Mouning Chapel auf dem Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof, Berlin-Mitte, Chausseestraße 126,

Award: 1st prize of the triannual KiBa 2018 Foundation for the Preservation of Church Monuments in Germany 

The mourning chapel, was probably built around 1928 by the architect H. Becker. It is part of the garden monument ensemble of the Dorotheenstädtische cemetery. Little is known about the time it was built. Towards the end of World War II the cemetery was badly damaged in close combat. After the war, the facade and roof of the chapel were renewed, and in the 1960s the interior was radically redesigned.

Cracks pointing to static displacements required a renovation. A generous donation from a private sponsor made it possible to combine the planned thorough renovation of the building with an installation by the American artist James Turrell, thus contributing to the further development of the Dorotheenstädtische Cemetery and to a fundamental reappraisal of art in a mourning chapel used as such. Due to the bad condition of the building, the redesign, the development and the fitting of the precise glass and light elements was extraordinarily complex.

A new ramp enables barrier-free access, the equipment elements and the benches with foldable backrest and heated seats were specially designed for the chapel.

Client: Stiftung Historische Kirchhöfe und Friedhöfe in Berlin Brandenburg and Ev. Friedhofsverband Berlin Stadtmitte.

Funding: Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin, Ev. Friedhofsverband Berlin Stadtmitte, Land Berlin by the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin - Referat Gartendenkmalpflege, Verein Ausstellungshaus für christliche Kunst München, private Sponsor.

Planning: Full renovation, inventory, documentation, renovation-conversion, implementation of the art concept, furniture and equipment.

Art Concept: James Turrell, Light-planning: die Lichtplaner, Torsten Braun, Limburg

Participants: Statics: Ingenieurbüro Jockwer, TGA: Ingenieurbüro Rehberg, glass statics: Hildebrandt, acoustics: Genest  Execution light art/glass: Rudolph Siegen GmbH, realization Berlin: Alustahl Kostyra

Team NM: Johannes Bausch, Dulcineia Gomes dos Anjos, Lutz Heilmann, Yasser Almaamoun