Gymnasium or Gemainshaftsshule?

Our kid will move up to 5th class next year, and as all families, soon we'll be asked to select a school. I'm just not clearly convinced if a kid has to go to a Gymnasium for higher education. Or what's the benefit of going to a Gymnasium and pushing ones limits to the sky if another school, like a Real or Gesamt schule, is also open to lead the way to Abitur. During the school presentations last month, the director of the Gymnasium of our town, smirkingly noted that, "Gymnasium is not a place for fun!". Dont know what he wants to achieve by making such a comment, other than piss the parents off. If the Gymnasium is a place, where kids go just to torment themselves for the fun of the sadistic teachers, we can let it pass. But if it's a really location where a kid can achieve his full potential, while also enjoying himself, then of course, it's a different story. What would be your comment on this? Do you think Gymnasium really pays off for the kid, or its just a hacksaw, just to eliminate the weakest, and we should consider another school having more reasonable stress and load level?

To give a background: we're living in BW/Germany for the past 8 years and just got our citizenship last summer. Our kid is at the top of his class, M&D: 1-2, therefore we think that he'll got a recommendation for the erweitertes Niveau, Gymnasium or Gemeinschaftsschule. But we're not really sure Gymnasium is the right path for it. Does the hustle really pays off?