CHURCH YARD OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH TEMPLIN

The new Church Yard is located in the historic old town of Templin. Within the urban redevelopment programme in the historical old town of Templin several archaeological discoveries have been documented and the finds habe been restored. A selection of sites has been opened to visitors since 2017 and has become part of an archaeological tour. The redesigned church yard is the heart of this tour. Here, the former course of the Mühlenstraße and its buildings before the city fire in 1735 are presented in an abstract form.
At first, it was intended to reveal the historical paved road, which was supposed to be hidden under the lawn of the church square. However, preliminary GPR investigations did not yield any results so that only an interpretation of the old road and the former building edges could be considered.
However, during the course of the construction work archeological finds came to light despite the GPR results. The old cobblestone road emerged and traces of the fire in 1735 could be detected in the excavation layers. The planning had to be revised. Finally the lawn area was not lowered as originally planned by 30 centimeters, but by 60 centimeters to the level of the historic cobblestone paving. New seating steps provide now an inviting transition from the fountain to the redesigned square.
Now three asymmetrical, formal patches with cut yews and two basalt stone walls show the layout of the former buildings. Groundcover plantings are lined on the north side by long wooden benches. The lowered asymmetrical grass patch and the four lines of basalt stone pavements mirror the former course and the structure of the Mühlenstraße. The walkways are covered with mosaic paving stones, the edge areas are fixed with cobblestones. Towards the Church building the square is rimmed with a rose and grass planting and a row of benches divided by small leaved lime. The construction work was intensively coordinated with the Local Monuments Authorities and accompanied by archeologists. This project was financed by means of urban development funds

Photography: LA.BAR