Jan 1944, World War II was raging. The Normandy landing, the final assault by the Allies that was to mark the beginning of the end of World War II, was to happen later that year in June. 

Quit India movement had been launched in 1942 and the clamour for total independence was at a fever pitch.

Within the Catholic organization, Bangalore had been declared a separate diocese in 1940 and two years later for the first time, an Indian was elevated as the Arch Bishop, the  Rt. Rev. Thomas Pothacamury D.D

In the midst of these momentous happenings, St Germain High School was established by Archbishop Pothacamury of Bangalore. There were only three classes, 4th, 5th and 6th held in a common hall with screen partitions. We shall get into more details a little later after we quickly look at the background for starting the school. 

The school was started in the same building which housed St. Josephs Boys (European) High School between 1883 and 1898. The French Fathers of the Missions Etranǵeres de Paris (MEP) who were in charge of St. Josephs at that time decided to move to a more ‘central’ location and accordingly in 1898, St. Joseph’s moved to their present location on Museum Road. The splendid building left behind, that was built with great care to be known as one of the finest in Bangalore at the time of its construction, was then used as the Clergy and Archbishop's House till 1944.

For almost a 100 years, between 1845 and 1940, Bangalore was part of the Mysore Archdiocese. In 1940, Bangalore was hived into a separate Diocese.  The first Bishop of the new diocese – the Rev Maurice Bernard Benoit Joseph Despatures (1940-1942) decided to build a new residence for the Archbishop more suited for a residence and also to house the offices of the support staff needed to manage the already large and bustling Diocese. The old school buildings were then free in 1944 to house yet another school that was to grow into one of the reputed schools of this city.  

The School was named after a much loved French Priest Rev Fr Saint Germain who had been a. Sports teacher at St Joseph's Boys High School. Fr Saint Germain passed away in 1939 and as a tribute to him, the new school was named after him.

The School buildings, situated on top of the St John's Hill with Coles Park on one side and St Francis Xavier's Cathedral on the other carries a story linked intricately with the story of St. Josephs Boys High School and makes interesting reading. To get a holistic picture of the chain of events that led to the construction of the school buildings, the availability of which possibly led to the establishment of St. Germains School, we may need to go back several years….to the growth of Bangalore and the growth of the Catholic movement in Bangalore.