Apfeldorf gives fourth-graders a classroom in a wooden barn

A wooden barn is serving as a classroom for fourth-graders in Apfeldorf after rising enrolment left the local primary school short of space, BR reports. The pupils say they prefer it to the school building.

The roughly nine-by-nine-metre building stands opposite the school. “It’s just cool, such a cool barn,” one pupil said. Others praised its quieter, cosier feel and the smell of the wood.

The school has grown from 81 pupils four years ago to 111 today. Two unusually large cohorts started school in the past two years, bringing the number of classes from four to six. “We’d never had two first-grade and two second-grade classes before,” headteacher Sabine Weber said.

A community project

The idea came from Apfeldorf’s traditional costume association, which had built the timber structure at the edge of the village as a temporary rehearsal space while its own rooms were being renovated. When the association moved back into those rooms, the barn was no longer needed.

During the summer holidays, volunteers dismantled the building and reassembled it in the schoolyard, lifting the large wooden sections into place with a crane. Association member Christian Sikora said the work was done voluntarily and by skilled tradespeople, including carpenters, a construction technician and a master bricklayer.

The municipality is paying the total cost of about 10,000 to 15,000 euros. Mayor Gerhard Schmid said all required checks and documentation, including fire safety and structural stability, had been completed. A container classroom would have cost well over 100,000 euros, he said.

The barn already has heating. Association members are due to finish the insulation and refit its wooden shutters in the coming days. Weber called it “the most beautiful classroom in all of Bavaria”. One fourth-grader said she did not want to leave when she moves up to fifth grade.