1060 - How Viborg Katedralskole began
Christianity came from the south, and with it the need for teaching. The Schleswig and Ribe dioceses were established as the first. Aarhus and Viborg dioceses were separated from Ribe in approx. 1060, and ever since there has been a cathedral in Viborg. Schooling has probably been going on for just as long. The oldest documented date, 1132, we find in the life of St. Kjeld. Maybe one day more documents about the school in Viborg will be found in the Vatican's vast archives.
The school was part of the cathedral's extensive activities, and the bishop was the supreme leader. The daily operation of the school was provided by a principal and some sub-teachers. Teaching took place in various of the buildings that the bishops had at their disposal.
1860 - The founding of Minerva
The student association Minerva was founded on 15 September 1860 by Jesper Elle and seven of his peers from the oldest class. Jesper Elle became the first chairman, and the number of members grew steadily in the following period. The purpose of the association was "by reciting poets to put the members in closer acquaintance with the literature and by oral disputation to practice expressing themselves in brief".
The reading of poems became the dominant aspect, and night after night they gathered and read the great poets of the time to each other: H.C. Andersen, Oehlenschäger, Baggesen, Holberg, Winther, Bjornson etc.
1926 - The initiation of Viborg Katedralskole at our current location - Gl. Skivevej 2 in Viborg.
Viborg Katedralskole has been housed in its current building at Gl. Skivevej 2 since 1926.
The building was designed by architect Hack Kampmann.
Unfortunately, Hack Kampmann died during the construction of the school and therefore did not live to see the completed result.
However, his son, Christian Kampmann, saw the construction through to completion, and since 1926 the finished building has served as the base for teaching at Viborg Katedralskole.
1940 - VK during World War 2
Some students reached important positions in the resistance movement. Viborg Stifts Illegale Tidende, which was one of the city's prominent illegal magazines, was edited in 1944 by baker's assistant Søren Vestergaard. In connection with the raid in Viborg on 23 October 1944, where the Gestapo arrested 14 citizens of Viborg and thereby intervened deeply in the core of the resistance movement, Søren Vestergaard had to go underground and leave the city. The illegal magazine was then taken over by two of the school's students, who continued the publication until the liberation, no doubt with great personal risk.
If you have a wish to visit the school, you can contact Mads Henriksen on mf@vibkat.dk.