The way to the buttress attachment
| During one of the annual inspections to assess and secure the stone parts, it was discovered in April 2010 that the top of buttress 13/14 South was no longer stable. As early as 1931, it was explained in detail in the annual report that the tops had been allowed to deteriorate in a controlled manner, loose parts had been removed without replacement and presumably disposed of immediately. As a result, many components and almost all of the decorative mouldings of this buttress are missing. Of the original total height of around 10.8 metres, only a 4.6-metre-high fragment remained in 2010. Structural defects, the decades of relentless removal of structural and decorative parts, but above all the less durable and no longer permanently preservable slab sandstone material from Fischbach, led to the decision to dismantle this tower and recreate it as a new creation based on the reproducible forms. Realisation Since 2012, the employees of the Münsterbauhütte and experts in monument preservation and architectural history have been working on a way to recreate this almost lost architectural element. The aim and aspiration was to do justice to both the remaining fragment and the working methods and understanding of form of our time. Modern processes, such as digital three-dimensional design and printing, or the use of contemporary stone working tools such as pneumatic hammers or even six-armed robotic milling machines, combined with traditional craftsmanship, such as modelling in clay or working the stones by hand with pommel and chisel, lead to a result that shows how something new can be developed from old knowledge. |