One of the facilities of the City of Zwickau which feel closely linked with the legacy of Clara and Robert Schumann is the Clara Wieck Grammar School in Zwickau-Planitz. It is the sole municipal institution to bear the name »Clara Wieck« and thus honours the life and work of the spouse of Robert Schumann who, even in her youth, developed into an outstanding pianist and composer and, at her husband's side, maintained her importance as an independent personality in the musical life of Europe.
Education and Activities
The »Clara Wieck Grammar School« is one of three schools in the Free State of Saxony that offer their pupils intensive musical training as part of their musical image. Besides general music tuition, which is offered as an advanced course leading to the school-leaving examination in the grammar school's upper level, pupils also receive comprehensive artistic training and individual support in the disciplines of singing, piano and other instruments and may improve their knowledge of and abilities in musicology/composing, music history as well as other specialised subjects which may be taken as options. The musical climate at the grammar school is shaped by various musical activities: the pupils sing and perform on their instruments as soloists or in the school's choirs and ensembles and thus contribute greatly to the cultural life of the city's Planitz district with their public appearances. They undertake concert tours at home and abroad and perform in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Robert Schumann Conservatory and in the Saxon State Youth Ensemble. The high level of specialization of their musical training has been documented by the many prize winners of various competitions, including the national competition »Youth Makes Music«
Tending the Legacy
In many ways, the grammar school is involved in the vital tending of the legacies of Clara and Robert Schumann. For example, every year the pupils in the advanced music course of the eleventh form prepare a special report on a subject related to research on the Schumanns. Thus, a range of projects including video films, radio plays, Schumann calendars with their own cd recordings from the »Albums for Youth«, themed concerts and public speeches are evidence of creative interaction with the heritage and legacy of surely the most famous and most important married couple from the city of Zwickau. The musical image is further enhanced and enriched by comprehensive training and activities offerings in the fields of the visual arts, German-Literature/Theatre and Languages as well as via close cooperation with the Robert Schumann Conservatory and the district musical school «Clara Wieck«.
Facilities
The grammar school, emerging from the celebrated branch of the former advanced classes for musical education of the extended secondary school «Käthe-Kollwitz« in Zwickau, found a home in 1993 in the Baroque Castle in Planitz, built in 1712, one of the most important cultural monuments in the city. In a renovated section of this building, the pupils may study in specialized teaching rooms and practice rooms with modern equipment. Together with the adjacent large Castle Park, the ensemble offers an ideal environment for schooling and free time.
