By Arabella Blackwood & Marz Marchant
Located in the rugged, northernmost regions of Scandinavia, Durmstrang Institute is an infamous and impressive Wizarding school. We are very excited to soon be extending a warm welcome to our talented European friends from the north, although we cannot promise better weather than what they are accustomed to!
During the Middle Ages, Durmstrang was founded by the great Bulgarian witch Nerida Vulchanova. She acted as first head of school and, after her death (under mysterious circumstances), was succeeded by Professor Harfang Munter. Munter brought a focus on martial magic to Durmstrang, and it remains a key feature of its curriculum to this day.
This school has enjoyed a long legacy and continues to thrive with certain school traditions remaining strong to this day. In recent years Durmstrang has started to admit Muggleborns and part-goblins under the leadership of Headmaster Matvey Golovin.
Durmstrang once had the darkest reputation of all eleven Wizarding schools and it was known to be accepting of the Dark Arts, at least in theory. The infamous Dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald, was accepted into Durmstrang Institute in the year 1894. Despite the school’s reputation for being more accepting of darker aspects of magic, Grindelwald’s experiments in the Dark Arts were considered a step too far. Durmstrang took issue with this and expelled him.
Despite its remote (reported) Scandinavian location, Durmstrang Institute has been the co-educational school of choice for students from several nations, including Bulgaria. In fact, during the Triwizard Tournament that was held at Hogwarts during the 1994–1995 school year, Durmstrang was represented by Bulgarian national Viktor Krum who, at the the young age of eighteen, was already an incredibly talented, well-known Seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team. The school has a long history with the Triwizard Tournament, dating back to 1294, when the event was first started as a friendly competition between Durmstrang Institute, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and our own fine school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Though the exact whereabouts of the institute is concealed, it is widely assumed that Durmstrang is located near a large body of water (sea or lake) or by a river. The institute itself is contained within a castle. Though it has extensive grounds, Durmstrang is smaller than Hogwarts (at four floors in height), yet it is impressive in its own right and known to be unplottable.
Durmstrang Institute – facts in brief
Coat of Arms- A double-headed eagle with Latin and Cyrillic script and a stag’s head.
Location- Northernmost Scandinavia (Sweden or Norway)
Headmaster- Matvey Golovin
Deputy Headmistress- Vilhelda Óðrvegr
Uniform- A military style uniform with fur cloak, red robe and boots
Educational style- Military-like, with a strong focus on discipline, strength (physical and mental), fraternity, tradition and legacy