Archives 1957-1958
12th year of the school’s existence
On Monday, October 21, 1946, a new American high school opened. It was one of five high schools that opened in the fall of 1946, not in the United States, but in Germany. This high school opened in a small town approximately 15.5 miles north of Nürnberg, one of Germany’s most historic cities. It was called Erlangen American High School.
A year later, on Monday, September 6, 1947, this American high school opened its doors as Nürnberg American High School, in a new location, 19 Tannenstrasse in Fürth, a town approximately 6.5 miles from the Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof. The school was to remain at this address for five and one-half years.
The sixth year of the school’s existence was begun in the old school on Tannenstrasse, but the students, on January 3, 1952, moved into a brand new American school at 30 Fronmüllerstrasse in Fürth. The new school building had come about as a result of the change in Germany’s status as an occupied territory. In 1952 the allied forces went from armies of occupation to co-partners with the Germans in defending the West.
The doors of NHS were to remain open at this new address until the school closed in 1995, after 49 years. In 1995 thousands of Nürnberg High School alumni had to face the fact that their school was gone. But it lived on in their memory, and these alumni have bonded together to preserve their high school friendships and their memories through the Nürnberg Alumni Association.
During the 1957-58 school year the Cold War began to heat up as the U.S. and Russia vied for supremacy in the space race and Nikita Khrushchev came to power. There was turmoil back in the States as schools were being integrated. Nurnberg High saw an increase in enrollment and experienced the effects of “Operation Gyroscope. NHS traditions continued with freshman initiation week, the junior slave sale, a talent show, a carnival, and Career Day. The first ever USAREUR Science Fair was held in Heidelberg. The seniors went to the Brussels World’s Fair on their senior trip.
If you find anything here that you believe to be historically inaccurate or know of something that can be added to these files, please contact me.
Bob McQuitty, NAA historian/archivist