[1][2][3] Gertrud Baronesse Uexküll-Gyllenband was born into a well-established family at Fortress Dünamünde, a manor house on the grounds formerly occupied by a stronghold built by the Teutonic Knights, just outside Riga, a multicultural city which at that time found itself positioned on the outer fringes of the Russian Empire.

She was born, the fifth of her parents' recorded children, into the German-speaking community which for historical reasons constituted the traditional land-owning ruling class in the region.

Directly after completing her student career in Geneva, however, she transferred to Paris university (La Sorbonne) in order to undertake a major academic project.

She already had a clear vision to found a "Mädchengymnasium", a single-sex secondary school teaching a curriculum that would enable its pupils to attain a level of education appropriate for university admission.

Both in public and behind the scenes, she received active support from her cousin, the Countess Olga von Üxküll-Gyllenband, who was a lady in waiting to Queen Charlotte, and thereby very well connected with members of Württemberg's intellectual and wealthy elites.

The school should open the way for girls to gain "admission to all faculties at the university, most especially for the study of Philology, Medicine and Law - subjects which could form the basis for a professional or academic career for women".

Meanwhile, for girls with no intention of pursuing an academic career, the "Mädchengymnasium" must be an institution that unquestionably provided a "safe religious and ethical aesthetically grounded all-round education".

A year later, with the number of pupils enrolled at the school having risen to 32, the two institutions were physically separated, with Getrud's "Mädchengymnasium" relocating to premises on the second floor at Alleenstraße 29.

Within Germany it was the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Baden which, on 28 February 1900, became was the first German state to issue a decree allowing women full access to universities.

[1] During her all too brief time in Stuttgart, Gertrud Schwend-Üxküll's hands-on commitment to improving opportunities for women extended far beyond her teaching work and the founding of a game-changing school.

She opened the way for the launch of Stuttgart branch of Hedwig Dohm's "Women's Education and Study Association" ("Verein Frauenbildung–Frauenstudium") with an article she contributed to the 7 July 1900 edition of the magazine "Der Frauenberuf".