David Altrath Photographs the Timber Heart of Germany's Motorway Chapel

Photographer David Altrath has trained his lens on the Autobahnkirche Siegerland, a roadside chapel by schneider+schumacher that stands beside the A45 motorway near Wilnsdorf, Germany. His series traces the building's shift from a stark white exterior to a warm, intricate timber interior — and gives the 2013 chapel a fresh reading through material and light.

The chapel's exterior translates the familiar pictogram of a church into three-dimensional architectural form. Two pointed spires rise above a folded white volume, cutting a sharp silhouette against the overcast sky. Altrath photographs this outline from both close and distant perspectives, isolating its edges, sloping planes and openings against the surrounding landscape. A long, sloping access ramp extends the white volume outward, and a raised walkway leads visitors toward the entrance between angular white walls.

The Frankfurt-based practice designed the chapel as a place for travelers to pause beside the motorway. Completed in 2013, the building serves drivers on one of Germany's busiest routes.

Inside, the series shifts toward structure. A vaulted gridshell made from 66 engineered lumber profiles curves continuously across the walls and ceiling, forming a dense geometric pattern. Altrath frames sections of the structure rather than the interior as a single whole, drawing attention to the repetition of the timber ribs. Curved ribs intersect to form sculptural openings within the chapel. The vault curves around the central nave and altar, framing a white altar wall and its cross.

Daylight plays a central role in the images. Small openings across the roof introduce points and strips of natural light, while larger rectangular skylights set within the spires illuminate the chapel from above. The light picks out individual timber panels and creates shifting patterns across the curved surface.

Altrath's photographs also record the chapel's quieter details: timber stools arranged beneath the vaulted ceiling, candles lining a simple altar, and linear candle shelves that follow the curve of the timber wall. A small publication display integrates directly into the structure.

Taken together, the images present the Autobahnkirche as a study in geometry, material and light. By moving between its graphic exterior and enveloping timber interior, the series documents the chapel through the architectural details that become most visible when the building is experienced at a slower pace — an apt counterpoint to the motorway it serves.

Project info

• Name: Autobahnkirche Siegerland
• Photographer: David Altrath
• Architect: schneider+schumacher
• Location: Wilnsdorf, Germany