Schiller Library

Ich schau auf meine Finger
bewegt wird grad nichts
Rechtecke und Kästchen
in Fundament und Licht

kein Gesicht vor den Augen
ganz ruhig es ist starr
ich hab was gefunden
teile ein
und da brichts

nur die Stelle unter der Nase
eine Spur
ich lenke dagegen und
falle zurück

The poem written by Angela Mewes for the Schiller Library and its users was installed as a text installation made of iron letters on the fire wall in the main stairwell. “The fire wall becomes a giant page of a book. […] The focus is on the beauty of the letters and the experience. Moving through the space is intended to be seen as a metaphor for reading.” (Angela Mewes)

The Schiller Library, founded in 1920, is one of the oldest libraries in the Mitte district. Initially opened as a small children’s reading room and youth library, it quickly established itself and became the Schillerpark Public Library in 1936. Over the years, the library was housed at various locations in the Mitte district, most recently, from November 2006, in the former hall of the District Assembly at Wedding Town Hall at Müllerstraße 147. This building, now a listed monument, was completed in 1962 by Fritz Bornemann, the architect of the Amerika-Gedenk-Bibliothek.

With the construction of the new building on the neighbouring plot of the previous site, along the existing fire wall to the adjacent development, a central library featuring the @hugo Youth Media Floor was realised in 2015, covering a total of around 1,780 square metres (currently 300 square metres).

In connection with the extension of the Schiller Library, the Mitte District Office in Berlin organised a single-stage, closed and anonymous design competition. The jury met on 26 September 2013. The competition entry by the artist Angela Mewes won over the majority of the jury and was recommended for implementation. A gross sum of €30,000.00 was available for the realisation of the art in architecture.