The columbarium DIE EICHE in Lübeck

In the middle of life

It is November. A time to remember and commemorate. Time to pause for thought. This is the best opportunity to dedicate our new blog article for Lübeck ZWISCHENZEILEN to a place that is unique in the world in this form: the columbarium DIE EICHE An der Untertrave 34 in Lübeck. Perhaps you would have preferred a tip for a cozy café as a distraction from the November fog and the crises all around us. At first, the topic of memories seems so stressful. So much like: not now, not ever. I don’t really feel like it. This may well be the case. On the other hand, visiting historical cemeteries and the graves of famous people, such as lingering at Jim Morrison’s grave when visiting Paris, is nothing unusual.

I can promise you that you will leave the columbarium invigorated by fresh thoughts and new impulses. This is thanks to two committed and creative people: Peggy Morenz and Michael Angern, who at the columbarium DIE EICHE enable a new way of dealing with the great themes of life and death that have moved mankind since the beginning of time.

Die Eiche – The granary of the Mann family

There are three columbaria in Lübeck: one in the Vorwerk cemetery, one in St. Jakob’s church below the Pamir memorial chapel, where people who feel a connection to seafaring and the sea find their last home, and the DIE EICHE columbarium, which opened in May 2024 in a thoroughly historic location. The building that houses the columbarium was once the Mann family’s granary. Grain was stored here and fed to horses. It was a profitable business until the storage of grain in bulk became less important with increasing motorization, as carriages and wagons became superfluous as a means of transport. In his novel “Buddenbrooks”, Thomas Mann mentions the granary that his father, Senator Henry Mann, built in 1873.

The eye-catching seven-storey building in neo-Gothic style was one of seven storage buildings owned by the Manns. Incidentally, they all had memorable names such as Fish, Eagle and Lion. This meant that the dockers were able to find their way around. At the time of the takeover by the current owners, the building was in urgent need of renovation. After the extensive restoration and redesign, with its green shutters it is now a popular photo spot and open to the bereaved and all those who are curious or want a moment of peace and quiet.

Bright perspectives

A visit to the columbarium opens up a surprisingly bright perspective on life. Here, where time seems to flow more slowly and the light gently caresses the walls, a feeling of security is created. It is an atmosphere that invites you to indulge in your own thoughts. The interior itself is so calming: warm colors, wooden beams, soft shadows. Every corner of this place has been thought through, a space for remembering, reflecting and letting go. Peggy Morenz and Michael Angern have left nothing to chance. Years of research, conversations and professional discussions have gone into the design. No arbitrariness. This is the guiding principle of the initiators, who based the design of the premises on the special character of the building. Peggy has an unmistakable feel for colours, materials and shapes.

As an experienced product manager in the porcelain industry and designer of porcelain urns, she has developed her very own style. Michael is a trained forester and has worked as an entrepreneur in the development of software for funeral homes. There was therefore a close connection to the topic of remembrance and mourning, which is the focus of the columbarium, long before the realization of their project on the Untertrave.

Counterpoints – becoming and passing away

You enter the central hall via a small intermediate room, where a figure of the archangel Michael, the patron saint and conqueror of evil, who defeated the dragon of darkness (Lucifer) with his sword, awaits you. The celebration hall is reminiscent of a three-aisled basilica. A light installation casts a spell over you as you enter. Its warm light immediately captivates you.

Find a seat on one of the wooden benches and take in the installation by Swiss artist Madlaina Lys: 12,703 fragile-looking porcelain plates scatter the light. It’s wonderful that you can already feel it here: are these souls rising? Or perhaps soft fluffy bird feathers? I spontaneously think of little letters that fly with our thoughts to the afterlife.

The delicate floral arrangement below the light installation is also striking. Only plants with a connection to our region and the season are included in the EICHE arrangements. During my visit, these are plants that are still greeting me by the wayside in late October.

The composition is loosely arranged. This reveals details that would not be shown to advantage in a lavish flower arrangement. The restrained arrangement of the grasses and flowers radiates a soothing calm to me.

I had never heard of the house instrument in the EICHE. It is a celesta. Here, too, the decision was made after a lengthy deliberation process. As Peggy Morenz says, the celesta should have the character of a “serving” instrument – the third defining element of the celebration hall alongside the light and the flowers. So instead of an organ, a celesta was purchased, which is also known as a heavenly instrument. Peggy Morenz plays me the famous “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” . And yes: the celesta’s delicate, invigorating sound balances out the effect of the massive wooden beams that support the warehouse floors.

Fear not death, but the unfulfilled life”

Socrates, 469 BC – 399 BC

Signs of life

The urn graves are located on the two upper floors and are designed very differently. In the large hall facing the Untertrave, the water of the Trave flowing below seems to be reflected in the walls. A heavy wooden table – also adorned with a floral arrangement – invites you to sit down and put your thoughts on paper and into a letter safe. No one will read them, but your thoughts will become part of the overall composition of the EICHE.

Making sure that something stays. This is the motivation of the operating couple. Cemetery culture is undergoing profound change. Often at least a gravestone with a name remains. However, more and more people are now being buried anonymously. Peggy and Michael say that the memory of them and the life they lived, with all that it entailed, is then “as if erased”. They are concerned with preserving a cultural memory. Every person has their very own story. These stories are given space in text, image or object form in the rooms of the EICHE. Remembering in a cultural context – this is achieved in an almost magical way in the four galleries and the four libraries, which are dedicated to the themes of humanity. In front of the urn burial chambers, for example, there are small display cases in which memories can be staged.

Some of the niches are already filled with staged memorials. There have been around 40 burials since the opening in May. Each one is carefully designed and decorated with lovingly placed memories. And you immediately ask yourself: What remains? What do I want to leave behind for the world? What can I do today to ensure they are good thoughts? This is really about life. Contemplation also creates a feeling of gratitude, of a deep connection with those who have gone and with those who are still alive. The columbarium makes one’s own existence tangible and at the same time gives comfort: the thought that everything transient has its place can reach one’s own soul like a soft light.

Doors that inspire

In another area, the fronts of the urn chambers are decorated with photo motifs showing doors. The pictures by Lübeck photographer Thorsten Wulff are in black and white. Many of the pictures are still placeholders in front of free urn graves. Here, too, Peggy, Michael and I immediately start talking about the associations that the theme of “doors” evokes: the door that symbolizes change and a new beginning. The one that stands open and promises freedom. The one that protects us from the outside world. The doors through which we have not passed in our lives.

The weight of the soul

Did you know that your soul might weigh 21 grams? This is the first time I’ve heard of this theory. Michael reports that the American doctor Duncan MacDougall tried to fathom the mystery of death at the beginning of the 20th century. According to his theory, the body should become lighter if something departs from it at the moment of death. To investigate this hypothesis, MacDougall constructed a high-precision scale that was able to measure the weight of a bed and the person lying in it to within 3 grams. Accordingly, the dying lost exactly 21 grams.

For MacDougall, this was irrefutable proof: a soul really does exist and leaves the body at the moment of death – and it weighs exactly 21 grams. This theory about the weight loss of a dying person does not stand up to scientific confirmation. In the columbarium, the idea is taken up in a heart-warming way: sheep’s wool cocoons weighing exactly 21 grams are reminiscent of star children.

I would like to encourage you to pay a visit to the EICHE. I can only give you a very small impression of what awaits you here. Stories about stories. Peggy Morenz and Michael Angern want more than just mourners and the bereaved to come here. Inviting sofas and armchairs are ready for you. The carefully curated libraries await you, as do 100 thoughtfully placed original works of art, which, just like the flower arrangements and the celesta in the celebration hall, have an enriching function and are not intended to take center stage. For this reason, the creators of the works are not identified. However, you can consult a brochure about the individual works and the artists on site.

A visit is also possible as part of a concert or a reading. Currently, the play “Last Songs” by the Lübeck Theater in the columbarium DIE EICHE. Public guided tours take place every first Tuesday of the month without registration at the “Blue Hour” at 5 pm. All tours are free of charge. All information can be found on the EICHE website.

Our tour ends in front of a painting. A still life that captivates me. “Abundance” is the first word that comes to mind. Of being full and yet still having an appetite for more. Of that feeling that only evenings at the table with friends and family can create.

DIE EICHE is a place of power. A treasure in the UNESCO World Heritage Old Town. A gift that Peggy Morenz and Michael Angern have given Lübeck and all of us.

P.S. Finally, two special tips: