Salamon Ernő High School Gheorgheni

The initiative to build a Gymnasium for the newly awarded settlement of Gheorgheni with the rank of township was outlined in the first decade of the twentieth century in the framework of a government-proposed national plan. The concept of  each new school building was to combine the traditions of regional architecture, and to fit into the architectural landscape of ethnographic area to be built. For this project several architects have made ethnographic research and surveys in different areas and sought to follow the architectural guideline of a famous leading Transylvanian architect Károly Kós who created a branch of art nouveau adding a specific Hungarian flavor to it.

In the summer of 1912 following the request of the Ministry, the architects based in Budapest, Ambrus Orth and Emil Somló drafted the plans for a monumental building. It seems that the design of the gymnasium in Gheorgheni, Orth and Somló were inspired by the stylistic language of Károly Kós since the school display similarities with the portal of the Catholic church in Zebegény (Hungary) and with portal of the Church with rooster in Cluj, and other features that appear on most buildings designed by Károly Kós.

The building on the verge of inauguration, as of January 29, 1915 was needed to be temporarily transformed to accomodate and tend the wounded in battle. The gymnasium was transformed into a hospital with 100 beds given to the administration of the Red Cross. The roof of the building was marked with a large red cross painted on a white canvas, which for half a year informed about the status of the building. The long-awaited building reception was held in the frame of a modest celebration and starting from September 15, 1915 the school year began in the "new palace".

Beginning with 1968 the High School was  was given the name of the poet  Ernő Salamon.

From architectural point of view is the most important civil building of Gheorgheni and its monumentality and simplicity denotes a unit of a certain architectural value.

In 2015 the school celebrated its centenary since its foundation. Salamon Ernő High School currently works with 20 classes, four sections, two classes for Mathematics and IT profile, a class for social sciences, one for Natural Sciences and a Philology class.