A Special Place: The (his)story of Germany’s first United World College

With the groundbreaking ceremony on 23 September 2011 on the occasion Robert Bosch’s 150th anniversary, the construction and renovation works begin at Freiburg’s Charterhouse. Together, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Bosch GmbH invest around 44 million euros in the foundation’s largest single project to date and transform an old monastery into a school: Through the realization of UWC Robert Bosch College as Germany’s first and only United World College, a dream of many UWC alumni comes true.

The Freiburg Charterhouse, which was built in 1346 above the Dreisam and received a new, stately building by the monks between 1753 and 1756 a new, is in a dilapidated state at the time of the renovation. The Freiburg-based architects Hotz+architekten are commissioned to extensively renovate the historic and listed building and to add a newly built canteen and auditorium, while the Cologne architect Peter Kulka designs the residential cubes on the hill. Today, new and old together form an ensemble that has become an integral part of Freiburg.

In August 2014, the 104 students of the pioneer generation shape an idea into life: Together with employees from the very beginning and inspired of Kurt Hahn’s experiential education and the impulses of our founding rector Laurence Nodder, they work on the creation of a community. On September 23, 2014, the school opens in the presence of many guests and supporters of project on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Robert Bosch Foundation.