New Architecture in Germany

New archaeological site museums breath life into ancient times.

Evidence of Germany’s pre- and early history, before romanisation, is yielded from its soil. It is the archaeological sites and not the libraries or historic monuments that can tell us the story of how people lived over two thousand years ago. Museum staff have no easy job making these times visible and tangible using the found coins, fragments of pottery, weapons and jewellery. And for this reason, museums are now frequently being founded at the archaeological sites in an attempt to bring over a feeling for the location and for the surrounding landscape.

Archaeological sites speak to us

For instance in Kalkriese, near Osnabrück, where archaeological finds have led historians to suspect it was the battlefield on which the Roman governor Varus was defeated by the Teutons in 9 BC. On this site the Swiss architects Gigon and Guyer have built a highly acclaimed museum. It is designed to give the site a voice and is a real architectural treasure with a lookout tower.

The „Arche Nebra“ by Holzer Kobler Architekturen actually takes us right back to the bronze age. It is dedicated to a unique prehistoric artefact, the 3600 year old Sky Disc of Nebra and is built close to the site where the disc was found in Nebra, on the river Unstrut, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Light and atmosphere

To the south of Ingolstadt lies the small town of Manching that is of Celtic origin. In 200 BC this is where a circular rampart encompassed a remarkable area of 380 hectares. After the Celts the Romans built a major fort on this site and left many archaeological traces, most of which have not yet been explored. The Manching Archaeological Museum, built on the site in 2006 by the Munich architect Florian Fischer, is dedicated to both cultures. The words „römer“ (romans) und „kelten“ (celts) are written in large letters across the bright blue facade of the bar-shaped building, and are well visible from the A9 Munich-Nuremberg motorway that passes nearby.

The entrance is on the top floor and is accessed via a hundred meter long link crossing the former fort. The museum building rests on two plinths like a glass bridge connecting the two cultures. Inside the visitors are met by a mass of light and a sober, almost factory-like atmosphere. The architect did not want to create a mystic mood and inappropriately underscore the impact of the exhibits. Merely the gold treasure that was found in 1999 is displayed in a round floor showcase, surrounded by a floor-to-ceiling velvet curtain with effective indirect lighting.

Magical glimpse into the past

The archaeological site of a splendid prince’s tomb from the Hallstatt era was architecturally preserved in the Swabian village of Hochdorf by the architects Michael Kerker and Ekkehard Stöcker in 1990. The collection of exhibits that are displayed in several buildings are spanned by a steel bow representing the shape of the former burial mound.

Fully intact Celtic princely tombs from the slightly later La Tène period were found in 2000 in the Glauberg plateau in Hesse. The architects of kadawittfeldarchitektur have demonstrated how it is possible to afford an almost magical glimpse into the past. Boasting cultural facilities on the Glauberg hilltop, fortifications and the Celtic settlement this site is one of Europe’s most important Celtic archaeological finds and research sites.

The new museum is designed as a plain block that appears to almost slide out of the hillside as it impressively cantilevers over the slope, showing its rustic corten steel facade as a reference to the Iron Age. The sheltered space beneath the cantilever again affords a framed view into the wide-open countryside before we turn to pass through the glass panel into the foyer. Here we ascend a vast stair ramp and enter the windowless area with the exhibits. This is where the light-sensitive archaeological finds are on show. Display cases and cabinets as well as video screens are integrated in an exhibition area that extends in an architectural ribbon. When the tour reaches the front of the building it suddenly opens out into a panoramic window that solemnly looks out onto the burial mound that is presented as the perfect exhibit. There is a roof terrace that offers another panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and across the 20-hectare site of the archaeological park.