In which city did Mendel attend the Gymnasium?

Gregor Mendel attended the Gymnasium in Opava, a city then known by its German name, Troppau. He studied there as a young man after completing his earlier schooling in the Silesian region of the Austrian Empire.

Mendel’s Gymnasium education was interrupted by illness, forcing him to take four months away from his studies. He nevertheless continued his education and, from 1840 to 1843, studied philosophy and physics at the Philosophical Institute of the University of Olomouc.

Olomouc is a common wrong answer because Mendel attended university there after Gymnasium. Brno is another likely mix-up: he later entered the Augustinian monastery of St. Thomas in Brno, conducted his celebrated pea experiments there, and eventually became its abbot. Vienna was also important in his education, since he studied at the University of Vienna from 1851 to 1853.

The historical names can make the question confusing. Troppau is the German name used in Mendel’s era; Opava is the city’s modern Czech name and the standard answer today.