Second translocation in Söhnstetten on a good way. Reconstruction of the old school building on the HBO site at Gerstetter Berg progresses.
In the summer of 2014, the old school building in Steinheim, a neighbouring village of Söhnstetten, which at first sight seems rather unattractive to a non-expert, was to be demolished. We thought (once again) that the building was much too bad to be demolished. So the time had come for us to tackle our second big translocation.
Our first translocation brought us our present domicile, the former carpenter's workshop of the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke, where we have been exhibiting our treasures on 1100 m² for six years now. At that time, apart from the boss and a long-standing employee, no one really believed in the success of the campaign. Now the number of skeptics had become much smaller.
The school had been built in 1850, but soon it was too small and used for other purposes. After the war, refugees from Russia were quartered there, which is why the locals soon called the building "the Russian School". Under this name it is still known today and its journey from one place to another was followed with interest.
In the autumn of 2014, six men started and dismantled the school building within six days. Here, too, we proceeded as with the old carpenter's workshop: where it was possible, whole segments of the walls were loaded "in one piece" and transported to us. Of course, all components were carefully numbered and sorted, so that no puzzle game was waiting for us at the new location.
The individual parts were first stored at our premises on the HBO site. The foundation was laid in March 2015 and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in May. The construction and expansion runs alongside our "normal" business and therefore has to wait again and again. At the moment we are bricking in the outer walls and in bad weather we are finishing the interior. The school should not simply become another storeroom, but should have its own use. What exactly? There are a lot of ideas, but all of them are not yet ready for decision and some of them have to be discussed with the mayor, the trade office or the building authority. The curriculum vitae of the Russian school remains exciting.
And where we are with translocation - the third may already be in the starting blocks. This time it is a barn from the Laichinger Alb with a very own cubature, which has done it to us. We will recover it in any case and store it until a new home is found for it.
