2_1_DiscoverGermany_January15_Issue22:Scan Magazine 1
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Stiftung Louisenlund Where the future is shaped and values are preserved For over 60 years Stiftung Louisenlund, a full-day German secondary boarding an IB World School, has been dedicated to delivering first class education in a most pleasant environment and preparing pupils for life as caring and committed members of society. TEXT: TINA AWTANI | PHOTOS: STIFTUNG LOUISENLUND
Located most idyllically along the Schlei, a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea, in Northern Schleswig-Holstein, Stiftung Louisenlund was founded by Friedrich Herzog zu Schleswig-Holstein in 1949 right after the ordeal of WWII. The boarding school was created to provide children from ages 5 to 12 the opportunity to discover themselves and be creative. Kurt Hahn, a key figure in the development of experiential education in those days, played an important role in the process. Times were tough and MarieAlix Herzogin zu Schleswig-Holstein, honourary member of the board of trustees
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and daughter-in-law of the founder, remembers: “Not every pupil owned warm clothes and we had to be creative, so I attached some red socks to my husband’s
navy sweater. This is how the Louisenlund school pullover was born.”The iconic blue jumper with the red V-Neck is still a symbol of belonging to the Louisenlund community worldwide. In 1978 Louisenlund became a member the international Round Square association of boarding-schools and today Louisenlund is one of Germany’s largest and renowned boarding schools with partner schools on six continents. “Preserving values, taking responsibility, shaping the future” Right now about 350 pupils attend school at Louisenlund, with over three-quarters being borders from national and international backgrounds.“Our pupils come from a wide mix of social environments, reaching from entrepreneurial to agricultural to aristocratic, and quite a few are from regional families. Some are scholarship holders and