42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg: a tale of twin cities
Discover two campuses: 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg, two of our three German locations at the moment, who share more than a country together.
42 Wolfsburg was the first of the two campuses, born during the pandemic in 2020 and opened in 2021. The first Piscines were exceptionally 100% remote, thanks to the help of other campuses in the network. 42 Berlin started one year later and has started the selection of its first students. In both campuses, the student capacity is set at 600.
The main sponsor of 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg is Volkswagen, the automotive leader. 42 Wolfsburg was also able to win the hearts of Microsoft, Google, Redhat, VMWare, and many others, to both provide additional learning opportunities and fundings. Thanks to this first success, others have joined 42 Berlin like SAP, T-Systems, Bayer and Capgemini.
“More than 88.000 jobs are open in software engineering in Germany at the moment. Our Alumni won’t have to look long for an opportunity: they are everywhere. In fact, our industry partners are already actively competing for our students in 42 Wolfsburg, and will be doing so too in 42 Berlin soon! We also have opportunities for those who are more interested in NGOs or wish to join or create a startup.”
Max Senges, Headmaster and CEO of 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is a nice, mid-sized German city in Lower Saxony that has close access to natural reserves like the Harz. It’s all about automotive and mobility, and a great place for students who want to work in the next generation of mobility software architectures. Berlin is, as Max Senges points out, more the “Gotham City of Germany”: rough, mysterious, with a lot of complexities and very international.
“Berlin and Wolfsburg are a bit more than an hour apart from each other via train. Wolfsburg has a big focus on mobility and people who want to be part of a close-knit community, whereas Berlin is a place for more liberal characters who want to explore the many opportunities that the capital has to offer.”
Max Senges, Headmaster and CEO of 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg
The “LearningSpaceShip” of 42 Wolfsburg had landed in a former market hall, located in the center of the town, with high ceilings and a lot of open spaces. The one at Berlin found its home in a historic world leading film post-production company headquarter. Both campuses were inspired by the others in the network, like 42 in Paris and Codam (Amsterdam). Black and white walls and fixtures are mixed with more colorful ones, as well as street art. Communal spaces like kitchens, italian espresso machines and gaming zones help achieve a relaxed atmosphere.
“In both 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg, we have FabLabs, oriented towards learning, research and innovation. We are focusing on peer-producing “programmable objects”. For example we do projects with drones which show a dedication to software engineering and mobility ecosystems. We are also developing a 42 specialization in automotive and mobility. It has 3 modules: (1) how to “code a car”, (2) to understand autonomous driving and (3) developing for mobility ecosystems. Digitization of mobility is set to provide the biggest improvements for driver safety. The goal is close to zero accidents. Open Standards and Open Source are the enablers here and fields I personally care deeply about. Having worked for more than a decade with Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet and co-developer of TCP-IP, I am convinced interoperability and open innovation are essential. Our students will think of cars as part of a global multimodal mobility ecosystem, including all sorts of transportation, like scooters, drones and buses, that have to interact with traffic management and speak to each other to cooperate. We are really eager to become a hotspot in Wolfsburg and Berlin in this field.”
Max Senges, Headmaster and CEO of 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg
“Come and study at 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg! I previously had access to the Vogon Intergalactic Highway Planning and I know for a fact that our campuses will be rescued in the soon to come evaporation of Earth!”
Max Senges, Headmaster and CEO of 42 Berlin and 42 Wolfsburg
