The German phrase is gemeinsamer Raum. In English it means "communal space."
It looks like any other suite in Gooch-Dillard, but it's half of a house. The Max Kade German House.
Forced to move out of their house at 581 Brandon Avenue because new fire codes caused the building to be declared unsafe, the language house has temporarily relocated to the 388 building in Dillard.
According to first-year Education student Glenn Rife, the new location has some disadvantages but also much in common with the old house.
Rife lived in the original German house during his second, third and fourth years as an undergraduate at the University.
He was a little disappointed not to get to live there again.
"It would have been a world record -- four years, an entire college career in the German House," Rife said, adding that many aspects of the language house have remained the same despite the move.
The old house had a capacity of 12 students, and this year's German house contains 11 -- five guys in one suite, six girls in the one next door.
The requirements for living in the house, which include communal meals and spending at least one hour a week in German conversation in order to earn a class credit, have also stayed the same, although meals are now held in Runk.
That particular aspect of the move does bother Rife.
"I miss the space of the house -- we have no kitchen," Rife said. "We had a big old dining room and dining room table, and now we eat at Runk. We had a living room with nice non-dorm-like sofas and cable T.V. that we didn't have to pay for. It's not a house atmosphere -- it's very much a dorm atmosphere."
Third-year College student Meredith Lowe, the language house advisor (the equivalent of a resident advisor) for the group, agreed that the house feeling is an unfortunate casualty of the move.
"Last year everyone cooked for everyone else. This year we all just meet at Runk," Lowe said. "It's harder to drop by if you have to go into a separate suite and the door might be locked."
Second-year College student Liz White also bemoaned the lack of common space.
"The German House was a big motivating factor in my decision to come to U.Va.," White said. "It's not that we don't speak enough German -- it's still a very strong program -- but it's hard that we don't have a good common area we can just hang around in."
That lack of house feeling has prompted Rife to do more of his studying elsewhere.
"Last night I had to get out of here because I didn't feel comfortable. I couldn't get my work done," Rife said.
Other amenities that the German house offered were free parking and a prime location behind Wilson and Cabell halls.
"We're [now] on the frontier of the University," Rife said. "We're the caboose of this wagon train. It's not too bad for me, but I know everyone else has become very good friends with the bus drivers."
As far as the main purpose of the house -- speaking in German -- Rife said there haven't been any problems.
"It has more to do with the people than the house," he said. "This group is really good, very involved, very active -- there's more German speaking than in other years."
Lowe, who is in her first year in the house, feels her residents are making the effort to overcome any difficulties associated with the new space.
"Eating together tries to overcome that," Lowe said. "We had Oktoberfest last weekend. It was terrific."
All three have also seen plans for solving the German house dilemma.
The house was evacuated, Rife said, because it didn't stand up to the most recent student residence fire codes.
"They didn't have to kick us out, just fix it by a certain time," Rife said. "But they had a point, it was quite a bit unsafe."
The house was closed at the end of the last school year.
A meeting to discuss the fate of the German house was held last semester with representatives including Residence Life, Housing, Accommodations and the German House.
This year, according to Lowe, the ball has been slower to get rolling, but a meeting was held last Friday which included deans, representatives of the German department and representatives of the German house.
"Also, the house is sponsored by the Max Kade Foundation and they have a financial say in whatever we do," Lowe said. "Housing and Residence Life to an extent as well."
Some house members had hoped that the current renovations on Bice, right next to the old German House, could be expanded to include the German building.
However, it would cost $500,000 to bring the house up to code, so that plan was abandoned.
Now, according to Rife, the plan is to reserve three suites in Bice for the German House and knock down the walls separating them, creating a large, connected space.
"It would hold 12 to 14 people, so the same numbers, the same location, a kitchen," Rife said. "It wouldn't be a house, but if you knock down the walls that is a pretty cavernous space."
White also feels the Bice plans are a viable possibility.
"They're talking about putting us in Bice and giving us our own kitchen and patio area," she said. "That also sounds good, but different than it was when I came to visit and saw what it was like. It's sort of a letdown."
Rife said not everyone supports the new plans for the house.
"Some people want to hold out for a house, but once I and one other surviving member leave, there won't be anyone around who actually lived in that house," Rife said.
Lowe said she knows the group would like to have further options before they make a commitment.
White said she would love to have a house if it were possible.
"There's just something about having your own house instead of being 'The German house in Gooch-Dillard' or 'The German house in Bice,'" White said. "But from a practical standpoint we all understand that they're doing what they can, especially with budget cuts and the new stadium."
Regardless of the location, White said the strength of the program will be enough of a reason for her to live in the German House again next year.
Lowe also is very pleased with her experience so far this year.
"One of the reasons I wanted to live in the German house was that after I lived in Berlin a few summers ago I missed waking up speaking German and going to bed speaking German," Lowe said. "I like being able to switch in the middle of a sentence. It's a lot of fun."
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