[3] Gymnasium Lerchenfeld was originally a pioneer project of the Hamburg authorities (together with Helena-Lange-Gymnasium) to offer qualitative secondary education for girls.

[4] Its first building was built between 1908 and 1910 by architect Albert Erbe, with a typical Brick-design which included ornaments, Gables, Towers, sandstone-made stairways and other late-gotic elements.

[4] During World War II it was destroyed almost completely during the Hamburg bombings of 1942 and the 1943 Operation Gomorrah[5] (the only remaining parts were the 1921 extension and the Sports Hall).

[6] The schoolyard's most symbolic decorative element is a large old chestnut, considered to be the geographical centre of Hamburg[citation needed].

An alternative calculation for the city's geographical centre refers to the perimeter of the nearby St. Gertrude Church on the Kuhmühlenteich lake, where Christmas concerts of the Lerchenfeld students often take place.