A sparkling celebration is taking place to mark an enduring bond between a Scottish and German school.
The month marks the 60th anniversary exchange between Madras College and the Kieler Gelehrtenschule in Germany.
Kiel exchanger organiser Dorothy Orem, from the Department of Modern Languages at St Andrews, said: “It is, as far as we know, the oldest unbroken exchange between two individual schools in the two countries.”
The Kiel Exchange started as a result of correspondence between two historians.
These were Dr John Thompson, who in 1955 had just become Rector of Madras, and Professor Karl Dietrich Erdmann who had recently become professor of Modern History at Kiel University.
Professor Erdmann’s colleague, Dr Oswald Hauser, who taught at the Kieler Gelehrtenschule as well as at the university, was keen to take up the challenge of starting the exchange that Dr Thompson sought.
Dr Hauser came to St Andrews in 1956 on an exploratory visit.
Warmly received, in the summer term of 1957 he brought the first group of senior pupils to Scotland.
The success is clear from an extract from a letter of thanks to Dr Thompson written by the headmaster of the KGS, Professor Dr Erwin Assmann.
“An example of the general mood: my own son, a typical tough teenage lad, said to me: ‘you know, dad, when we said goodbye at St Andrews station, when the bagpipers played, I was crying but I’m not ashamed of those tears’.”
In 1958 the first group of 28 Madras pupils travelled to Kiel with the Principal Teacher of Modern Languages, Ian Hendry.
Half the pupils had entertained their German partners the previous year, and the other half, from the year group below, would be meeting them for the first time — a principle that continues to this day, so that the exchange always has continuity. There have been many adaptations to the programme, but it continues to be regarded as the highlight of their school career by many participants.
A lot of people who met on the exchange have remained in contact over the years.
The pupils have embarked on a Diamond Jubilee anniversary project which involves, among a number of other activities, the creation of two mobiles, one for each school, depicting important milestones in the history of the exchange.
They will be unveiled at an anniversary ceilidh on Saturday.
