Debrecen4U
June 18, 2025
The external renovation of the main building of the University of Debrecen will take more than two years
After the preparatory excavations and sampling carried out last year, the renovation of the external facade of the University of Debrecen is now underway.
The works began on the eastern facade of the building, on the side facing the University Church, after which the most spectacular area, the southern facade, will be renovated, followed by the western and northern facades, with the inner courtyards and air shafts.
The main building of the University of Debrecen will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2032. The imposing building, designed by Flóris Kolb, has been under monument protection since 1987, and with the facade renovation, it will regain an appearance worthy of the university’s central building.
The main front of the facility, which is considered its symbol, is 108 meters long, 88 meters deep, and has an area of 6,200 square meters.
During the technical and aesthetic renovation, the plastered and stone facade surfaces of the building will be cleaned. The missing elements will be re-manufactured and replaced, as will the damaged and incomplete cornice parts. Rainwater will be drained from the building through horizontal, hanging gutters and gutter channels hidden in the wall. During the modernisation, the drainage system will be washed and its defects will be repaired. In addition to the facade of the main building, its surroundings will also be renovated, the washed gravel pavements, included in the original plans and still existing in many places, will be created, but the defects and shortcomings of the decorative pavement made of andesite stone blocks in front of the southern facade will also be repaired and replaced.
The modernisation works are expected to last 28 months.
This renovation does not affect the windows and doors, their replacement is part of the internal energy modernisation.
The public procurement for the renovation was won by the Budapest-based Construction and building maintenance PLC (Építő- és épületkarbantartó Zrt.) out of seven bidders. The winning company undertook the work for a gross price of HUF 678 million.
Higher education in Debrecen began in 1914 within the walls of the Reformed College, founded in 1538. Although it was also suggested that the university town should be developed around the Reformed College, the city of Debrecen eventually donated a huge area in the Great Forest to the university. First, the main building of the current Clinical Centre grew out of the ground, followed by the central building.
The plans for the Old German classicist-style building were drawn up in the 1910s by Flóris Korb, who originally dreamed of towers on the roofs of the two protruding, bastion-like parts of the building, which would have been meteorological and astronomical observation stations. The architect also designed the dome of the courtyard to be higher. However, the plans were not approved by the rectors of the time, so they were revised. Construction of the imposing main building began in the 1920s. When it was handed over, it was still planned that if there was demand and money, the main building would be expanded. The university’s main building would have been a U-shaped complex, surrounding the park and fountain on two sides. However, this never came to fruition. Instead, in the first half of the 1960s, the university campus was expanded with the addition of the chemistry building.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
