The new vocational school in Weilheim is a superlative building: Almost 73 million euros expensive, with space for 1,600 students from all over the Oberland, equipped to the latest level.
The keys were handed over yesterday.
District
- At this moment everything just fits.
The new building shines in the bright sunshine and those responsible are shining with it.
Florian Steinbach, Head of Construction and Property Management at the district, looks dreamily at the facade of the new building.
“This is the largest building that we have looked after in decades.
And it will probably stay that way for a long time. "
District treasurer Norbert Merk was almost a little wistful: "That is my baby, which I have accompanied from the birth pangs of 2012 until now, to school."
District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiß also described the new vocational school as "a joint effort in which everyone pulled together" in her greeting.
A construction that was started at exactly the right time despite the corona pandemic.
"Fortunately, we were largely through when building materials costs exploded," she said.
Everything went incredibly quickly: The official groundbreaking with Prime Minister Markus Söder took place in July 2018, the shell construction started only two and a half years ago.
And yet on Monday, the vocational students streamed into the ultra-modern building for the first time.
"The most modern vocational school in Bavaria, Germany - oh what, Europe!"
Headmaster Knut Seelos did not skimp on superlatives in his greeting: “The most modern vocational school in Bavaria, Germany, oh what, Europe” has just been completed here.
He took the opportunity to thank his colleagues for their commitment, especially during the relocation phase.
It is unbelievable that you can teach now, although last week “one truck after the other rolled into the yard”.
Seelos also thanked the district and the district council, which made the construction possible and even provided additional money during the construction phase in order to "enable investments in the subject of e-mobility".
After the handover of the keys, there was a short tour of the new house.
Of course, not everything has been unpacked yet, but life has moved into the new building.
This week the students are still on “short-time work”.
They are taught until noon so that the teachers can continue unpacking and putting away in the afternoon.
Those responsible presented the new building with obvious pride.
A functional building with a reduced look, which nevertheless or precisely because of it has a very special charm.
Everything in the building has a function.
Photovoltaics generate more electricity than the huge building needs
The light wells in which bamboo will soon be planted are not only beautiful, they also ensure that less energy has to be used for lighting. In general, the building is astonishingly green for the fact that a lot of concrete was used. The heat is generated by a wood chip system, the photovoltaic system on the roof generates so much electricity that not only can the entire building be supplied with it, but even a surplus is fed into the grid.
Looking into the staff room and the neighboring social area, even Caroline Stahl, head of vocational schools at the government of Upper Bavaria, was amazed.
She had never seen it in this form either.
Each teacher has his own desk, and there are also wood-paneled work and telephone boxes in which you can also make confidential phone calls.
There is also a lounge, for which the term “tea kitchen” would really be an insult.
With high tables and sofa landscapes, kitchen island and all the bells and whistles.
Here the teachers should coordinate themselves in a pleasant atmosphere.
Hybrid boards and a gigantic combine harvester hall
People also marveled at the huge new hall, in which a whole combine harvester fits, the hybrid boards, which enable both optimal conditions for working with chalk and a whiteboard for digital lessons.
Around ten million euros went into equipping the new vocational school alone.
One would now like to show all of this to those who paid it: the citizens of the district.
But in view of the fourth corona wave that is currently rampant, this is not possible for the time being.
The official opening ceremony has been postponed to next spring, and an open day for everyone is to follow in the summer.
By then, the last remaining work is guaranteed to be done.
The outdoor facilities are still being prepared, 9,000 square meters of flower meadow are being laid out, 103 trees and 1,000 hedge plants are being planted.
The - cautiously formulated - controversial “art in architecture” is to be screwed on in the coming weeks, and teachers and students are also in demand.
In the corridors there are large wall surfaces that are to be artistically designed by the individual departments.
Lots to do in Europe's most modern vocational school.