The Goethe-Institut and Max Mueller Bhavan is organising an exhibition, Made in Germany: Architecture and Religion, from July 20 to July 29 from 9 am to 6.30 pm at Max Mueller Bhavan in Indiranagar.

The exhibition is second in a series of thematic exhibitions, dealing with contemporary Germany architecture. This instalment continues the engagement with current themes, and showcases nine of Germany's most recent sacred buildings. Research has shown that innovative architectural developments in Germany in recent years have manifested themselves most particularly in the realm of Christian church building.

Germany has always possessed a rich heritage of sacred buildings from all historical epochs. The destruction of numerous cities during World War II was followed by a phase of reconstruction in church architecture after 1945. Beginning in the 1950s, a mood of new departures in sacred building manifested itself with growing force. Qualities of space and light, traditionally associated with church building, persisted as valid fundamental elements. Yet during the decades leading up to the 1990s, the architectonic concerns of designers experienced an evolution. Increasingly, they attempted to create conceptually unprecedented devotional spaces unburdened by pre-existing models drawn from the extensive and multifaceted history of sacred building. Structures that would - beyond serving liturgical functions - serve as emblems of openness toward the outside world and of the security found within the church.

The nine examples of recent German sacred architecture include Paul Bohm's parish church of St Theodore in Cologne-Vingst (1999-2001); Architect Peter Kulka’s House of Silence in Meschede (1999-2001); Allmann-Sattler-Wappner Church of the Sacred Heart in Munich (1996-2000); Prof Andreas Meck and Stephan Koppel’s Consecration Hall Cemetery Munich-Riem (1999-2000); Kister Scheithauer Gross’s, Church of Mary Magdalene Freiburg im Breisgau (2002-2004); Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank’s Crematorium Baumschulenweg in Berlin-Treptow (1992-1998); Reitermann/Sassenroth Architects’ Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin-Mitte (1996-2000); Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners’ Christus-Pavilion in Volkenroda (2001); Wandel, Hoefer, Lorch and Hirsch’s Synagogue in Dresden.

DHNS