The school opened with 23 pupils with lessons being held in the Rathaus , and later in the Catholic '' Pfarrhaus '' in the Brunnenstraße and the former Vollmannschen Lateinschule on the corner of Klosterwall and Neustraße . In 1859 , it moved into its own building in Friedrichstraße , and in 1897 to the new building in Schwertstraße . In 1899 , it changed to being a gymnasium , and in 1902 , it had pupils completing the abitur for the first time . From 1918 to 1924 , the school building was used to accommodate a Scottish regiment , and lessons were held in the local court and in a vocational school . In 1930 , 28 pupils from the school and from the Junior Technical School in Chatham each visited the other school . This is claimed to be the oldest proven instance of schools in Germany and England having a student exchange . In 1935 , the school was renamed '' ' Moeller-van-den-Bruck-Schule ' '' . From 1943 to 1945 , lessons were held in Salzungen und in Goethe-Schule in Ilmenau . The school building was destroyed in air strikes on 4 and 5 November 1944 . From 4 October 1945 , lessons were held in a shift system in Schule Zweigstraße an in nearby grammar school August-Dicke-Schule . A World War II Hochbunker still stands on Gymnasium Schwerstrasse 's school grounds today . It was built on the same spot on which the Solingen Synagogue Malteserstrasse used to stand until it was destroyed during the Night of Broken Glass on 9 – 10 November 1938 . In January 1946 , the school was renamed Gymnasium Schwertstraße . On 27 October 1952 , the school moved into the rebuilt site in Schwertstraße . In 1971 , the school became co-educational by accepting girls for the first time . Until this day , Schwerstrasse students are responsible for projects regarding the Old Synagogue as well as the upkeep of Solingen 's old Jewish cemetery
Night of Broken Glass
Kristallnacht
Gymnasium Schwertstraße