Church of St. Klara in Nuremberg

History
The small Romanesque-Gothic church of St. Clare in Nuremberg was consecrated as early as 1274. Since then, it has served many purposes: as a monastery church, a church for Protestant preachers, and a secular building. The structure, located in the heart of the city center, offers a welcome refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for both the residents of Nuremberg and tourists, regardless of their religion or creed. The church does not have a clearly defined parish but is open to all as a “city church” (Citykirche).
During World War II, the building was severely damaged, with only the outer walls and eastern choir remaining intact. Before the last reconstruction, the church was in very poor condition and urgently needed professional intervention: it had damaged plaster, leaky windows, inadequate heating, and damp masonry that worsened the existing structure.

Renovation/Modernization
The design of the new city church by the architectural firm Brückner & Brückner consists of three parts: church, chapel, and a room for pastoral care. The side chapel also serves as an entryway to the church and a waiting area before confession, even though it does not function as a thoroughfare.
The entrance to the church has dramatically changed. Originally, you climbed three steps directly from the street into the main nave of the church. Now, the new access is barrier-free via the aforementioned small entrance chapel. To ensure safe access, the entire entrance courtyard is designed as a sloped surface. The doors to the chapel should symbolically remain wide open, which is feasible even in winter due to its sheltered location.
The entrance chapel represents a space between the bustling exterior environment and the quiet interior. This transitional space is defined by a curved wall that delineates different areas: a small entrance area, a chapel with a Madonna, and a waiting room before the pastoral care room. All these different parts provide the necessary intimacy without feeling cramped or fragmented. The curved wall consists of thin glass panels and lacquered MDF panels stacked on top of each other. Both materials significantly influence the resulting atmosphere and color of the room due to their different light permeability and reflections. The ceiling and walls have been freshly plastered, and the floor is covered with black granite. The ventilation system prevents the accumulation of soot from the votive candles.
The main access to the church leads from the entrance chapel beneath the gallery at the rear of the main nave. After the installation of a truss steel beam at the parapet, the gallery could be executed without additional supporting columns. The upper gallery is accessible via a new wooden spiral staircase. The main altar in the eastern presbytery has been breached for the sake of unifying and freeing up space for liturgy. The architects uncovered bricked-up arcades and also removed post-war interventions such as confessionals, chairs, and fixed pews. A new confessional and a storage area for chairs are now located in newly created recesses for space-saving purposes. New furniture made of solid oak has been designed by the architects to be movable and flexible to assemble depending on the event.
The color scheme of all surfaces – plaster, roof construction, lighting, furniture – falls within a light gray spectrum. As flooring and simultaneously as material for the ambon and side altar, Krensheim limestone with shell remnants (Krensheimer Muschelkalk) has been selected. The walls received a lime plaster finish. The heating elements built into the walls serve two purposes. On one hand, they regulate the temperature in the church, and on the other hand, they continuously ensure the dehumidification of the walls. The windows are double-glazed to minimize energy loss. Hand-blown glass, showing visible bubbles (Butzenscheibe), was used for the historical openings. Float glass, installed on the inner side, filters out the irregularities of the blown glass.