Shooting anniversary

Winnenden's church bells rang in unison at 9:33 a.m. this Thursday, marking exactly one year since the unthinkable took place in this quaint town outside Stuttgart.

On March 11, 2009, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer stormed the Albertville Secondary School with his parents' semi-automatic pistol, killing nine students and three teachers. The boy then fled the scene, hijacking a car and killing three more people before finally taking his own life.

"Last year's event is still with us," headmistress Astrid Hahn told Deutsche Welle. Hahn expressed her desire for an anniversary of both mourning and hope, a milestone event in which the school could "remember the past but also look towards the future."

The healing process has not been easy at the school, where post-traumatic stress has become daily reality. According to psychologist Thomas Weber, coordinator of psychological treatment in Winnenden, between 60 and 70 Albertville students still receive regular psychotherapy, and three teachers have been declared unfit for work. In order to avoid further trauma, the school has moved to a temporary location for an interim of two years.

Mixed reactions

Although last year's attack rocked the town of 28,000, many Winnenders have criticized the scale of the commemorative events, which included a speech by German President Horst Koehler.

"So much has happened here, and now the memories are all being revived, and I don't think it's good," local resident Brigitte Wegmann told the Deutsche Welle.

"We're supposed to think about it, but we already think about it automatically. Every year it'll be the same, and after 50 years it'll still be a big deal. At some point they've missed the mark," she said.

Yet other residents worry that the city has not done enough to commemorate the attack. "I'm actually a bit frightened how quickly people here have forgotten the shooting," said Karin Schade, who lives a few blocks from the school. "We owe the victims' families this commemoration."

Preventing future attacks

A commission established after the attack by the school ministry in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg compiled a 85-page report recommending the hiring of more teachers, of social workers and a better understanding of the psychology of school shootings.

Schools across Germany are training teachers to recognize warning signs from potentially violent students, but headmistress Hahn and psychologist Weber have limited faith in this approach.

"If you look at the last attacks that have taken place in Germany," said Weber, "the attackers have been very different. There won't ever be absolute safety."

According to Hahn, the school has had anti-violence instruction as part of its curriculum for years. Albertville Secondary School would like to expand these efforts, but Hahn says her teachers are already overburdened.

Hahn prefers a mixed approach, including both the social education of students - which she says is an important part of a holistic education - and security measures. Unlike most schools in Germany, Albertville will have access to a 5.6 million euro ($7.6 million) renovation including a state-of-the-art alarm system and automatically bolting doors.

High security

Many Winnenders wonder if this multimillion euro budget could be better spent elsewhere. "You can't leave your kids home locked away to protect them, but you can't rebuild schools from the ground up, either," said Sylke Glass-Etzel, head of the Winnenden Schools' Parents' Association and the mother of students at another local school.

"When it costs between four and six million euros, it is questionable if there are other things that could have been prioritized, like a new gymnasium for the Winnenden schools, so that all of our children get some exercise in their day."

Another local parent, Sabine Kersten, said she is against high security in schools. "We're supposed to raise our children as free people, but if we build our schools as high-security forts, that will never be the case."

To those who experienced the attack firsthand, though, these measures are a prerequisite for re-entering their old building. "You have to keep with the times," said headmistress Hahn. "It costs a lot of money. We have to set priorities, because the need for security is valid."

The Albertville Secondary School plans to move back to its old building in September 2011.

Author: David Levitz
Editor: Rob Turner