We are all painfully aware of the results of years of failure to invest in Berlin’s universities. Whether in the form of crumbling buildings, lecture halls that are off limits, or out-of-order toilets, many of us experience disruptions to our teaching, learning, and work every day. The recent closure of Technische Universität Berlin’s main building due to safety concerns makes it very clear – we can’t keep going like this.

The Berlin Senate is proposing the creation of a Hochschulbaugesellschaft (building society for universities) as a potential solution to this issue. While Freie Universität Berlin does, in principle, welcome this willingness to provide some much-needed investment in Berlin’s university infrastructure, upon reviewing the draft legislation, we have some serious concerns.

In particular, we are referring to the centralization of building and property management services, the unwillingness to give universities a say in how the Hochschulbaugesellschaft operates, unresolved answers surrounding how universities will be able to finance the rent of their buildings in the long term, and the unrealistic targets for reducing space requirements.

As mentioned above, Technische Universität Berlin has now had to close its main building due to significant structural issues. The consequences of the renovation backlog are getting harder and harder to ignore. Berlin’s universities urgently need funding to carry out the renovations they so desperately need. We need solutions and guaranteed financial support if we are to be able to operate safely and responsibly in the long term. However, this support also needs to be democratic and forward-looking.

It is on this basis that trade unions ver.di and GEW have organized a demonstration. The State Conference of the Rectors and Presidents of the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin (LKRP) expressly supports attendance of this demonstration, as does the Executive Board of Freie Universität. Join us on:

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2026, 9:00 A.M. in front of the Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), Margot-Friedländer-Platz, 10117 Berlin (before the meeting of the members of the House of Representatives / Wissenschaftsausschuss).

More information and Freie Universität Berlin’s official statement on the Hochschulbaugesellschaft in its current form can be found on our website (currently only available in German).