New school building in Dresden: Does luxury hide the real need?

New school building in Dresden: Does luxury hide the real need?

On March 31, 2025, a decisive meeting took place in the Dresden City Council, in which the new school building for the Dresden University School was approved with a large majority. This marks an important step in the development of the city's educational landscape. The planned start of construction is scheduled for 2026, while commissioning should not take place until 2029 at the earliest. The total costs for the ambitious project amount to 46 million euros and will provide space for around 1,100 students in grades 1 to 12. During the meeting, student representative Lore Steinigen highlighted the acute lack of space and the extremely important role of the school.

However, the project was also criticized. Matthias Dietze from the CDU described the draft as a “luxury standard”. In contrast, Dana Frohwieser from the SPD and Katharina Ringel from Bündnis90/Die Grünen supported the project and defended its necessity. An amendment supported by the CDU, FDP, the Free Voters and Team Zastrow also met with approval. This request includes both a review of expenditures and a request to the school community to initiate further fundraising campaigns. These campaigns have already raised 2.2 million euros in 2021.

Donations and support from the city

Mayor Hilbert suggested that the city add one euro to every donation in order to further increase the project's financial resources. However, this initiative is viewed critically by Anke Langner from TU Dresden, who expressed concerns about the request for additional donations. The current situation at the university school, where around 850 students are currently studying, is tense. The students currently have to be taught in an old GDR building, and since 2022 a container building has been used as a temporary solution.

The university school's capacities are severely overloaded. Important specialist rooms for biology, physics and chemistry are missing, and the now overcrowded sports hall no longer corresponds to the number of students. In addition, there is an urgent need for rooms for all-day activities as well as work rooms for learning support. The University School's Structure and Evaluation Commission has already publicly expressed concern about the stagnation of the new school building and pointed out that the new learning space is crucial to the school's innovative concept.

Innovative approaches and the future of education

The Dresden University School is a public project that was initiated jointly by the city and the TU Dresden. Innovative teaching methods are to be researched here and students and teachers are to be trained in a practical manner. Today, students learn in an environment that no longer meets modern educational standards, which increases the pressure on everyone involved.

Scientific support is provided by the ForUS research center at TU Dresden, which monitors and evaluates the developments at the university school. In view of the identified bottlenecks in school resources and the urgency of a new building, a quick solution for the students and teachers is essential. The new school building could provide the university school with the necessary infrastructure to further develop as a school of the future and thus be able to meet new challenges in the educational sector.

For further information about the new school building and its progress, those interested can visit the official website of the TU Dresden and the website of the university school. TU Dresden reports in detail about the developments. Details about the room situation can also be found on the website University school.