City History Museum, Schwerin, Germany

2025

0,12 ha

3.942 m2

Landeshauptstadt Schwerin, Germany

Preselected Competition

The new City History Museum in Schwerin is conceived as a cultural treasure house that reinterprets the city’s past while strengthening the northern edge of the Schlachtermarkt as an urban meeting place within the UNESCO World Heritage ensemble. A new building is integrated with the listed structures of the historic centre, forming a coherent composition that connects city, square and museum. The design draws on the characteristic roofscape of Schwerin, translated into a distinctive double-pitched roof with a shared ridge that establishes a clear presence and frames the exhibition spaces below. Four structural walls organise the building into three spatial zones, creating a robust framework for exhibitions, learning and everyday use. Controlled daylight, material expression and varied ceiling heights generate a sequence of rooms with distinct character rather than neutral galleries. The building opens towards the Schlachtermarkt and connects to the restored courtyard ensemble, allowing museum and city to interact. Exhibition spaces, education areas, a café and public functions form a continuous sequence, shaping a contemporary civic place that brings together architecture, urban space and collective memory.