New Monastery Neuzelle

2022

The church, as the most important place of the monastery, is the building that is particularly shaped by the concept. The roof of the church slopes upwards toward the altar so that the height of the room increases towards the altar. From the low entrance area, it is possible to go towards the altar to the liberating height. But light also increases toward the altar, along with the height of the room, because the ceiling does not rest on the walls. Thus, light enters the nave through the widening gap between the ceiling and the walls. This gap becomes larger and larger in the direction of the altar so that more and more light falls into the church. The altar is thus marked as a sacred place by the peak of light there but also by the height of the room.

The curved roof, however, not only bends towards the sky. Its underside is also curved. This curvature softens the reflection of the incident light, and the indirect lighting from above does not throw an abrupt edge into the nave.

Concept diagram and Light study

The monks can enter the vestibule of the church from the monastery side. Church visitors and monks enter the church through the same entrance. Thus, all tread the path to the light, architecturally underlining that this is a path that everyone must take for themselves, again and again.

monk's room

Ground Floor

First Floor

Opposite the church, to the north, the library, the chapter room and the dining room close the courtyard. While these particularly important rooms have a double height, the eastern and western flanks are two-story, because here are the monks' rooms on the upper floor. Each of these rooms has a generous round-arched window. These pay homage to classical church windows and provide access to a personal loggia where the wall opens wider and wider to the outside. This allows the monks to step out of their rooms directly into the fresh air. It was very important to the friars in Neuzelle that their rooms be inviting and personal, which was attempted to be implemented in this way.