Made in Germany
Ever since ancient times, and in virtually all religious communities throughout humankind, to endow belief with a fixed location via the erection of cult buildings has been a fundamental preoccupation of humankind. Down through the centuries, hence, magnificent enclosures transcending everyday life have come into being, places of prayer and of dialogue with God.
In 20th century Germany, the Christian arts of building have absorbed numerous fresh impulses. Conditioned by the necessity for reconstruction following the devastating destruction of World War II, as well as by the laying out of new suburbs, more new churches sprung up in West Germany after 1945 then at any previous time.
Precisely because the horrors of wartime, the reconstruction of sacred buildings destroyed during the conflict tended to assume a conspicuously memorial character.
In the 1960s, the focus shifted toward the erection of community centers. In place of emphatically solemn sacral spaces came multi-purpose ones, suitable for both divine services and for social occasions involving the congregation – from senior get-togethers to playgroups.
Even in the face of shrinking congregations, the 1990s saw a new impetus for the construction of architecturally ambitious churches. There was a noticeable return to solemn sacral spaces, often meditative in character. These attempted to compensate for the spiritual deficit suffered by western achievement-oriented societies.
Alongside the new flowering of Christian cultic buildings in Germany, recent years have also seen the construction of new Jewish community centers and synagogues. While these often take outstandingly modern architectural forms, the innovative design of sacral spaces — despite the religious diversity of contemporary Germany — plays only a limited role in other religious communities.
In recent years, German architects have developed trend-setting approaches to the conception and shaping of contemporary life. Yet far too little is known internationally about the innovative achievements and high quality of today’s German architectural scene.
The exhibition series Made in Germany – Architecture+, planned by the Goethe Institute in collaboration with AedesBerlin to go on tour worldwide, features outstanding contributions to recent German architecture.
The second exhibition of these series Made in Germany – Architecture + Religion, is presenting the enormous variety of the built project developed in Germany of recent.
The selected projects are:
- Allmann,Sattler, Wappner, München
Church of the Sacred Heart, Munic 1996-2000
- Paul Böhm, Köln
St. Theodor Church, Cologne-Vingst, 1999-2001
- Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, Hamburg
Christus Pavilion, Volkenroda, 2001
- Kister Scheithauer Gross, Köln
Church of Mary Magdalene, Freiburg im Breisgau, 2002-2004
- Peter Kulka mit Konstantin Pichler, Köln
Haus of Silence, Meschede, 1999-2001
- Prof. Andreas Meck und Stephan Köppel, München
Consegration Hall Munich-Riem, 1999-2000
- Reitermann / Sassenroth Architekten, Berlin
Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin-Mitte, 1996-2000
- Axel Schultes, Charlotte Frank, Berlin
Crematorium Baumschulenweg, Berlin-Treptow, 1996
- Wandel, Höfer, Lorch + Hirsch, Saarbrücken / Frankfurt
Synagogue, Dresden, 1998-2001
