Brother Klaus Field Chapel

The Bruder Klaus Field Chapel near the town of Mechernich-Wachendorf was consecrated with a midday festive service on Saturday, May 19, 2007. It was designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The construction was made possible thanks to the enthusiasm of local farmers and the patronage of the married couple Scheidtweiler. The chapel is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Flue, who is referred to as "Bruder Klaus" (Brother Nicholas) in this region (canonized in 1947, patron saint of Switzerland and the most beloved saint of Zumthor's mother). From the outside, the minimalist chapel in a reddish hue resembles a concrete silo. The twelve-meter tall rough monolith, resting on a pentagonal foundation, was created from exposed concrete. The only indication that this is a sacred building is the cross placed above the triangular entrance that has been carved into the massive structure. Using formwork made from 120 spruce trunks, a single room for worship was created inside. The entire space gradually narrows and is then capped by a skylight open to the sky. People from the surrounding area worked on the construction, and as much as possible, old and proven local work methods were used. Every 24 hours, a half-meter thick layer of concrete was added. After the concrete cured, the spruce logs were set on fire and left to burn out slowly. The interior walls are blackened by fire, which smoldered here for a full two weeks. When the fire died down, nothing remained of the logs but their negative imprint in the concrete. Glass bulbs, blown using traditional methods, are mounted in the openings left by the rods that connected the formwork from the inside. The result is a magical black cavity. Upon entering through the door, the visitor is struck by a sense of oppression from the darkness, but within a few steps across the poured lead floor, the fears dissipate and light is discovered coming from a height of 12 meters above. The interior furnishings are equally simple – a plain wooden bench and a bronze head of a woman by the sculptor Hans Josephsohn resting freely on a slender pedestal.