The Hannover Regional Court permits the installation of a Markus Lüpertz church window in Hannover's famous Marktkirche.
The Hannover Regional Court has found that a church window designed by the renowned artist Markus Lüpertz can be installed in Hannover's market church (Marktkirche). (File: 18 O 74/19). The clash between an owner's interests to freely design their property and the architect's interests to maintain the original artwork is at the heart of the decision. In this case, the court follows the owner's, i.e. the Hannover church parish's line of reasoning and concludes that the installation of the window may commence.
The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder had donated the church window to the parish. It was intended to have the window installed for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2018. However, the heir of Marktkirche's architect Dieter Oesterlen sought to maintain the church's interior, which is dominated by its simplicity. The current windows are plain and light, as is the overall design. On the contrary, Lüpert's window is gloomy. It shows a barefoot figure in a white robe, apparently Martin Luther, and five black flies. In particular, the installation of the new window would significantly change the incidence of light in the church. The architect's heir regards the replacement as an unacceptable defacement to the church's interior.
The court has found that the church parish's interests outweigh the heir's interests. On the one hand, the heir's interest to maintain the church's interior are only of average weight, which is also due to the lapse of time. The court takes into account that the Lüpertz window is different from the other windows, and that its installation will change the interior's symmetry and simplicity. On the other hand, the church parish's interests to install the new window can be based on both the parish's ecclesiastical right to self-determination and religious freedom. The architect had to anticipate changes to the interior for ecclesiastical reasons from the outset. Thus, the architect's heir has to accept the encroachment. The judgment is not yet final.
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