Maternushaus

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Rear view (Tunisstrasse) with Maternussaal, left, and hotel wing, right (2010)
Archbishop's Diocesan and Cathedral Library (2009)
St. Maria and Maternus, the chapel of the Maternushaus

The Maternushaus is a conference center of the Archdiocese of Cologne , which was built from 1978 to 1983 according to a design by the Cologne architects Hans Schilling and Peter Kulka . It is located in Cologne's old town and is bounded to the west by Kardinal- Frings- Strasse 1–3, to the north by Victoriastrasse and to the east by the streets Auf dem Hunnenücken and Tunisstrasse. The name was given after Maternus, the first bishop of Cologne according to history. Opposite the Maternushaus, on the spacious area of ​​Kardinal-Frings-Strasse 8–12, at the corner of Gereonstrasse 2–12, is today's seat of the Archbishop.

Origin and architecture

After the St. Vincenz Hospital had existed in the same location from 1864 to 1978, the seven-story nurses' residence was integrated into the conference center as a hotel wing, it was necessary to use the vacated area appropriately. The central urban location, only a few minutes' walk from the cathedral and the main train station , in connection with the passing Tunisstrasse, a section of the four-lane north-south route, which is heavily used by traffic , posed particular challenges for the architects. In order to do justice to this, the noise-sensitive rooms were relocated to Kardinal-Frings-Straße. The “functional areas” are located on Tunisstrasse, including the book magazines, gastronomy, the almost windowless octagonal “Maternussaal” ( location ) and the aforementioned hotel wing ( location ), the existence of which results from the requirement to preserve part of the former hospital.

The terraced Maternushaus, staggered over three floors, opens in a semicircle to the former archbishop's park on Kardinal-Frings-Straße. The main entrance is located on the ascending square created there and on the right-hand side the house chapel , which is framed by a Japanese garden (designed by Jom Suzuki) - as a reminiscence of the partner diocese of Tokyo . The altar of the Marienkapelle comes from the Herler chapel near Haus Herl in the Cologne district of Buchheim . According to a concept by Wilhelm Nyssen, it was planned that Georg Meistermann would decorate the interior with depictions of the life of Mary.

Classic materials were used for the construction, namely brick for the walls and marble stone for the floors and wood on the ceilings . The roofing was done with red tiles and lead . A reference to historical style elements was dispensed with. At the top of the Maternussaal there is a large ball with an attached weather vane depicting an ox (artist: Paul Nagel ) - a reference to the doctor of the church and Dominican Thomas Aquinas , who studied in Cologne and because of his silence, coupled with the power of his words , was nicknamed "The mute ox of Aquino". A multi-storey underground car park was created under the nearby Börsenplatz to provide parking space . In 1985 the property was awarded the Cologne Architecture Prize.

use

In addition to its main use as a conference venue - the largest conference room, the Maternussaal, which can accommodate up to 500 people - with the attached hotel, the Maternushaus also took on the archbishop's diocesan and cathedral library , one of the largest of its kind, as well as the media center when it was completed in 1983 of the Archdiocese of Cologne and offices of the Archbishop's General Vicate .

literature

Web links

Commons : Maternushaus  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Hans Schilling: Architecture. 1945-2000.
  2. ↑ Helmut Fußbroich, Dierk Holthausen (Photography): Architectural Guide Cologne. Profane architecture after 1900.

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 40.2 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 7.1 ″  E