Lighting projects in Aachen

Lighting projects in Aachen

Light on! in Aachen. The city provides information about lighting projects in Aachen.

Golden Schanz

Light installation: railroad underpass on the Schanz is embellished.
The "Golden Schanz" project came about by chance: after renovation and stabilization work by Deutsche Bahn, large round holes were left in the abutments of the historic bridge structure on Vaalser Straße. The idea arose to use these holes to enhance the lighting and atmosphere of the site with the consent of the railroad company. On behalf of the city of Aachen (urban renewal and urban design) and together with STAWAG, the team of architects archigraphus developed a lighting concept that makes the dreary Aachen-Schanz underpass shine in a new light.

The idea:
A strip of light above the road accentuates the joint between the two new bridge girders. The cavities of the round wall openings are closed with laser-cut gold-colored perforated sheets and illuminated from the inside at night. The cavities also serve as light showcases. The exhibition features designs by young people who have studied and familiarized themselves with the "Schanzviertel".
As part of a three-day workshop offered by the City of Aachen's museum service under the guidance of the architects, twelve motifs were created, which now make the underpass shine in new splendour and arouse curiosity, especially in the dark. After a few lighting tests, the time had come.

On the evening of March 4, 2020, it was lights on for the "Goldene Schanz".
At the signal of planning department head Frauke Burgdorff and Wilfried Ullrich, chairman of the Lichtprojekt Aachen association, and to the applause of numerous interested citizens of all ages, the new light installations made the railroad bridge on Vaalser Straße shine in new splendour.
Another formerly gloomy underpass becomes an art object. And every evening, the mysteriously illuminated panes behind the golden perforated metal sheets are a new attraction.

Königstrasse

Königstraße in Aachen connects the historic city center over the "Königshügel" with the two university centers "Klinikum" and "Campus Melaten". It is crossed by an impressive ensemble of a stone arch bridge and two steel bridges, which were completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the preceding centuries, Königstraße had a very varied significance, as via regia, the "royal road" between Flanders and the Rhine, with two boundary city gates, which today can only be perceived in the urban context, and even as a dead end, which was only reactivated in Prussian times with a customs station and new trade routes.

1870 the "Rheinisch- Westfälische Technische Hochschule", the RWTH, was founded in the neighborhood. As a result, the area developed into a sought-after residential area alongside the commercial settlements.

At the same time, the development of the railroad structures was dynamically driven forward: old railroad stations were abandoned, new routes and stations were fundamentally reorganized and built, and the crossing-free railroad crossings were also realized via Königstraße.

This resulted in the unique bridge ensemble with the connections to the west, which are still significant today in terms of infrastructure in the urban fabric and in the street space and have now been combined with the planning idea of staged lighting.

With the experienced team from archigraphus, Stadtwerke Aachen AG with Lichtprojekt Aachen e.V., the Chamber of Crafts and the DB Netz AG [West], the city of Aachen successfully implemented this project as well as the illumination already realized at the Rothe Erde station.

With the secured financing of a total of 50,000 euros (own contribution 25,000 euros), the project could be implemented within the planned period.

The new lighting was implemented using LED technology with night-time dimming (in the low-traffic period). This provides high-quality, brighter lighting with a longer service life and significantly lower annual consumption.

Further information