Archive of Martin Luther in Eisleben from Atelier ST

At the beginning of April, the reconstructed archive of the medieval reformer Martin Luther was ceremoniously opened in Eisleben, Germany. Eisleben is famous as both the birthplace and place of death of this renowned German preacher. The reconstruction of the "new unit" was carried out by a pair of architects from Leipzig, Silvia Schellenberg and Sebastian Thaut, who added a new reinforced concrete structure with a limestone façade to the garden of the historic building. The heritage-protected structure, which had been neglected for decades, naturally intertwines with the new section and cleverly combines the qualities of both parts.
While representatives of the Martin Luther Memorial Foundation wished for a completely new building for their archive and lecture room, the heritage office aimed to place it in one of the existing buildings adjacent to Luther's birthplace and baptismal font. The winning competition proposal from the ST office in 2012 managed to satisfy both of these requirements. The new section naturally follows the shape of the historic building. The internal parts were replaced with monolithic reinforced concrete walls, and the entire structure was stiffened with a concrete core. The entrance to the house is through the new section from the garden, where visitors enter a two-story foyer, from which a staircase leads to the library with the archive. The archive building from the Leipzig office ST completes the extensive reconstruction of Martin Luther's birthplace by the Berlin office Springer and the extension of the mortuary by the Stuttgart office VON M.

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