Sayart.net - Understated Excellence: German Maritime Museum in Stralsund Reopens After Thoughtful Renovation by Reichel Schlaier Architects

  • October 23, 2025 (Thu)

Understated Excellence: German Maritime Museum in Stralsund Reopens After Thoughtful Renovation by Reichel Schlaier Architects

Sayart / Published October 23, 2025 04:02 PM
  • -
  • +
  • print

The German Maritime Museum in Stralsund has completed a remarkable transformation that exemplifies how architectural intervention can honor historical buildings while meeting contemporary needs. After years of careful renovation and expansion by Stuttgart-based Reichel Schlaier Architects, the museum has reopened with enhanced accessibility, improved visitor circulation, and a spectacular new large aquarium, all while preserving the unique character of its medieval monastery setting.

The museum, which operates across four locations, calls the former St. Catherine's Monastery in the heart of Stralsund's old town its main home. Founded in 1951 as a municipal natural history museum, the institution gained its distinctive character from a bold 1972-74 renovation that inserted two levels into the massive Gothic nave using the West German Mero space frame system. This intervention created an intimate, somewhat compressed space that forms a unique symbiosis with the centuries-old sacred architecture and rightfully enjoys heritage protection status.

Since German reunification, the Maritime Museum has continuously evolved into both a major tourist attraction and an internationally important research institution. The opening of the Oceaneum by Behnisch Architects (2002-08) brought new visibility and contemporary appeal to the institution, extending far beyond the walls of the old town, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Wismar since 2002.

Given the St. Catherine's Monastery's status as part of the World Heritage site, the renovation and targeted expansion required exceptional care. A high-profile invited competition was launched in 2017, which Reichel Schlaier Architects won. For Elke Reichel and her partner Peter Schlaier, the victory represented both a huge surprise and a homecoming, as they had previously managed the Oceaneum construction while working at Behnisch before establishing their own practice.

While the Oceaneum at the harbor makes a bold architectural statement, the renovated main museum in St. Catherine's Monastery takes a deliberately restrained approach. The project's goals included upgrading the existing structure, improving wayfinding and accessibility throughout the complex ensemble, and constructing a new large aquarium. Reichel Schlaier reorganized the entrance area by converting a 19th-century gymnasium into a spacious forum serving as the main entrance, ticket, and cloakroom area.

From this new entrance, visitors access the completely covered small west courtyard, which now functions as the central circulation space. The architects employed a white-lacquered steel construction elegantly positioned in front of the existing brick structure, with skylights opening views toward the church's main portal. A gently sloping floor made of old granite stones, which the museum had stored for decades, mediates between the different historical levels and invites visitors to enter the soaring nave.

Within the church nave, it takes more than a second glance to recognize how and where the architects subtly modified the existing 1970s structure based on the Mero system. The original floor covering was preserved, and the Mero framework was primarily deep-cleaned. However, on the uppermost level, strategic removal created natural clarification of the spatial structure and new sight lines that make the nave's grandeur more experiential. The original railings with wire glass panels were replaced (except in one location) as they no longer met current safety requirements. The dark steel U-profiles and clear glass of the new, higher railings integrate almost perfectly, providing greater transparency while respectfully referencing late modernist design through their understated materialization.

Considerable discussion surrounded the choir floor, which sat two steps above the main nave's floor level. It was ultimately removed, revealing foundations of a predecessor building dating before 1282, which can be considered the city's oldest structural evidence. The tour route leads from the nave through the so-called Haselberg building and then via a bridge structure to the new large aquarium, which appears architecturally unspectacular inside, allowing the massive aquarium with Caribbean fish and corals to take center stage as visitors descend from the second floor to the basement.

A short corridor leads back to the historic basement vaults, which traditionally house the Maritime Museum's smaller aquariums. Here, visitors encounter a remarkable piece of late GDR architectural art: Leni Schamal's 1984 ceramic work "Look into the World," showing numerous faces that seem to peer over a wall with mischievously crooked smiles. The so-called turtle pool leads back upward through a 1990s building that was slightly expanded and more closely connected to the existing structure during the current renovation, receiving a new envelope.

All new construction elements received exterior cladding of copper sheets with traditional strip coverings. This approach keeps the largely windowless additions clearly readable between the historic brick buildings while seeking connection to the Hanseatic city's building tradition through materiality and coloring. The project demonstrates exemplary collaboration, with Museum Director Andreas Tanschus playing a crucial role. A native of Stralsund who has worked at the museum in various positions since 1991, Tanschus was instrumental in both the Oceaneum and the current project.

According to Reichel, the high standards and cooperative spirit of the museum staff were essential to the project's success. Everyone worked together to deliver a quality project despite manageable resources. Construction costs totaled approximately 51 million euros gross (cost groups 200-700) for a gross floor area of 10,500 square meters. Reichel Schlaier handled design phases 1-5, after which mo Architects Engineers from Hamburg took over. The exhibition design came from Munich-based Die Werft, while Berlin's Kaup + Wiegand provided consultation on existing structures and heritage protection.

The museum's phased reopening began in 2024, with the complete project celebrated on September 29, 2025. The renovation serves as an exemplary model for public administrators, demonstrating that good will, measured judgment, and intelligent pragmatism can produce outstanding results. This requires some courage to abandon misguided perfectionism and work creatively with existing conditions, showing that respectful intervention in historic structures can create spaces that honor the past while serving contemporary needs.

The German Maritime Museum in Stralsund has completed a remarkable transformation that exemplifies how architectural intervention can honor historical buildings while meeting contemporary needs. After years of careful renovation and expansion by Stuttgart-based Reichel Schlaier Architects, the museum has reopened with enhanced accessibility, improved visitor circulation, and a spectacular new large aquarium, all while preserving the unique character of its medieval monastery setting.

The museum, which operates across four locations, calls the former St. Catherine's Monastery in the heart of Stralsund's old town its main home. Founded in 1951 as a municipal natural history museum, the institution gained its distinctive character from a bold 1972-74 renovation that inserted two levels into the massive Gothic nave using the West German Mero space frame system. This intervention created an intimate, somewhat compressed space that forms a unique symbiosis with the centuries-old sacred architecture and rightfully enjoys heritage protection status.

Since German reunification, the Maritime Museum has continuously evolved into both a major tourist attraction and an internationally important research institution. The opening of the Oceaneum by Behnisch Architects (2002-08) brought new visibility and contemporary appeal to the institution, extending far beyond the walls of the old town, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Wismar since 2002.

Given the St. Catherine's Monastery's status as part of the World Heritage site, the renovation and targeted expansion required exceptional care. A high-profile invited competition was launched in 2017, which Reichel Schlaier Architects won. For Elke Reichel and her partner Peter Schlaier, the victory represented both a huge surprise and a homecoming, as they had previously managed the Oceaneum construction while working at Behnisch before establishing their own practice.

While the Oceaneum at the harbor makes a bold architectural statement, the renovated main museum in St. Catherine's Monastery takes a deliberately restrained approach. The project's goals included upgrading the existing structure, improving wayfinding and accessibility throughout the complex ensemble, and constructing a new large aquarium. Reichel Schlaier reorganized the entrance area by converting a 19th-century gymnasium into a spacious forum serving as the main entrance, ticket, and cloakroom area.

From this new entrance, visitors access the completely covered small west courtyard, which now functions as the central circulation space. The architects employed a white-lacquered steel construction elegantly positioned in front of the existing brick structure, with skylights opening views toward the church's main portal. A gently sloping floor made of old granite stones, which the museum had stored for decades, mediates between the different historical levels and invites visitors to enter the soaring nave.

Within the church nave, it takes more than a second glance to recognize how and where the architects subtly modified the existing 1970s structure based on the Mero system. The original floor covering was preserved, and the Mero framework was primarily deep-cleaned. However, on the uppermost level, strategic removal created natural clarification of the spatial structure and new sight lines that make the nave's grandeur more experiential. The original railings with wire glass panels were replaced (except in one location) as they no longer met current safety requirements. The dark steel U-profiles and clear glass of the new, higher railings integrate almost perfectly, providing greater transparency while respectfully referencing late modernist design through their understated materialization.

Considerable discussion surrounded the choir floor, which sat two steps above the main nave's floor level. It was ultimately removed, revealing foundations of a predecessor building dating before 1282, which can be considered the city's oldest structural evidence. The tour route leads from the nave through the so-called Haselberg building and then via a bridge structure to the new large aquarium, which appears architecturally unspectacular inside, allowing the massive aquarium with Caribbean fish and corals to take center stage as visitors descend from the second floor to the basement.

A short corridor leads back to the historic basement vaults, which traditionally house the Maritime Museum's smaller aquariums. Here, visitors encounter a remarkable piece of late GDR architectural art: Leni Schamal's 1984 ceramic work "Look into the World," showing numerous faces that seem to peer over a wall with mischievously crooked smiles. The so-called turtle pool leads back upward through a 1990s building that was slightly expanded and more closely connected to the existing structure during the current renovation, receiving a new envelope.

All new construction elements received exterior cladding of copper sheets with traditional strip coverings. This approach keeps the largely windowless additions clearly readable between the historic brick buildings while seeking connection to the Hanseatic city's building tradition through materiality and coloring. The project demonstrates exemplary collaboration, with Museum Director Andreas Tanschus playing a crucial role. A native of Stralsund who has worked at the museum in various positions since 1991, Tanschus was instrumental in both the Oceaneum and the current project.

According to Reichel, the high standards and cooperative spirit of the museum staff were essential to the project's success. Everyone worked together to deliver a quality project despite manageable resources. Construction costs totaled approximately 51 million euros gross (cost groups 200-700) for a gross floor area of 10,500 square meters. Reichel Schlaier handled design phases 1-5, after which mo Architects Engineers from Hamburg took over. The exhibition design came from Munich-based Die Werft, while Berlin's Kaup + Wiegand provided consultation on existing structures and heritage protection.

The museum's phased reopening began in 2024, with the complete project celebrated on September 29, 2025. The renovation serves as an exemplary model for public administrators, demonstrating that good will, measured judgment, and intelligent pragmatism can produce outstanding results. This requires some courage to abandon misguided perfectionism and work creatively with existing conditions, showing that respectful intervention in historic structures can create spaces that honor the past while serving contemporary needs.

WEEKLY HOTISSUE