At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a debate was taking place in Wroclaw and Silesia regarding the creation of a school capable of preparing graduates for new duties in a growing industrial society. Gottlieb Ludwig Rahn, an outstanding teacher and pastor of the church of St. Bernard in Wroclaw, led the initiative to create such an institution. The citizens of Wroclaw helped raise the necessary funds. Established in 1825, the Citizens’ School became a Real School from 1836, and in 1882 it was raised to the rank of junior high school. The building, erected in 1825 at Zwingerplatz (now Plac Teatralny 6/7), was designed by Heinrich Ferdinand Tschech. Its location in an important part of the city and the impressive Doric form emphasized the importance and prestige of the new middle class that paid for its creation.
The school was popular and applied a progressive approach to education, focusing on subjects such as applied mathematics, chemistry, geography and modern languages. Its director for forty years (1836–1876) was an excellent educator, Caesar Albano Kletke. Its graduates often held significant positions in industry and administration. Two of them received the Nobel Prize: Gerhardt Hauptmann and Friedrich Bergius.
After 1945, the school building still housed educational institutions. The year 2008 brought a change from an educational institution to an elegant hotel.