subproject 2
Transformation of Sacred Space as exemplified by Hybrid Spaces in the Leipzig Area

Transformation of Sacred Space in a Secular Context: The Example of Hybrid Spaces. Field Mapping, Determining Logics, and Criteria in Leipzig

subproject 2 investigates the conversion and expansion of church buildings in the Leipzig area, thus expanding on the research on transformations of sacred space that has until now primarily focused on West German regions and undermining overly rapid and dichotomous categorizations (East-West; Protestant-Catholic) in a concrete comparison with the West German study area. The area of study includes the cities of Leipzig, Halle and Merseburg as well as a range of rural areas, two regional churches and two dioceses. In the first phase of the project, the research hypothesis of hybrid use was further profiled in an interdisciplinary discussion and a functional-descriptive concept of hybridity was developed, which enables a classification of different spatial realizations (simultaneity, separation, attachment, detachment) and will be further developed in the second phase of the project. The case studies, which expand on the field research, are based on spatial and architectural sociological insights into the interrelationship between space and actors and/or use and combine interviews, participant observations, artifact and spatial analyses as well as a review of medial perceptions. On the basis of previous research, the second phase of the project is primarily concerned with further explicating the hybridity typology with regard to prevalent spatial logics, the description of 'practices of the sacred' and the perception and description of the actors' negotiation processes. Throughout the second phase, the sacred space discourses are consistently incorporated into fundamental considerations of church theory.