Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church), a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

in the North German

red brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

, completed in 1298, was the main church of the city of

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

. It has been transformed into a concert hall, designed by

Pekka Salminen Pekka Salminen (11 August 1937 – 30 May 2024) was a Finnish Professor of Architecture and founder and a senior partner of PES-Architects, formed in 1968, in Helsinki, Finland. He was also the founder of Unije Workshop International UWI, and ...

, which opened in 2001. It then was rededicated as the Konzertkirche (Concert Church). It is widely known for its renowned Philharmony (''Neubrandenburger Philharmonie'').

History

The Marienkirche, which had been badly damaged in the 17th and 18th centuries, was repaired and rebuilt from 1832 to 1841. In the final days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was again seriously damaged. The town of Neubrandenburg decided to convert the ruined church into a concert hall, and restored and renovated it in the 1980s and 1990s. A European architectural competition was arranged in 1996. The implemented plan is based on the winning proposal of Finnish architect Pekka Salminen.

Architecture of the concert hall

The church hall is divided by an acoustic wall (which also acts as a fire screen) into a foyer and a shoebox-shaped concert hall. The hall is implemented in the old walls as a "house within a house", keeping the historic parts visible. A suspended glass ceiling made of glass pyramids in different shapes enhances the acoustics of the hall."Projektinformation: Konzerthalle Marienkirche Neubrandenburg"
''SER Gebäudeautomation''. Retrieved 28 June 2012. The concert hall also serves other functions. Depending on the setup, it has up to 1,100 seats.

References

Literature

* Jacob Friedrich Roloff: ''Erinnerungen an Friedrich Wilhelm Buttel''. Commissionsverlag Gustav Lange, Berlin 1870 * Volker Schmidt: ''Neubrandenburg. Ein historischer Führer''. Hinstorff, Rostock 1997, , pp. 85–87.

External links

Konzertkirche
website

{{Authority control Neubrandenburg

Buildings and structures completed in 1298 Churches completed in the 1290s Neubrandenburg Mary Neubrandenburg Mary 13th-century churches in Germany