By Birgit Buerkner
For eleven years there was a dispute with the Monuments Office about the renovation of the dilapidated Hausburg elementary school in Friedrichshain. Reason: Bullet holes should remain on the facade.
More than a hundred small indentations of various sizes are in the wall of a building facing the schoolyard. They are said to date from the last days of World War II. Unclear how they were caused.
For years the claim has been made that it could be a shooting wall. The monument authority advocates the preservation of the wall, which apparently documents murders.
Historians and surveyors are striving to find evidence of the formation of the holes – to no avail. The monument protection argues: As long as the suspicion is not refuted, the school can only be partially renovated.
The wall, partially overgrown with tendrils, is riddled with bullet holes – they date from the time of the Second World War Photo: Thomas Frey
At the beginning of the year, the SPD parliamentary group in the district had enough, they requested: The bullet holes should be eliminated and the repairs should finally be tackled.
“One of the reports concludes that the holes are too scattered, too high, not typical of a shooting wall,” says applicant Peggy Hochstätter. “That speaks more to the impact of shrapnel.”
The application was approved last week. School councilor Andy Hehmke (49, SPD) on the BZ: “I’m relieved that the concerns have been dispelled and that nothing stands in the way of a complete renovation.”
The approved more than 20 million euros can now finally be installed.