Medieval Jewish Quarter Cologne

The Digital Design Unit is currently working on a virtual reconstruction of the medieval Jewish quarter and synagogue for the MiQua museum, currently under construction in the heart of the Rhine metropolis. Since the future exhibition area was not accessible for a long time during the construction work, the city of Cologne decided to commission a model of the findings that would provide the planning exhibition office with a basis for the conception of the museum exhibition areas. A virtual model was created on the basis of scans and of the excavation documentation of the city archaeology in Cologne, which was then printed out in sections using the rapid prototyping method on a scale of 1:100 and assembled. The virtual model with the excavated cellar ground plans and cellar walls of the quarter was also used as a basis for the virtual reconstruction of the rising walls. With the knowledge of a hypothetical reconstruction of the above-ground on the one hand and the visitors' need for clarity on the other, the Jewish quarter with the community facilities was presented in an overview from a bird's-eye view in a black-and-white representation, which was given a comic-like look through emphasized geometric edges. This was intended to emphasize the “reconstructive” dimension of the model. In addition, there are camera shots from the pedestrian perspective, in which the reconstruction is atmospheric and a large number of details have been recreated according to medieval models. This includes stone plinths, stairs, doors, windows, shutters, roof coverings or roof drainage.