Casimirianum, Neustadt

The Casimirianum endured only five years. Today the name is used for the restored historical building that the Casmirianum occupied.

Casimirianum

Casimirianum in Neustadt
Type	Reformed academy
Active	1578–1583
Founder	Count Palatine Johann Casimir
Religious affiliation	Calvinist
Location	Neustadt , Rheinland-Pfalz , Germany

 

The Casimirianum is in the northwest of the town center of Neustadt on the Speyerbach river, close to the marketplace, Stiftskirche and Mariankirche.

After the death of the Calvinist Elector Frederick III, the Pious, in 1576, his son and successor Elector Louis VI restored Lutheranism in the Palatinate. In time, all professors and students at the University of Heidelberg were forced to sign the Formula of Concord, which repudiated the Reformed confession. As an alternative university for those who refused to sign, and therefore were forced to leave Heidelberg, Count Palatine Johann Casimir – who unlike his older brother Ludwig was an adherent of the Reformed Church – created the Casimirianum.

The institution was erected in 1578/79 through the rebuilding and expansion of the "white cell," a building with Gothic and Renaissance features, which was part of the former Augustinian cloister. The university was equipped with Partikularschule and a Paedagogium (also called the “Gymnasium illustre”) upstream to enable students to prepare for advanced studies. The university only remained in Neustadt for a few years; the faculty returned to Heidelberg in 1583/84 during Johann Casimir’s regency under Elector Frederick IV.

• Wilhelm von Curti (Sir William Curtius) FRS (1599 - 1678)

After its restoration in the late 20th century, the Casimirianum mainly is used today for cultural events.

The Kurfürst-Ruprecht-Gymnasium, the oldest high school in the city, evolved during the course 19th century from the tradition of Casimirianum on the basis of a Latin school. The other schools were founded over a hundred years later.