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(Karmeliterkirche and Karmeliterkloster)
are among the few buildings remaining
from mediaeval Frankfurt.
Today, the late-gothic church structure,
deconsecrated in the early 19th century,
serves as exhibition space for the
Archaeological Museum.
The enchanting cloister along with the
monastery's refectory and dormitory are
jointly used by the Museum and the
city's History Institute for cultural events.
Jörg Ratgeb's wall-paintings in the cloister
and the refectory are a jewel of art
history. They display the biblical story of
Salvation and the history of the Carmelite
Order and are reckoned among the
most important renaissance wall-paintings
north of the Alps.
The witty contrast between the late Gothic
of the church building and the "Romantic
Rationalism" of the adjacent administration
and functional areas, created by the architect
Josef Paul Kleihues between 1984 and 1988,
grace the Archaeological Museum with a
unique flair.
The new building picks up elements of the
monastic architecture and gives them an
altered aspect. Perhaps the most apparent
trace of this provocative dialogue is revealed
by the steel roof construction, which is
integrated into the central nave of the Church
of Our Lady.
The knowledge of what has gone before is
pre-requisite for the development of the
modern - Josef Paul Kleihues once defined his
architectural programme thus.
The Archeological Museum's new buildings vividly
display this concern to set the historic structures
of a city free, while yet re-working them.
Only this tension can enable what Kleihues
sees as the museum's main task: recollection
in the sense of active and personal experience.
Further reading
Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Frankfurt am Main.
Publisher: Magistrat der Stadt Frankfurt am Main,
Dezernat Bau, Hochbauamt. Frankfurt 1989
(Series of works by the Planning Department
about building works undertaken by the city of
Frankfurt am Main)
Das Karmeliterkloster in Frankfurt am Main.
Geschichte und Kunstdenkmäler.
Publisher: Evelyn Hils-Brockhoff
commissioned by the Offices of Culture and Leisure,
the Department of Science and Art,
and the City's History Institute.
Frankfurt am Main 1999