The Marchionini student residence hall has existed since 1972 as a self-administered entity, meaning the residents themselves are responsible to a large extent for the internal life of the house. There is also a residence hall supervisor, who is mainly responsible for coordinating the coexistence internally among the residents and externally with the board and the outsourced management.
The supervisor post has been occupied by Karin Sommer since 2019. She has many years of project management and event experience in the cultural department of the City of Munich and is present on site once a week. Ms. Sommer provides support in word and deed, mediates in conflicts and internal problems, and can also support projects financially to a small extent.
Otherwise, the Marchionini residence hall has formed an administrative unit with the Studentenwohnheim Geschwister Scholl since 1972. This means that in addition to the Scholl Dormitory at Steinickeweg 7 in Schwabing, the administrative staff and the janitor also look after the Marchionini home located at Lerchenauerstrasse 41. The basis for this cooperation is the common history and the shared democratic values of both dormitories and their sponsors.
Prof. Dr. med. Alfred Marchionini was a dermatologist and full professor as well as rector of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich from 1952 to 1955. He was a "fatherly friend" and advisor to his students and was particularly committed to exchanges with French and Israeli students, respectively, in order to promote international understanding. He was also a co-founder of the Geschwister Scholl Studentenwohnheim e.V. (student residence hall).
A few years before his death, he and his wife Dr. med. Mathilde Marchionini, née Soetbeer, established a foundation. On September 8, 1959, the couple, who had no children, stipulated that both their estates should be transferred to the "Alfred and Mathilde Marchionini Foundation" for the purpose of building a student residence hall and supporting needy students. Prof. Dr. Alfred Marchionini died on April 6, 1965, only 66 years old.
Dr. Mathilde Marchionini later decreed that in the name of the foundation her first name was replaced by the first name of her father-in-law Karl, who had already died in 1926. In doing so, she wanted to honor the man from whom her husband derived his ideals. After she died in 1976, the non-profit Karl and Alfred Marchionini Foundation began its work.
Throughout their lives, the Marchionini couple were unswerving advocates of democratic ideas. Both biographies are so interesting that they have found an appropriate place with informative posters in the foyer of the residence hall. However, there is only room for a fraction of the information that has been collected about them. Those interested can get more extensive details, including archival sources, here.
The Marchionini Student Dormitory was completed shortly before the start of the 1972 Olympic Games. The architect was Werner Wirsing, who, together with his wife Grete Wirsing, also planned the student village on the Olympic grounds as well as the Geschwister Scholl student residence hall. During the Games, referees were housed, and in the fall of 1972 the first students moved in.