New high schools for Berlin: Laying of the foundation stone in Hellersdorf

Berlin is not only building new elementary schools; according to the Senate Department for Education, the construction of new high schools is also progressing.

A new high school with space for 830 students is currently being built in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district east of the Gardens of the World. It will be located on Erich-Kästner-Straße and will also bear the name of the writer Erich Kästner. Berlin's Senator for Education Katharina Günther-Wünsch, State Secretary for School Construction Torsten Kühne and District Mayor Nadja Zivkovic (all CDU) are expected to attend the laying of the foundation stone on Friday. The school is to be handed over to the district for the 2025/2026 school year.

Construction work in full swing

According to the state-owned housing company Howoge, the high school and its sports facilities are being built on a 17,500-square-meter site in Hellersdorf. Construction had already begun at the beginning of the year and, according to Howoge, is running at full speed. The laying of the foundation stone is now being made up for. According to the education administration, this is the first new high school to be built in Berlin in around a quarter of a century.

Plans for new high schools in Lichtenberg and Friedrichshain

In addition to the Kästner Gymnasium, a new high school plus integrated secondary school will be built on Allee der Kosmonauten in Lichtenberg as well. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2024. In the same year, according to the Senate Department for Education, construction is scheduled to start in Friedrichshain for a new building for the Heinrich Hertz Gymnasium, which is currently at home on Rigaer Straße.

Reactivation of existing buildings: 600 additional school places

This Friday, an integrated secondary school will open on Storkower Straße in Lichtenberg after three years of construction. 600 school places have been created there. The building complex includes two interconnected preexisting buildings from the 1970s. After the basic renovation of the older buildings, a new extension was added which serves as a connecting link between the existing buildings.