One Year After the Graz Mass Shooting: School Works Toward a New Normalcy

Education Director Elisabeth Meixner stated at the press conference that 10 June of the previous year had deeply shocked everyone and that their thoughts are often with the victims. She described the current approach as a search for a new normalcy that should not be equated with a simple return to the status quo. "Die neue Normalität statt einfacher Rückkehr zur Normalität steht im Vordergrund," Meixner said verbatim.

State Education Councillor Stefan Hermann (FPÖ) characterized the timing of the review as an explicit interim milestone. "Es gibt noch viel zu verarbeiten," he said. For the autumn, he announced an overview of measures and conclusions from the Council for Violence Prevention.

Rebuilding and Security

School Principal Liane Strohmaier described the past year as an enormous burden. "Es war ein Jahr völlig auf der Überholspur. Von der Arbeitsbelastung her, von der emotionalen Belastung her," she said. At the same time, she pointed to the growing strength within the teaching staff and emphasized: "Man entwickelt ganz viele Kräfte." However, there is not a single day without the noticeable impact of what happened.

The school leadership announced that, once renovation work is complete, all rooms of the school will be used in full again from the autumn. A memorial room is also being set up. Until then, classes are being held predominantly in rooms belonging to the technology company AVL, which had made spaces available to the school directly next to the school building. Education Director Meixner expressly thanked the List family for this support.

School operations will be moved back to the main building in several stages. Classrooms and corridor areas on the third floor are to be completed by 19 June, and the area on the second floor by 10 July. The IT facilities on the second floor as well as areas on the first floor will follow by 14 August. A security concept with structural measures has been developed, the details of which those responsible kept confidential.

Psychological Care and Support Structures

At the center of the support is a permanently stationed core team of school psychologists, who conducted more than 1,000 counseling sessions over the past year. On the anniversary itself, 16 school psychologists will accompany the school community. In addition, a coordination office for all in-school and out-of-school support services is to be set up at the Children's and Youth Ombudsman.

The steering group at the school, which coordinates the crisis process, is to be phased out over the winter and "das Steuer wieder alleinig der Schule" handed over, as Principal Strohmaier explained. Performance assessments had been suspended until autumn 2025; afterward, the students had been able to reach their previous performance levels, including with Matura papers already submitted.

Perspectives of Those Affected

From the perspective of those affected, the experience remains omnipresent. Student representative Nuno Koval reported that certain sounds in the classroom continue to immediately attract the attention of many. "Man sitzt zum Beispiel in der Klasse und hört ein Geräusch, das nicht sofort zu identifizieren ist, und wird sofort hellhörig," he said. Such thought patterns have become ingrained in many.

The parents' association has been working for a year on accompanying the families. Chairman Mirza Candic said that for many, it had not been easy to return to everyday school life, "aber es ist recht gut gelungen." A mother described the extraordinary situation in the ORF documentary, from waiting for her son after the shooting, and spoke of a "Schutzmantel" after receiving the news of his death.

On the anniversary itself, a small memorial ceremony is planned at the school. ORF is accompanying the process of coming to terms with the tragedy in the documentary "Amoklauf in Graz – das Leben danach," in which Monica Lucia Müller speaks with those affected and emergency services about how life can go on. The program was broadcast on Monday at 20:15 on ORF 2 and is available on ORF On.

Crisis intervention expert Heidrun Nedom, who leads the steering group at the school, emphasized that grieving is an active process: "Trauern bedeutet nicht vergessen, sondern erinnern." The differing needs of those affected surrounding the anniversary will be respected.