Purist LED Museum lighting for a special place

There are buildings whose chequered history makes it worth our while to preserve them and remember their history. The Hotel Silber in Stuttgart is one such building. The Hotel Silber almost fell victim to the wrecking balls in 2007. But a citizens' initiative, together with the city and state of Stuttgart, was able to prevent the historically significant building from having to make way for a row of shops and offices. Instead, the Hotel Silber was transformed into a place of learning and remembrance that allows its history to be experienced again.

Hotel Silber was built in the 19th century as a residential building, but was soon converted into a hotel and later a restaurant. Finally, during the Second World War, it served the National Socialists as Gestapo headquarters for Baden-Württemberg and Hohenzollern. From here, Gestapo spies were sent to Switzerland to eradicate political resistance. After the end of the war, various police authorities moved in on the instructions of the Allies, and finally the criminal investigation department in 1949.

Hotel Silber thus became a symbol of political persecution, but also of the institution of the police in different political systems. In order to do justice to this symbolic power, the office Wandel Lorch Architekten proceeded very cautiously in transforming the Hotel Silber into a memorial.

The spatial and colour concept was deliberately restrained. The lighting concept is also completely subordinate to this simple architectural language and gives precedence to the significance of the museum contents on display. Therefore, only a simple lighting solution was considered for the museum lighting of the Hotel Silber.

Visitors are welcomed in the so-called "change room", the hotel's former breakfast room, with calm lighting consisting of recessed tracks with spotlights and SL 20.3 LED batten luminaires from HADLER. The narrow batten luminaire was developed with the intention of completely receding behind the architecture and seamlessly blending in as purist LED lighting in applications such as museum lighting.

The linear lighting concept is continued on the upper floors, where tracks with spotlights are also installed. Perforated workstone panels on some windows with words such as "Denunciation" or "Prejudice" direct diffuse daylight into the rooms. Nothing is exaggerated. Nothing distracts from the stories that took place in the rooms and nothing from the feelings that the visitor experiences when looking at these stories.

Since 2018, the three floors with the permanent exhibition "Police and Persecution", seminar rooms and former prison cells can be visited. Finally, this year, the remarkable commitment and sensitive renovation of the Hotel Silber was recognised with the State Prize for Special Projects in Building Culture.

Property owner
Land Baden-Württemberg

Light planning
Wandel Lorch Architekten, Frankfurt am Main

Location
Stuttgart

Luminaire type
SL 20.3 LED


Luxsystem Steckvorrichtung LED Lichtlinie 20.3 schnelle Montage