100 Years Schattner
The Eichstätter Cathedral Treasure and Diocesan Museum is opening the new season on Saturday, March 30, with an exhibition celebrating the 100th birthday of the renowned architect Karljosef Schattner. Schattner, who served as diocesan and university architect in Eichstätt from 1957 to 1992, is one of the most important architects of the 20th century. He based his international recognition on his outstanding achievements in consistent, contemporary building in the small university town. Karljosef Schattner has carried out over two dozen projects in Eichstätt, including churches and chapels, institute buildings and libraries. In addition to memorable new buildings, he also designed exemplary solutions to save dilapidated monuments for new uses. Through his principle of the “fugue” he combined historical heritage with modern formal language. “Schattner 100 – The Art of the Fugue” is also the title of the exhibition, which will be shown until October 31st.
The director of the Cathedral Treasure and Diocesan Museum Eichstätt, Dr. Claudia Grund is pleased that the new season is starting “with a hit”. Eichstätt could score points with its baroque architecture. “But Schattner succeeded in bringing Eichstätt architecturally into the modern era. He made the city internationally known." At a press conference before the exhibition opening, Wolfgang Jean Stock, architectural journalist and one of the best experts on Schattner's architecture, emphasized: "In this relatively small city, he demonstrated in an exemplary manner how productive the new building in the old environment can be.”
The exhibition features large-format black-and-white photographs of Schattner's most important buildings. They come from the architectural photographer Klaus Kinold, who maintained a long-standing friendship with Karljosef Schattner. Klaus Kinold's long-time assistant and head of the Kinold Foundation, Dagmar Zacher, selected the photos. The fact that they are now being exhibited in a Schattner building is a stroke of luck. “I'm amazed at how the photos come into their own here. It's nice to see how calming the images are in this quite expressive space." In addition, documents show the great, even European, impact and appreciation of the architect, who died in 2012. The exhibition is accompanied by a handy guide to Schattner's buildings with a foreword by architectural historian Winfried Nerdinger. The exhibition of the Eichstätter Cathedral Treasure and Diocesan Museum takes place in cooperation with the Klaus Kinold Foundation for Architecture + Photography.
Further events and activities are planned in Eichstätt over the course of the anniversary year. At the Catholic University, all university concerts in the summer semester are dedicated to the work of the former diocesan master builder in very different musical ways. The “Eichstätt Music Festival”, which is celebrating its tenth birthday in 2024, also shows how wonderfully sound and architecture fit together: On May 11th, musicians from the Frankfurt University of Music will be inviting you to concerts in the buildings of Karljosef Schattner and colleagues. In addition, a ceremony to mark Karljosef Schattner's 100th birthday will take place on June 21st at the Catholic University of Eichstätt.