A Milestone Just Before Its 75th Anniversary: Steinmühle School and Boarding School Now Operate Under One Roof

To mark the 75th anniversary of the Steinmühle next year, the school and boarding school have set a milestone: Starting January 1, 2024, both institutions will operate under one roof. To this end, Steinmühle gGmbH—a wholly owned subsidiary of the Steinmühle Marburg School Association (Schulverein Steinmühle Marburg e.V.)—will take over the business operations of Landschulheim Steinmühle GmbH & Co. KG. Dirk Konnertz, who has been managing the school association’s affairs since 2013, will also serve as managing director of the newly founded company.

The Steinmühlen Campus is large: It encompasses far more than just the buildings housing the high school, the international high school, the bilingual elementary school, the daycare center, the Forum, and two sports halls. The gGmbH will become the owner of all the land, the additional school and residential buildings, as well as the cafeteria, riding stable, and hydroelectric power plant.

 

A Win-Win Outcome After Fair Negotiations

For a year, boarding school director Olaf Bien and school director Dirk Konnertz had been negotiating the planned move in order to work out all the details by mutual agreement. “We deliberately took this time for fair negotiations in order to ultimately reach a win-win solution,” Dirk Konnertz recalls. Both sides are proud of the outcome and this historic step, which was taken shortly before the 75th anniversary of this long-established educational institution.

While the anniversary celebrations are scheduled for June 2024, the parties have already toasted the signing of the current agreement: Following a two-hour notarized presentation of the agreement’s contents by Notary Dr. Anton Schmölz, the parties signed the document. The occasion was celebrated with the second and third generations of the Buurman founding family, the board of the school association—Egon Vaupel and Gerhard Müller—senior staff members of the boarding school, and the school administration team led by Principal Björn Gemmer: “The school and the boarding school have always been in agreement regarding their educational goals, which has always allowed us to work well together at the operational level—that is, when it came to the students,” Gemmer recalls, adding: “I have great respect for the Buurman family for selling their family business to secure a positive future for Steinmühle. Emotionally, that certainly wasn’t easy.”

Further development of a modern and internationally oriented educational institution

The creation of the systemic conditions needed to implement our shared educational philosophy even more effectively through meaningful programs and offerings at Steinmühlenweg coincides with a shift in the image of German boarding schools. Located in the heart of Germany and the heart of Hesse, just outside the university city of Marburg and not far from the metropolis of Frankfurt, Steinmühle is one of the talent-oriented, modern, and internationally oriented institutions that, with their exceptionally diverse academic offerings, enable both specialization and personal development in equal measure, and at the end of students’ academic careers send young, cosmopolitan individuals out into society.

Managing Director Dirk Konnertz: “This development—made possible by our dedicated employees—can now advance even further and be secured thanks to the steps we have taken. The transformation of our Steinmühle into a sustainable educational institution for future generations now has a promising foundation.”

 

The culmination of twelve months of fair negotiations was the signing of the agreement last Friday. Front row, from left: Dr. Anton Schmölz, Dirk Konnertz, Olaf Bien, Dr. Randolf Boetzkes. Back row, from left: Anke Saß, Johanna Buurman-Rogalla, Frerich Buurman, Christiane Buurman, Gerrit Buurman, Gisela Buurman, Friedhelm Faecks, Gerhard Müller, Erwin Löber, Egon Vaupel.