At the heart of the city: space for the new campus of the University of Leipzig

To begin with, the old university buildings had to be gutted and approximately 540 cubic metres of weakly-bound asbestos removed in accordance with TRGS519. Tower crane, longfront and bulldozer equipment was then used to remove the main building, the refectory and the campus of the former university complex.

In the process, various non-supporting walls were sawn out using diamond saw equipment. During the process of establishing the construction pit the subsoil for the new university building was improved using a special technique.

The main features of the new university complex are due for completion in 2009, the 600th anniversary of the founding of the University of Leipzig. The elaborate and multifunctional centrepiece is the Pauliner auditorium by Rotterdam star architect Erick van Egeraat. The building is a memorial to the university church of St. Pauli, which was dynamited in 1968.