Hildesheim | St. George Church

Uncovered ceiling painting
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The Roman Catholic Church of St. Georg is located in Itzum, a district of Hildesheim. The current hall church dates from 1821 and was expanded in 1896 to include the square bell tower. The built-in artificial light has gotten old over time. Parts of the lighting kept failing. As a result, more and more community members complained that the lighting was too dark, so that in 2019 it was decided to refurbish the artificial light.

In addition to light for actually seeing, light in religious buildings is primarily needed to create a sacred and devout atmosphere. The architectural space must also be easy to experience and read. For example, a new lighting system was created in the St. Georg Church in Itzum, which makes the church space tangible and at the same time ensures all the requirements for visual tasks, such as reading hymn books or recognizing the facial expressions and gestures of the speakers. Particular attention was paid to the ceiling of the nave. Compared to the old lighting, the lavishly painted ceiling was hardly noticeable in the room beforehand. Cleverly hidden cove lighting and a directed section of the pendant lights upwards, the ceiling shines in a new light and optically opens the church space upwards.

The installed pendant lights act as a multifunctional lighting tool. Three different, independently controllable light modules are combined in the luminaire and ideally illuminate the church interior. In addition to the indirect component for illuminating the ceiling, this includes a diffuse light source that generates room light as well as a component directed downwards, which enables comfortable reading in the rows of seats. In addition to directional lighting for the chancel in the form of track spotlights, the backlit tabernacle is another eye-catcher in the design. The tabernacle stands out from the wall through diffuse lights and begins to float optically. This image is supported by shadows that resemble angel wings.

The concept is rounded off by line-shaped wall lights that stage the walls of the nave with grazing light and with their structural shape support the aspiring gestures of the nave. All planned lights are dimmable. As a result, a large number of light scenes can be implemented, which are tailored to the respective use and represent a tailor-made lighting solution for the St. Georg Church.