Major project in Heidelberg: students build their own dormitory

In Heidelberg, students have realized a major project. Now the first are moving into their own dormitory – and trying out a new way of living together.

Whe wants to move into the Collegium Academicum needs strong fingers. Because things are still stuck and hooked everywhere in the new wooden building. The bed box hardly closes, the sliding doors to the rooms roll with difficulty and the wall panels, which can be pulled in front of the windows to provide shade, also require a good tug. Mirjam Hofmann doesn’t think it’s all that wild. “The wood is still warping,” says the twenty-year-old and presses a slatted frame into its frame. Meanwhile, a cordless screwdriver is humming in the next room. Around twenty young people are standing in the small apartment, a couple of boys heave a shelf through the kitchen, a young woman calls: “Nice, we made it!”

Mirjam and her fellow students actually did it: they built their own hall of residence in Heidelberg – and did everything themselves, from financing to the building contract. All they have to do is set up the furniture in the 46 shared apartments on four floors. 176 self-milled beds, cupboards and tables. And that’s why there are twenty of them standing in one apartment to explain things to each other. The student builders have put up with a lot for their 21 million euro mega project. Last but not least, they have spent their free time on the construction site over the past few months. To reduce costs. And to finally finish the construction. Because like everywhere else, there was a significant delay on this construction site thanks to Corona, a shortage of craftsmen and collapsed supply chains.