Minster St. Johannes, Dingolfing (DEU)

With the elevation of the parish church of St. Johannes to minster status, this defining landmark of the Bavarian town of Dingolfing was granted a new ecclesiastical rank. To mark the occasion, the striking tower of St. Johannes was illuminated with a new lighting concept. Within just four weeks, South Tyrolean lighting manufacturer ewo implemented a highly precise illumination scheme for the 83-meter tower, utilizing projection technology and custom-made gobos. Ten Chameleon C210 Integral spotlights replace the previous lighting system with significantly reduced connected load, achieving energy savings of approximately 75 percent and emitting no light into the night sky. The result is a razor-sharp, glare-free staging in which the tower appears to glow from within.

With the ceremonial elevation of the parish church of St. Johannes to minster status, one of the most significant buildings in the Lower Bavarian town of Dingolfing was granted a new rank in autumn 2025. For centuries, it has shaped the cityscape. The striking brick tower with its slender spire rises prominently above the rooftops of the historic old town.

The church was built in the 15th century and is considered one of the region’s important Late Gothic sacred structures. With its designation as a minster, its historical and ecclesiastical significance has now been officially recognized. In this context, the town of Dingolfing decided to have the tower newly illuminated, aiming for a contemporary, energy-efficient, and architecturally precise solution.

Rethinking the existing lighting

The tower had previously been illuminated. Using spotlights based on outdated technology, the façade was floodlit from a distance. While this broad illumination made the structure visible at night, it lacked precision and did not respond to the tower’s vertical architecture. A significant portion of the luminous flux missed the tower’s contours and was emitted into the sky and surrounding area. At the same time, there was considerable potential for improvement in terms of energy efficiency, as conventional light sources with significantly lower efficiency compared to LEDs were still in use. With the elevation to minster status came the ambition to honour the architectural quality of the tower through a new, highly precise lighting solution.

Four weeks to implementation

The project timeline was ambitious. Only a few weeks lay between the project launch in August 2025 and completion in early October. The request reached ewo via the planning and trading company HL Lichttechnik, which was in direct coordination with the city of Dingolfing. ewo’s consultants supported the project on site from the outset.

Due to the tight schedule, the projection technology was measured and calibrated using a sample luminaire. Typically, luminaires are fully installed and aligned before final measurements are taken. In Dingolfing, this step was brought forward to enable the timely production of the custom masks for the gobos. Close coordination between the city administration, municipal utilities, HL Lichttechnik, and the ewo team ensured precise implementation within the defined timeframe.

Ten Chameleon C210 Integral GOBO spotlights in a monochrome version were installed, each with a connected load of only 51 watts. The luminaires are arranged across four positions around the church. Some were mounted on poles along the street and the square, while others were installed on short mounting masts on an adjacent roof.

Depending on the façade side, two or three spotlights illuminate a defined section of the tower. Given the tower’s exceptional vertical dimension of approximately 83 meters, multiple projections are seamlessly overlapped. The front side of the tower, facing the square, is evenly covered by three projections. The rear side ends at the church roof and therefore requires fewer overlaps.

The project’s distinctive feature lies in the precise adaptation of the projection to the tower’s geometry. After the sample luminaire had been installed and aligned, a grid gobo was used. It projected a defined cross-grid pattern onto the façade. Based on photographic documentation, the tower’s exact contours were digitally measured. On this basis, custom masks were produced, precisely following the silhouette of the building. With these final gobo masks, a razor-sharp projection was achieved, fully capturing the tower without emitting any light beyond its outline.

A tower with its own radiance

This resulted in an exceptionally precise lighting effect. No stray light spills beyond the structure, and no light reaches the night sky. The projections end exactly at the building’s edges. The tower appears to glow from within. It is precisely this almost magical effect that makes the quality of the solution immediately tangible. For observers, it is impossible to discern where the light originates. The light sources recede visually into the background, allowing the architecture to take centre stage.

Beyond this, the projection technology also makes it possible to deliberately exclude windows, portals, or other openings. In this way, interior spaces can be fully protected from unintended illumination. This option opens up new creative and functional freedoms in the façade lighting of historical buildings.

75 percent less energy with maximum precision

The energy performance underscores the strength of the new concept. The previous installation operated with a total connected load of 2,000 watts. The new solution requires just 510 watts, corresponding to energy savings of approximately 75 percent. Although the luminaires emit light upward toward the tower, no light extends beyond the defined projection area. As a result, no light is emitted into the sky. The principles of the Dark Sky approach are therefore implemented consistently. The illumination is focused exclusively on the structure itself, while the surroundings, neighbouring buildings, and natural environment remain unaffected.