Brother Klaus Field Chapel

The field chapel dedicated to Swiss Saint Nicholas von der Flüe (1417–1487), known as Brother Klaus, was commissioned by farmer Hermann-Josef Scheidtweiler and his wife Trudel and largely constructed by them, with the help of friends, acquaintances and craftsmen on one of their fields above the village.

The interior of the chapel room was formed out of 112 tree trunks, which were configured like a tent. In twentyfour working days, layer after layer of concrete, each layer 50 cm thick, was poured and rammed around the tentlike structure.



In the autumn of 2006, a special smouldering fire was kept burning for three weeks inside the log tent, after which time the tree trunks were dry and could easily be removed from the concrete shell. The chapel floor was covered with lead, which was melted on site in a crucible and manually ladled onto the floor. The bronze relief figure in the chapel is by sculptor Hans Josephsohn.

Photos by Pietro Savorelli & Walter Mair
Text: Peter Zumthor
Courtesy of The Pritzker Architecture Prize