Museum in Kalkriese

In 1987, the location of the legendary Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was found, where in AD 9, Hermann (Arminius), the leader of the Cherusci, defeated the Romans. A large exhibition park, with three pavilions and a museum, has now been laid out on this 30km2 site. The route taken by the Romans is marked by large iron plates; the winding paths through the forest used by the Germans are indicated by small pieces of wood; and the line of the German earth revetment is marked by iron stakes. Only a small section of the terrain was reconstructed. This lower-lying area is enclosed by sheet-steel piling. Together with the designers Ruedi Baur and Lars Müller, the architects conceived the three pavilions on a thematic basis – related to vision, hearing and questioning. The last of these creates a link to the present, with slits on one side allowing a view of the battlefield, while on the other side, video films provide information on modern warfare. Rising above everything is the almost 40-metre-high museum tower, which commands a view over the entire battlefield. The tower is penetrated by a cubic structure that contains the exhibition spaces. Steel is the dominant material used in this scheme. Like the pavilions, the museum building is clad externally with oxidized steel sheeting. The tower has an exposed steel skeleton frame; and the internal walls and ceilings are clad with non-rusting sheet steel.