Special "Perspective" award from the town of Hilchenbach for the "Alte Schule Dahlbruch" cooperation project

On December 17, 2025, the award ceremony for the Heimatpreis took place in the Hilchenbach town hall, where the Department of Architectural History at the University of Siegen and the Dahlbrucher Heimatverein DaHeim e. V. were awarded the special "Perspective" prize. The €500 prize was awarded for the "Alte Schule Dahlbruch" cooperation project. The aim of the project was to work with local people to develop a vision for the sustainable use of the elementary school in Dahlbruch (Hilchenbach), which was built in 1872 and has been extended several times. The current vacancy of the building prompted the local history association DaHeim e. V. and the Department of Architectural History to look for new uses. Since 2021, the former school has been the subject of various teaching formats in which the building's history has been researched, the building has been measured and student usage concepts for the school have been developed. The results of the analyses were presented as part of the two-day exhibition "150 Years of the Old Schoolhouse Dahlbruch" in February 2023, which was organized together with the local heritage association.
The school is an example of a historic building in a rural area which, although not one of the outstanding works of architectural history, has shaped local history and the townscape for generations and is therefore a valuable legacy. The history of the building, the students' findings and the exhibition were documented in the third volume of the "Frieder & Henner" series.