Here, generations of students have challenged themselves, supported each other, and developed both knowledge and character. The school has always been a place where you learn more than what is in books—where you learn from each other, from history, and from the opportunities the world offers.

As early as 1542, when Kolding School was first mentioned in written sources, the ambition was clear: to give young people access to education and learning that could open doors for life. Since then, the school has evolved, but community and curiosity have always been at the heart of what we do together.

Some say that Kolding Gymnasium was founded by Queen Dorothea. She was the wife of Christian III, and after his death in 1559, she lived at Koldinghus until 1570.

However, Kolding Gymnasium – then known as Kolding Lærde Skole – was actually founded before 1542, the year in which the school is first mentioned in written sources. It was one of the schools established by Christian III after the Reformation in 1536.

Queen Dorothea did not found the school, but she took good care of it – first and foremost by ensuring that a proper school building was constructed out of stone, which was completed in 1566. It was located directly opposite the church, and the school remained there until 1975.

Dorothea's school building remained in use until 1729, when it was replaced by a new school building, but Dorothea was not forgotten. At the inauguration of the new building, a distinguished stone plaque was erected, adorned with, among other things, a picture of Dorothea. This stone plaque now stands in front of the principal's office at KG.

Dorothea also took care of the school in ways other than purely financial. She was a tough lady—that impression is also conveyed by her portrait—and she did not tolerate any nonsense. When a headmaster was a little too fond of alcohol, for example, she intervened and ordered the bishop to fire him and find a replacement.

If, on the other hand, the rectors behaved properly, they could be promoted to parish priests or even become royal court preachers.

It is therefore not without reason that Queen Dorothea was regarded as the school's patron, and her portrait became the school's emblem.

But why did Dorothea care about the school? Well, the scholarly school—which only taught in Latin—was connected to the church. Back then, only the cemetery separated the school from Nicolai Church, and the school's students had to attend church services and sing on all sorts of occasions. It would be a poor service without the peblingene, as the pupils were called. And for the pupils, it was a form of early practical training. The most talented could hope to be admitted to university and end up as parish priests.