Hong Kong · History
From 73 Students in a Peak House to 1,250 Across Two Campuses
German Swiss International School has operated on The Peak since 1969, built on a coalition of German and Swiss families who refused twice before they finally made it work.
The school that became GSIS did not arrive easily. Two earlier attempts, in 1967 and 1968, to establish a German-medium school in Hong Kong came to nothing. The German expatriate community wanted one but knew it could not sustain it alone. The Swiss community, drawn to the same idea, provided the coalition that made the third attempt stick.
Origins
In 1969, German and Swiss parents led by Ingrid Buchholtz founded German Swiss International School, opening its doors to 73 students in a rented house at 1 Barker Road on The Peak. The ambition was straightforward: a bilingual German-English education in an international city that offered neither.
Enrolment climbed quickly. By 1972, the West German government sent Hans Kraus to serve as principal, a sign that the school had grown to a scale that warranted formal state engagement. Space ran short. Primary classes spilled into May Road as the Barker Road house ceased to be adequate.
Building a Permanent Home
The Hong Kong government granted the school land on Guildford Road, free of charge, with construction of the upper building beginning in 1973. By 1975, the school's first purpose-built structure on Guildford Road was ready, giving GSIS a fixed address on The Peak that it still occupies today.
Growth continued across the following decades. The school eventually split across two campuses on Hong Kong Island: The Peak at 11 Guildford Road, serving upper primary and secondary students, and Pok Fu Lam at 162 Pok Fu Lam Road, home to kindergarten and lower primary. Every child entering at Pok Fu Lam is guaranteed a place at The Peak campus when the time comes.
The Eight-Year Rebuild
The most significant physical transformation of the school's history concluded in 2016, when GSIS marked the completion of an eight-year refurbishment of its Peak campus with a formal opening on 11 November. The rebuild was not about expanding intake. It was about upgrading what the school already offered: new science laboratories, professional music and art rooms, a black-box theatre, a year-round indoor swimming pool, a rooftop AstroTurf pitch, and two large multi-purpose gymnasiums.
Curriculum and Identity
GSIS runs as one school with two parallel streams, each leading to a distinct and globally recognised qualification. The English International Stream follows a British-based curriculum through IGCSE in Years 10 and 11, then the IB Diploma Programme in Years 12 and 13. The German International Stream delivers the German International Abitur, known as the DIA, following the curriculum of the state of Thuringia. Both streams share campuses, extracurricular activities, and a single fee schedule.
GSIS is the only school in Hong Kong that provides a German curriculum, and it is certified as an Excellent German School Abroad by Germany's Central Agency for Schools Abroad. It also holds accreditation from the Council of International Schools and is recognised as an IB World School. The Swiss federal government provides official recognition and partial funding for the school's work in delivering Swiss-standard education outside Switzerland. Beyond school age, the Pok Fu Lam site houses the school's Wirtschaftskolleg, a business college offering management training programmes in wholesale and foreign trade and in transport and logistics.
From the 2019 to 2020 school year, the school added German-Chinese bilingual kindergarten classes, reflecting the city it sits in as much as the community that founded it. Instruction across the school spans German, English, Mandarin, French, and Latin.
Present Day
GSIS enrolls around 1,250 students from more than 30 countries, ranging from kindergarten through to Year 13. The English International Stream accounts for roughly 70 per cent of the school. The Class of 2026 averaged 42 IB points. Graduates take up places at universities across the Ivy League, the UK's Russell Group, and leading institutions in Hong Kong and Germany.
The school marked its 55th anniversary during the 2024 to 2025 academic year with a programme of events, including a Spring Concert at the Xiqu Centre in West Kowloon in March 2025, making GSIS the first international school in Hong Kong to perform at that venue. The current principal is Alexandra Freigang-Krause.