The budget of the Offenbach treasurer Martin Wilhelm (SPD) for 2023 quickly shows what has absolute priority in the city: investments in schools and day-care centers.

At 90 million euros, the majority of the record investment sum of 115.7 million euros in next year's budget will go towards building, expanding and refurbishing schools and day-care centres.

This also includes the construction of a much-needed high school on the site of the former goods station, where Quarter 4.0 is to be built.

Jochen Remert

Airport editor and correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

  • Follow I follow

The project has now taken another important step forward, as the city announced: The winner of the Europe-wide realization competition has been chosen.

This also resulted in the first preliminary drafts for the new building of the high school at the Güterbahnhof, which is to have five to six classes and a three-field sports hall.

According to the city, the urgent need for additional places in secondary schools in Offenbach not only makes this additional grammar school necessary, but also the expansion of the integrated comprehensive schools in the city.

The new high school is still in the early planning stages

The extensions to the IGS Lindenfeld, Mathildenschule, Ernst-Reuter-School and Geschwister-Scholl-School are already under construction or are planned to be largely complete.

The expansion of the Edith Stein School has already been completed.

The new grammar school is different, it is still in the early stages of planning.

The realization competition was therefore initially concerned with obtaining “a preliminary draft of high quality in terms of architecture and urban planning”, as the city explains.

For this purpose, a Europe-wide realization competition for architectural offices and open space planners was held in the past few months.

The jury, made up of representatives from local politics and administration as well as experts from architecture and landscape design, met at the beginning of December.

From the seventeen works submitted, the jury chose the design by the Hess/Talhof/Kusmierz Architects and Urban Planners consortium with Burger Landscape Architects, both from Munich, as the best design.

Three other designs received awards and one work received recognition.

The next step is a negotiation process, at the end of which the order for the further planning of buildings and outdoor facilities is expected to be issued in February, as Paul-Gerhard Weiß (FDP), head of the school, planning and building department, explains.

At the same time, the award procedures for the other necessary specialist planning services would be continued.

The competition works are said to be on display for the public this January.

The city of Offenbach has yet to announce the location and period of the exhibition.