It's that time of year German university students are heading back to the classroom for the start of semester after their summer break. But at the University of Bonn, as in many German universities, some students are unhappy with the standard of the buildings where they will be attending classes this fall.

"Every room I know in the main building is old-fashioned and unpractical,"Lisa Stroetmann, Masters student in Political Science in Bonn, told DWon a sunny October day as hundreds of fresh-faced "Erstis" (first years) entered the main building for their first week of classes. "It's really not good enough."

"The rooms really aren't properly equipped,"another student agreed, who didn't want to be named. "Often the seminar rooms aren't big enough for the amount of students, because they assume after the first week that people will stop showing up."

Graffiti adorns building work which masks the Electoral Palace building of the University of Bonn in front of the Hofgarten

Asbestos in the main building

The Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitt Bonn certainly looks impressive at first glance. The iconic Electoral Palace, former home of the Prince Electors of Cologne and Bonn, has been at the heart of the university since it was founded in 1818. To visitors and new students enjoying the leafy Hofgarten in front of the building on a sunny day, the yellow frontage gives an air of prestige.

However, the building itself is not original, having beenrebuilt in the 1950s after extensive bombing damage during World War II. University students at the time were required to help in the building works.According to university spokesperson Andreas Archut, it is in desperate need of renovation. Cracks run along the walls and mold and moss are growing in corners.

Weve also recently discovered asbestos in the main building, so now we have very strict regulations about building works," Archut told DW. "You're not even allowed to hammer a nail in the wall without special precaution procedures."

Asbestos, along with lead and PVC, are building materialsonce commonly used butnow considered toxic. PVC and lead have also been found in other Bonn university buildings.

Huge building works aretaking place on the front and basement garage of the building, as announced by signs covered in graffiti.But there areno plans for similar renovation work on the ground level.

Cracks and mold visible in a ceiling in the courtyard of the University of Bonn

'A permanent problem'

The University of Bonn is made up of around 200 buildings, many dating from the 1960s and 1970s. Although there are many new buildings, some of the most tired and old-fashionedcan be found at the Rmerstrae concrete complex, which houses IT and sports facilities.

"There's onebuilding at the Rmerstrasse complex which is completely unused because of PVCin the walls,"Archut told DW.

It is, however, beyond the university's control to tear down or renovate these buildings. All the university buildings are owned by BLB (Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb), a private company which rents the buildings to the university. This means that it is difficult for the university to instigate renovation projects.

The university in the city that hosts one of Germany's largest parties, Karneval, comes in tenth place. The relaxed attitude of the locals make it a popular destination with international students as does its proximity to other major European cities - it is a train ride from Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.

The university is named after German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, just in case you were wondering. Frankfurt, which is often called "Mainhattan" because of its skyscrapers, is one of the country's ethnically diverse cities, and its banking sector offers a lot of opportunities.

With 37,000 students, the University of Duisburg-Essen is one of the largest higher education institutions in Germany. The university is a result of a merger in 2003 by the Universities of Duisburg and Essen. Studying in this region puts students in Germany's most densely populated region, the Ruhr Valley.

Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany. Bearing that title makes the university one of the most attractive destinations for foreign students, not to mention the appeal of Heidelberg - a city with one of the most charming and intact old towns in Germany.

It is one of the oldest universities in Germany. With notable alumni including Otto von Bismarck, Heinrich Heine, Robert Koch and African American activist WEB Dubois, the university also has a great reputation.

Berlin isn't only popular with tourists. Students love it. Apart from being known for its high ranked engineering program, Technical University of Berlin's location in the German capital is advantageous because it the cost of living is lower than other large western European cities.

RWTH Aachen university is located in the city it's named after, which lies on the German border with Belgium and the Netherlands. As Germany's largest technical university, RWTH's motto, "Zukunft denken" (Thinking the future) , also clearly reflects the university's reputation in the country.

The Bavarian capital is also home to another world class institution - the Munich University of Technology. In 2013, just under one in five students were foreign, according to the university's figures.

Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) is in Munich, which was ranked "the world's most livable city" by Monocle magazine in 2013. It is one of Germany's oldest and most prestigious universities - 34 Nobel laureates are associated with LMU.

The Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin) was founded in 1948. Its name is a reference to West Berlin because of its status as part of the "free world" unlike its counterpart in then Soviet-occupied East Berlin, Humboldt University. FU Berlin is among the 11 institutions in the German Universities Excellence Initiative.

Author: Chiponda Chimbelu

A recent article from German newspaper Die Zeit estimates that over 1 billion ($1.1 billion) isneeded to modernize the university buildings in Bonn. Archut described this number as "an easy figure" to cite,but agreed thatit might not be far off what would be needed. "Just the main building would probably need 100 million ($110 million),"he told DW.

"Recently some money has been put into the student residences and brand new buildings, but no money has been put into renovating the older buildings, said Luca Cristodero, a fourth-year medical student. "This is especially the case with technical equipment and also the look of the buildings."

"It's really a permanent problem,"another student said. "They've always got building work going on here and it never seems to make any difference to the standard of the buildings."

A large crack in the ceiling of a University of Bonn building

'Elite'universities

As long as the buildings do their job and are safe, it can be argued that German universities do not need to update tired facades. After all, German public universities simply don't have the same kind of money as British Russell Group universities orIvy League colleges in the US.

Indeed, German universitieshave long prided themselves on removing themselves from the narrative of "elite"universities thatpervades the educational cultureof many Western countries. Unlike in the US or UK, where a name like Oxford or Harvard on a resume can make all the difference to a job application, German students often choose universities which offer courses which they want to study, or simply which are closer to home or offer other practical benefits.

Map showing the excellence intiative universities of Germany

However, this all has been slowly changing since 2006, when a federally funded program referred to as the "Excellence Initiative"began to hand out funding to German universities that made great steps in research programs or had made attempts to be promotethemselves internationally, for example in their connection with the Scottish University of St Andrews.

Infrastructure investment 'urgently needed'

Following a renewal of the fund in 2018, 11 German universities have received funding of between 10 and 15 millionto spend over the next seven years. But this money is to be invested in research at the universities and will not be spent on infrastructure.

Its great that were got funding for all these new researchprojects," Archut said. "Butwe do not want the excellent new additional staff we can now hirejust turn around and leave when they seethefacilities.This is why more investmentininfrastructure isurgently needed."

The University of Bonn was officially added to the list in July 2019, in recognition of itsgrowing international status andresearch model. Despite its infrastructure issues, Bonn remains one of the most highly ranked universities in Germany, according to the British Times Higher Education ranking.

Top 10 German universities

International university with a bright future

A 2016 Zurich study on the impact of the excellence initiative in German universities points out that the initiative is slowly seeing German universities creep up international league tables and describes the "very positive"impact of the program.

Bonn also pridesitself on becoming more international, which means that more funding comes in from international tuition fees: Germanand EU citizens pay no or very low tuition fees. However, in Bonn, the vast majority of students are from Germany, and for these students the issue of infrastructure may be more important that a university's international standing.

Proportion of German and foreign students in the University of Bonn

Archut explained that there may be a precedent, with the universities of Aachen and Bochum in Germany investing some of their money from previous excellence initiative schemes into new buildings. But for now there are no such plans in Bonn.

For now, new undergraduate students and federally-funded postgraduate researchers alike will have to continue to work and study university buildings in dire need of an upgrade, or else work out of separate buildings which the university is now renting.

With enrollment higher this year than ever before and 1,000 new researchers expected as part of the excellence initiative, the University of Bonn, just likemany German universities,may need a solution fast.

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German universities 'urgently need infrastructure investment' - DW (English)