On 5 July 1831 the Rev Gottlieb Wilhelm Antonie van der Lingen was confirmed as minister in Paarl. After it was finally decided in 1857 to establish the Theological Seminary in Stellenbosch, the Reverend decided in 1857 to found a church school where boys could be prepared for the Theological Seminary or for further study in Europe. Instruction was to be in Dutch. On 12 January 1858 the school was opened. The Egyptian-style architecture and decorations were intended to be symbolic. One of the appointed teachers was Arnoldis Pannevis, who arrived in South Africa from Holland in 1866 and played an important part in the First Language Monument. After the founding of the Noorder-Paarl congregation in 1875, with the Rev SJ du Toit as minister, church services of the new congregation were held in the Gymnasium. The left wing of the school was used as parsonage. Gymnasium produced several well-known South Africans, amongst them the first professor of Afrikaans in South Africa, Prof DF Malherbe, who taught at the University College of the OFS, and Prof JJ Smith, the first professor in Afrikaans at the University of Stellenbosch. The Gymnasium was declared a national monument in 1968 and still serves as a school.
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