ArchitectureWeek People and Places: KSG in Ulm, Germany

Kister Scheithauer Gross Architects and Urban Planners (KSG) designed the new 1,980-square-meter (21,300-square-foot) Weinhof Synagogue in Ulm, Germany. Photo: © Christian Richters

After 20 months of construction, a new synagogue, located in the historic center of Ulm, Germany, has been completed. The orthogonal, four-story building measures 24 by 16 meters (78 by 52 feet) and 17 meters (56 feet) high and is clad in courses of regular stone panels with a minimum number of punched openings.

Cologne-based Kister Scheithauer Gross Architects and Urban Planners (KSG) designed the 4.6-million-Euro building, which stands in the middle of the Weinhof, a short distance from the site of the former synagogue, which was destroyed during World War II.

Inside the worship space of the Weinhof Synagogue. Photo: © Christian Richters

The Weinhof Synagogue's most visually dramatic feature is a two-story stone screen that wraps around one corner at the second and third floors, shading a tall glazed walls behind which the worship space is located. The screen is composed of a regular arrangement of hexagons and triangles that form a repeating Star of David pattern.

The synagogue's orthogonal facade. Photo: © Christian Richters

While the building and many of its spaces are organized with a strict orthogonal orientation, the 125-seat worship space is focused on a diagonal along an imaginary line that points to Jerusalem.

Around, above, and below this space are arranged the synagogue's other spaces, including a foyer, Mikvah, meeting hall, school, and administrative rooms. A day care center, with an enclosed outdoor play area is located directly above the worship space.

Weinhof Synagogue site plan drawing. Image: KSG

Professor Susanne Gross, the KSG partner responsible for the project, offered some additional perspective on the building's importance to the Jewish community of Ulm:

"The synagogue and the Jewish community centre are included in one single structure. The compact cuboid is free standing in the square. This position is historical: in the Kristallnacht in 1938, the former synagogue, which was enclosed in a road-side development, was destroyed. After World War II, a secular building was constructed in the space. The synagogue and the Jewish community lost its ancestral place in the centre of Ulm. The construction of the current synagogue has opened a new site, in the middle of the square. It is as though the synagogue has taken a step forward from its former position, it has reclaimed its location. With no constructed borders, it stands abrupt and solitary on the Weinhof."

Looking out from an upper-floor window opening. Photo: © Christian Richters

The building opened to the public on December 2, 2012.

Project participants

Client: Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg statutory corporation
Hospitalstraße 36, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany
Board of directors: Barbara Traub, Susanne Jakubowski, Michael Kashi Contact: Lars Neuberger, Tel. +49-(0)711-228 36 24
Occupant: Rabbi Shneur Trebnik and the orthodox Jewish community of Ulm
General contractor: Matthäus Schmid Bauunternehmen GmbH & Co. KG, Baltringen
Project management: nps Bauprojektmanagement GmbH, Ulm