Diesterweg School and Reichwein Secondary School

These two school buildings are a clear illustration of the massive effect political changes can have on architecture in the space of only ten years. The first to be built was Diesterweg School which dates from the Weimar Republic. It is in the ‘New Building’ style: a two-storey building with an asymmetrical L-shaped ground plan. Architect Wolfgang Bornemann created a schoolhouse which was progressive and modern for its time, with bright, spacious interiors. Particularly worthy of mention are the drinking fountains inside the school, decorated with ceramic figures by sculptor Richard Horn. The second school to be built, Reichwein Secondary School, is situated opposite. It is as generously laid out as the primary school, but architecturally rather conservative, in line with the architectonic ideals of the Nazi era. The two buildings are strikingly different from one another. Whereas Diesterweg School has a flat roof, brick plinth and smooth stucco façade, Reichwein Secondary School has a more conservative hip roof, a natural-stone plinth and a rustic roughcast façade.