Alumni

"The ISH on Othmarschen's Waitzstrasse was a new universe for a twelve-year old seventh grade monolingual from a small town in Oklahoma/USA. Looking back after my thirty-three years as a professional in higher education in the USA, I view the three years I spent at ISH between 1972 and 1975 as ideal for the proverbial broadening of horizons. The larger share of our new experiences were provided by the memorable, multi-national ISH teachers, who, though often strict, were nonetheless obviously driven by their collective determination to push  students from (as I recall) some 40 nations further in our education. The community in and outside of school hours was as important as the content of the lessons—my closest friends, from Japan, Iran, Germany, USA, Scotland, & Israel—were the lens that focused my image of global citizenship.  We were more than hybrid, and all languages were encouraged. So German, spoken with any number of accents,  soon became students' secret language. Over forty years later, German defines me as much as English does, both personally and professionally. I don't return to Hamburg as frequently as I would like to, but it is one of my lifetime homes, at least in spirit."

“As the son of a diplomat, it wasn’t easy changing schools and adjusting to new environments throughout my childhood. I’m pleased to say that the ISH was a big exception - I have nothing but the fondest memories of my time there. Whether it was the welcoming community, the great long-lasting friendships that were created, the many extra-curricular activities that were available or the encouraging teachers that I had, it all added to an incredible experience there and it offered the best foundations to prepare me for the next stages of my life.”

"I arrived in Hamburg in 1989 with my family at age of 15 with broken English and not a word of German. Through a scholarship, I was fortunate to be admitted into ISH. I really enjoyed my two years at ISH before my family moved to Canada in 1991. The staff at ISH were first class educators; I still have fond memories of quite a few of them today. They were very patient and encouraging to students like me who came from a very different school system. ISH was far more than a good education, it offered a great learning environment to interact with students from very different cultural backgrounds. I have benefited greatly from my ISH experience in subsequent studies and life to date.”