Two elementary schools in Urfahr become the “Mira Lobe School”

Actually, the merger was not planned at all, but then everything turned out differently. As the city announced today, the Menger School (VS 40) and the Auhof School (VS 51) will be merged and from 2025 housed in the then thoroughly renovated school on Aubrunnerweg. The after-school care center on Johann-Wilhelm-Klein-Strasse is also to be accommodated in the building. The merger came about in the course of talks between school management, colleges and the city of Linz. “We figured it out pretty soonss a common location makes pedagogical sense,” says Herta Keber, Director of the Menger School.

redevelopment is no longer acceptable

The trigger for the considerations was the dilapidated condition of both buildings. While the building of the VS 40 for the awakeThe number of pupils has become too small and a renovation of the school no longer seems justifiable, many rooms in the VS 51 building are empty after a private school moved out. After the renovation, the new school will offer more than 3,600 square meters of floor space on three floors for 310 children or 13 classes and seven after-school care groups. “The new space situation will also be an enormous relief for the after-school care center,” says Astrid Mittermayr, the departmental managerhead of after-school care at the Linz magistrate.

Generously designed outdoor areas

“By merging the schools, we are meeting the requirements for high-quality teaching in modern premises,” says Liproperty officer City Councilor Dietmar Prammer (SP). In addition to functionally designed interiors, the new school building will have spacious outdoor areas that offer opportunities for exercise and games as well as outdoor lessons give. The teaching staff were involved in the conception. The flexible room concept enables open learning zones, retreat areas and a comprehensive use of space. Lessons in the countryside or on the newly built, spacious balconies are then also possible. “It It was nice that we could dream first and then come up with the best solutions,” says Meike Fux, director of the Auhof School.

Container solution during the renovation

The building, which used to be the headquarters of the Auhof infantry barracks, is being renovated by the city of Linz for ten million euros. A photovoltaic system is installed on the flat roof, which generates 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and thus aalso to supply other municipal buildings in the district. The construction is an internal planning of the ILG. The start of the renovation of the school building on Aubrunnerweg is February 2024. Meanwhile, the lessons are to be continued at the previous location as part of a container solution. In autumn 2025, the two elementary schools and the after-school care center are to move into the renovated building.

Grandma in the apple tree

With the merger, a new schoole ent with a new identitystand. The namesake is the well-known children’s book author Mira Lobe. The books by the Austrian, who died in 1995, such as “The Grandma in the Apple Tree”, “The Small Town Around It” and “The Little I Am I” inspire children to this day. “Mira Lobe’s children agreed with joy and great enthusiasm,” says the municipal education director Julius Stieber. It is the first school in Austria to be named after her.