretary of the Helvetic government. Until 1813 the school was private. Around 1896 the present Einstein House was inaugurated, it was later named after a former pupil of the school, the physicist Albert Einstein. In 1917 the extension to the Einstein House which now included an observatory was built. For a long time the school had the reputation of being one of the best educational institutions in Switzerland. In 1969 the Karrerhaus was completed. In 2006 the rebuilt Karl-Moser-Haus was inaugurated. in 2008 the new Cafeteria was opened in the Frank building, where the library is also located. In 2014 the Alte Kantonsschule Aarau received the School Prize of the Science Olympiad.

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