Centenary of the Meran Gymnasium: Speech by Student Franz Kupperion

On the history of the Meran Gymnasium. 2/2

(Conclusion.)

It is therefore easy to understand that I express my joy today before this highly venerable assembly over the blessed prosperity of this institution for a hundred years. This joy would, however, be imperfect if it passed us by without bearing fruit.

In the name of my fellow students, I dare boldly say that we all feel the gravity of this day, and that as pupils of the new century that begins today for this educational institution, we shall strive to emulate and resemble in solid scholarship and virtue the men it has formed during the past century. It is a grand thought, the finest mission of the school, that it weaves a thriving chain of youth, intellect, and talent across the centuries for the welfare of the fatherland, and we are proud to be links in this chain. Even if some of us depart into the wide world, the bond of intellectual unity that the institution has wound around us will not thereby be severed. The spirit of the school will live on within us, and the blossoms of our deeds will gently drift back to their place of origin.

The joy we students feel must be doubly alive in the teachers, who are called to carry forward this fine centenary work into the new times. Even if their toil is seldom acknowledged by the short-sightedness of the world, they will care little about it, because their heart fully comprehends the high calling that consists in selfless, unpaid, and uncorrupted work for youth. They labor at the very root of human education in Tyrol, and such a laborer can easily dispense with the commonness of human applause.

I believe I may say the same in the name of the municipal authorities, the patron of this institution. For at this moment of taking leave of the school I am deeply moved, and in this emotion a small immodesty may well be forgiven me.

What has preserved and brought prosperity to the school hitherto was the good accord of the municipal authority with the teachers from Marienberg Abbey, mutual confidence, and even the intimacy of personal relations. That this fine bond will remain effective also in the future cannot be doubted by anyone who observes the readiness on the part of Marienberg and the solemn accommodation on the part of the town. It takes no sharp eye for this observation; it is evident and is the best guarantee for the continuance of the Gymnasium.

I therefore must not, at the conclusion of my address, wish for what already exists; I must rejoice at the victory that enlightened humanity over all faint-heartedness has car-

ried off.

Kindly accept my most heartfelt gratitude, most esteemed teachers! Many words will not suffice; we wish to give thanks through our deeds.

With equal emotion I express my gratitude to the spiritual and secular leaders of this city. To their protection and interest we and a thousand others owe our education and our life's fortune. — May the good town of Meran continue its noble benevolence toward studying youths, which is scarcely so great or so selfless in proportion in any other town in Tyrol. Thereby it shares in the blessed effects that this educational institution spreads across the entire land. — I permit myself only this single final word: „May the fruit of the second century surpass the first; thereby honor and benefit will increase for the school itself and for the entire fatherland.“

Franz Kupperion of Tarsch.