Contemplative Lighting St. Marien Kaiserau

Lighting design as part of a church renovation

Category: Temples & Churches

The St. Marien Kaiserau Church was inaugurated in 1911 and the interior was fundamentally renovated and rebuilt between 2022 and 2024. The architects responsible for the architecture here were Clemens & Maas Architects, which has a lot of experience with the renovation and redesign of sacred buildings.

KOBER LICHTPLANER took over the re-planning of the lighting as part of this church renovation and thus also the change from analog lighting to digital LED lights from the design to the final illumination and creation of the light scenes in the lighting control system. The aim was not only to significantly reduce energy consumption, but also to utilize the design possibilities of contemporary LED lighting in the sense of a sacred and equally contemplative lighting concept.
The lighting concept itself consists of 3 complementary perception-oriented light layers:

General lighting layer
Architectural lighting layer
Accent lighting layer

While the general lighting, also called “ambient luminescence” in the grammar of light, is provided by suspended frosted glass cylinder lights, the architectural lighting is achieved by precise uplights on the column structures and the church vault. The “Accent Light” layer is often called “focal glow” in the grammar of light. With a contrast ratio of illuminance of at least 3 to 1, it stands out clearly from general lighting, directs attention and creates hierarchies of perception. This accent lighting is achieved on the altar, pulpit, organ or various statues using stray light-free, highly shielded LED spotlights with lens technology. All lights can be individually dimmed via DALI in order to be able to program atmospheric light scenes for different uses. Overall, the new lighting contributes to a more intense experience of the church architecture and church events.