The disaster is here, and it’s big. One could ponder for a long time about who is responsible for this, whether the student union is more to blame than the state government or vice versa. What is certain is that the current situation is a blow to many students in Munich: more than 1,200 places in three large dormitories in the student town of Freimann have been empty for months and they will remain unused for years to come. When does the renovation start? When will the houses be occupied again? Completely unclear.
The Munich student union may have been quite naïve in 2015 when it took over Germany’s largest student housing estate from the previous owner, the Studentenstadt association – knowing full well that the building from the 1960s and 1970s would be extensively renovated. Naïve because the state government gave no assurance that it would inject the necessary money. It’ll be fine, people apparently thought and trusted that the money would flow when it was needed. The state government, on the other hand, let the student union muddle and watched as the high-rise buildings in the Stusta became dilapidated from year to year. It’s alright, one thought. But after the terrible fire in 2021, in which a student died, one knows: Nothing works in the big houses anymore.
And now Science Minister Markus Blume from the CSU is reluctant to promise the student union the desired 24.5 million euros for the renovation of two houses. Instead, in order to strengthen the equity of the student union, he brings rent increases into play, among other things. Respect, such a proposal definitely requires political courage these days, because in view of inflation and rising energy costs, relief for many sections of the population is being discussed. And in expensive Munich, of all places, are students supposed to pay more for the halls of residence? As courageous as Blume’s idea may be, it is not social, on the contrary. Anyone who is dependent on a place in a hall of residence is not swimming in money.
There is a standstill in the already quiet ghost town of Freimann. Meanwhile, the waiting lists for a dormitory place are getting longer and longer. It’s high time that the heads of the student union and the Ministry of Science finally talked to each other and not beat about the bush. And whether Blume likes it or not, the Free State should do what sooner or later it will have to do anyway: It should guarantee the student union the millions it needs or take the restructuring into its own hands, and it should do it quickly. Every additional week that the state government lets pass costs many students dearly. Each additional week of waiting makes the great disaster in the student city even greater.