New building for Department of Geography is opened

3,600 square metres of brand new space for research, teaching and student life: Kiel University’s Department of Geography has moved into its new premises. Today's official opening of the new building on Ludewig-Meyn-Straße was attended by CAU President Professor Simone Fulda, Managing Director of GMSH Frank Eisoldt, Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Education, Science and Cultural Affairs Karin Prien, Professor Frank Kempken and Professor Rainer Duttmann from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Department of Geography (Monday 6 September). The building costs, including ancillary building costs, amounted to around €21 million, while a further €800,000 were provided by Kiel University for the initial fittings and sustainability certification.

With its new building, the Department of Geography is on its way to becoming one of Germany’s most state-of-the-art geography departments in both structural terms and with regard to its research and teaching infrastructure. This will reinforce Schleswig-Holstein's position as a centre for science and research, stressed Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Education, Science and Cultural Affairs Karin Prien: “The regional government will be investing more than €500 million in Kiel University’s campus over the next ten years. The new building for the Department of Geography demonstrates how worthwhile such joint ventures between the regional government and the CAU are. Teachers and students will have an innovative building for research and teaching in which they can work with a focus on the future.”

With today’s official opening of the new building for the Department of Geography as well as parts of the Department of Computer Science and the University Computing Centre (RZ), Kiel University’s Anger grounds have now also entered a new level of development, explained Simone Fulda: “This area of the campus has been given a completely new structural identity. After being connected to the Veloroute, this new building for the Department of Geography forms the next visible step towards the development of a sustainable and accessible campus. I am delighted that we have reached this milestone together!” Kiel University is looking to achieve silver standard sustainability certification for the new building and also plans to install a photovoltaic system on the roof within the next few weeks, said Fulda.

“The architectural theme of this new building is transparency, encounters and communication. Digital work and digital communication have become the norm over the course of the coronavirus pandemic; against this backdrop, the building is developing as a place of work and learning into a space for people to meet and exchange ideas. In this way, the Department of Geography is absolutely on trend,” said Frank Eisoldt, Managing Director of GMSH, which was responsible for the construction work. The first two storeys contain modern common rooms, seminar rooms and work spaces for our students; above this are two more storeys of new office space for the Department of Geography and the laboratories are on the fifth floor.

Geography on course for the winter semester

With the move to the new building, all sub-disciplines of Geography, including Geography Didactics, are united under one roof for the first time in the Department of Geography’s recent history. There are a total of nine working groups covering the full breadth of the subject in their teaching. “As an anchor and haven of calm, this eagerly awaited new building will finally provide adequate space for teaching and research, including student workstations. It therefore represents a milestone for the Department of Geography, which is currently preparing for a semester of face-to-face teaching,” said Frank Kempken, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

“The new departmental building will be ‘home’ to more than 100 staff and research assistants,” said Rainer Duttmann, Director of the Department of Geography, delightedly. Around 1,570 students across a total of six degree programmes will also benefit from the new building, he added. According to Duttmann: “Looking ahead to the coming winter semester, we are expecting around 400 first semester students and we are so pleased that they will be able to experience face-to-face teaching in a new and modern setting!”