The local council of Timișoara asked the Provincial Lieutenancy as early as 1852 for approval to establish a royal high school. Approval was obtained, but not the necessary financial support, so the establishment of the school was postponed. Finally, on 23.04.1870, the decision was taken to establish the Royal High School with Hungarian as the language of instruction. Until 1878, the school was provisionally located in the building of the town hospital. 

In 1878-1879 a new building was constructed to house this educational institution. On the site of this building, the 18th century Magistratul rascian, the town hall of the Orthodox community of Timișoara, functioned. In 1781 Timișoara became a free royal city, the two town halls were unified, so that from this moment the building belonged exclusively to the Timișoara Theatre. After the construction of the current building of the Theatre in Victoriei Square and the move of this cultural institution to the new location, the old building was demolished and the construction of the Royal State High School began, according to the plans of the architect Johann Reiber.

In 1919, after the Great Union, the school was transformed into the German State High School. From 1941 to 1944, the German Girls' High School operated here, and in 1942 it was renamed "Nikolaus Lenau". After the Second World War, the German High School was re-established in 1948 and moved to another building, where it remained until 1955, when it moved back to its old premises, where it still operates today.            

Bibliography:

Ioan Munteanu, Rodica Munteanu, Timișoara. Monograph Mirton Publishing House, Timisoara 2022

Josef Geml, The old Timișoara in the last half of the century 1870-1920, Cosmopolitan Art Publishing House, Timișoara, 2016.

https://nlenau.ro/