From Hildburg Bruns
Berlin’s school construction offensive is finally coming off the defensive! This week alone there was the topping-out ceremony for an elementary school, the opening ceremony for an ISS and the laying of the foundation stone for a new high school – the first in 25 years!
“Now schools are getting ready as if on an assembly line,” says Torsten Kühne (47) happily. The CDU/SPD Senate appointed him State Secretary for School Construction – the first ever. And the CDU man is also taking care of the digitization of all schools, promising fiber optic connections everywhere by the end of 2025.
A total of around 25,000 places were created from the start of the school building campaign in 2016 to the start of the 2022/23 school year – 7,855 of them in the Lichtenberg district alone. But there are still 20,000 to 25,000 places missing. “That doesn’t mean that children are on the street, but that they are squeezed together in classes,” says Kühne to BZ
dr Torsten Kühne (CDU) is the new State Secretary for School Construction Photo: Olaf Selchow
In order to get there, Berlin has doubled its construction capacities. Howoge, which has only built city apartments and day-care centers up to now, is taking over the management of almost 30 new construction projects – primarily secondary schools (ISS) and grammar schools.
The municipal company now has 3,119 new school places under construction. The first high school and the ISS (1600 places) on the Alley of Cosmonauts will be ready in 2024. And in autumn the foundation stone is laid in Adlershof for 1332 places.
While the Howoge projects are financed through loans, the state of Berlin releases one billion euros a year for its own projects, from building maintenance and renovation to new construction.
Next Wednesday, when the certificates are available, there will also be a ceremonial opening in Buch (Pankow). The new elementary school on Karower Chaussee is the first building based on the new compartment model. Classes and specialist rooms are no longer along long corridors, but are grouped around decentralized forums.
13. ISS in Lichtenberg (Storkower Straße)
An old location awakens to new school life with space for 600 seventh to tenth graders.
The 13th integrated secondary school (ISS) on Storkower Straße was reactivated, completely renovated, expanded with a cafeteria in an intermediate building – for around 80 million euros. Two prefabricated buildings from the 1970s (formerly the 40th/41st Polytechnic High School) were torn down to the skeleton and rebuilt. The renovated gym still smells of fresh mortar, the sanitary facilities are top notch.
A new chemistry room in the 13th ISS (Storkower Straße) Photo: Olaf Selchow
“A wonderful day, we’ve waited so long,” says headmaster Alexander Westphal (63). His 160 students previously had to study in Falkenberg and have now been able to move. Four new seventh graders are coming in August.
Erich Kästner High School in Marzahn-Hellersdorf
The construction workers have already arrived at the first floor. With a little delay, the foundation stone for the Erich-Kästner-Gymnasium was laid on Friday.
The 830 places at the 5-stream high school will primarily supply Mahlsdorf and Kaulsdorf. “It is a compartment school with flexible and modern learning landscapes,” says Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (40, CDU).
The graphic shows the future Erich-Kästner-Gymnasium (c) rendertaxi for Hausmann Architektur Photo: rendertaxi for Hausmann Architektur
The district music school will also be able to use the space, as will clubs the three-field sports hall. The building will be completed for the 2025/26 school year.
The building along Erich-Kästner-Strasse looks like an elongated ridge. Parallel to the facade there is an elongated area for relaxation, meetings, movement.
Topping-out ceremony for primary school in Karlshorst
This type of modular 3-class elementary school with sports hall will be built ten times in Berlin. The third example is being built on Blockdammweg (Karlshorst), and Berlin’s building senate will soon be building seven more.
This week was the topping-out ceremony. Regular classrooms and division rooms are grouped around a forum room, enabling a variety of learning situations.
Topping-out ceremony at Blockdammweg in Karlshorst Photo: Sven Meissner
“Our youngest children in particular should find good learning conditions. That’s why we pay attention to short construction times and high quality,” said building senator Christian Gaebler (58, SPD).
Construction began in October 2022, and the handover of the 430 spaces is scheduled for April 2024. Prefabricated components enable rapid implementation. Cost point: 43.6 million euros./ b
