Columbarium, Berlin

The columbarium is a historic urn hall at the Third Municipal Cemetery in Tempelhof-Schöneberg, built around 1916. A cemetery in the heart of Berlin is always both a final resting place and a green recreational space. There is no reverent silence here: visitors chat or eat their lunch, and you can hear children playing at the nearby school. At the same time, the cemetery and columbarium are special and spiritual places when memorial services and burials take place. The goal of the renovation is therefore to create a calm, understated atmosphere and to foster the serene mood inherent to the cemetery and columbarium. The building shows signs of damage—in some cases severe—on both the facade and roofs as well as inside. All interior surfaces, as well as the facades and roofs, will be renovated, and the original roof structure—featuring bat-wing dormers and muted-colored tiles—will be restored. To enhance the atmosphere, particularly in the basement, a new lighting concept will be developed. All rooms will be wheelchair accessible in the future. Other minor improvements, such as the installation of seating, are also intended to contribute to the enhancement of the space.