European School is open to move out of Frankfurt
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fromJulia Lorenz
shut down
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George Leppert
shut down
The city of Frankfurt is examining the Kaiserlei, the Ratsweg and the Heerstraße as locations. But she hardly gets any further.
The European School no longer rules out moving away from Frankfurt. “If it becomes a different community, we will not demonstrate against it,” says the head of the school currently located on Praunheimer Weg, Ferdinand Patscheider. The facility there is bursting at the seams.
One such consideration is the futile search for a new location for the school, which has now been running for ten years. A magistrate’s report released this week offers little hope of a quick fix. Education and building department head Sylvia Weber (SPD) confirmed that the development of the Mainwasen in Sachsenhausen that was planned about two years ago is off the table. That doesn’t come as a surprise. Above all, the CDU, which is no longer part of the city government, had promoted this idea. The SPD and the Greens always had reservations. In fact, there would have been a lot of trouble with the soccer and allotment garden clubs on Gerbermühlstrasse.
Weber writes that three locations are being examined. They are not named, the parties have agreed to confidentiality. However, the areas in question are not particularly secret either. It is about an area near the Kaiserleikreisel, the fairground on the Ratsweg and an area north of the Heerstraße in Praunheim.
The school
2002 the European School was opened in Frankfurt. The offer is aimed at children whose parents work at the European Central Bank or other European institutions. The curricula are composed of the European curricula.
However the school is neither a private school nor an ECB school. Children from Frankfurt families can also visit the facility if capacity allows. jlo
But there are caveats to each of these locations. The Greens do not find a school in the commercial area at the Kaiserlei particularly attractive. Above all, however, the site is still intended for a multifunctional hall. The managing director of the Skyliners, Gunnar Wöbke, is pushing ahead with the planning. Even if he should fail: A final rejection of the project is not to be expected in the next few years. And the area on Heerstrasse has been a subject of discussion for years without the city having pursued the plans any further.
European School: Many questions on the Ratsweg
The advice way remains. Simon Witsch, SPD spokesman for planning policy in Römer, says in an interview with FR that he may be able to gain something from this solution. But Witsch also says: “There are still many unanswered questions.” Is the site big enough for the European School? And above all: Where will the city then locate the fairground? A site on the Rebstock is under discussion, which would not be central and could only be reached by tram. Are the showmen at Dippemess really happy with that?
It takes time to resolve all of these questions. And that’s exactly what the European School no longer has. When headmaster Ferdinand Patscheider stands in the foyer of the main building in the morning and sees the students running up and down stairs, he holds his breath and thinks: “If that goes well.” Because the location in the north-west city is actually only for a maximum of 900 students and student designed. However, the facility is currently being attended by 1,600 children and young people – from pre-school to high school. “We urgently need more space,” says Patscheider. The auditorium, the canteen, the library – everything is too small. In perspective, the school expects 2200 students.
Simon Witsch also says: “We’re finally finding a solution.” Especially since the city of Frankfurt has committed itself in a contract with the Federal Republic of Germany to offer the European institution an appropriate location. It is questionable whether this will happen soon. Weber writes in the magistrate’s report on the search: “The magistrate will report on the results in due course.”