Healthcare provision
Festive opening of first university dental hospital in Brandenburg
Brandenburg an der Havel, 28 August 2026
The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) celebrates the inauguration of the first university dental hospital in the State of Brandenburg. More than 200 guests were present - among them State Secretary for Science Tobias Dünow, head mayor of Brandenburg an der Havel Daniel Keip, as well as numerous representatives from politics, business, academia and dental associations – at the official start of the new facility in a former tram depot and power station.
State Secretary Tobias Dünow called the opening an important step for the science and healthcare location: “For now more than a decade, the MHB has been training medical and psychological professionals and thus significantly contributed to ensuring modern and regionally embedded healthcare in Brandenburg. What we are witnessing today is another important milestone: a historically impressive but dilapidated building has been turned into an ultramodern facility for patients, students, researchers and teachers. Thanks to all who were actively involved in the MHB success story under conditions that were not always favorable.”
A panel debate including MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon, clinic director Prof. Gerhard Schmalz, Julia Jockusch (professor of dental prosthetics and dental medicine for the elderly), head mayor Daniel Keip, Judith Steinhardt as student representative and Dr. Romy Ermler (president/Federal Association of Dentists) discussed the new facility and the wide range of chances it offers. Subsequent guided tours gave guests the opportunity to visit the treatment units.
The new dental hospital unites patient care, student education and research under one roof. The former power plant and listed building will be further renovated and is scheduled to comprise a total of 40 digitally equipped treatment stations. The focus at the hospital is on two main areas and polyclinics respectively: one for conservative dentistry and periodontology, and one for dental prosthetics and dental medicine for the elderly.
In his welcoming words MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon underlined the significance of this day for the university, the town and the entire State of Brandenburg. The founding mission for the MHB, so Simon, had been to break new ground in the training of physicians and psychologists. In keeping with the philosophy of Theodor Fontane that success requires courage, the new facility constitutes the next logical step to strengthen healthcare in Brandenburg on a long-term basis via specific training pathways.
MHB chancellor Dr. Gerrit Fleige spoke of the strategic advantages of Brandenburg an der Havel as the ideal location for the Brandenburg Model Curriculum in Dental Medicine which was started in 2024. In contrast to the traditional division into pre-clinical and clinical training, the MHB program has a strong practice orientation and relies on integrated instruction right from the start. Moreover, MHB selection procedures do not include the numerus clausus provision but focus on applicants’ personality and previous experience.
The chancellor described the hospital’s digital network with AI-based diagnostics as an essential tool to fight the threatening shortage of dentists in rural areas. The inauguration, so Fleige, is part of a series of courageous structural decisions with implications for Brandenburg and a targeted move to locate academic training where it brings greatest benefits to the region.
Summing up, he said the new university hospital is far more than a further component of the university: “It reflects our explicit intention to combine medical excellence with responsibility to the region, to close gaps in care provision and offer students a type of training which empowers them to proactively shape the future of our health system.”
Investments of almost 5 million Euros into infrastructural equipment are scheduled for the period up to 2027. The focus is on treatment stations, simulation technology and IT infrastructure.
The renovation of the listed industrial building, a former power plant from 1901, started late in 2022 with Florian Grotman as developer and founding professor Hans-Günter Schaller in charge of planning activities. The rental contract was concluded in February 2024, and construction was completed this summer. The plan is to renovate the adjacent boiler house and redesign the outdoor grounds.
Carla Kniestedt acted as presenter of the ceremony, and the Berlin Jazz Ensemble provided the musical program.
The hospital invites interested members of the general public to get personal impressions of the renovated historical building at Bauhofstraße 2-4 on 13 September, “Open Monument Day”, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Media contact
Dr. Eric Alexander Hoffmann
Head of Strategic Communications and University Spokesman
E-Mail: eric.hoffmann@mhb-fontane.de
Phone: +49 3391 39-14160
