Културхале, Охтендунг

The Kulturhalle Ochtendung is a municipal multipurpose venue that entered service in September 2006 after eighteen months of construction. Its main hall is covered by a self-supporting dome approximately 32 metres in diameter. The building accommodates concerts, cultural programmes, congresses and private celebrations, with configurations for up to 1,000 people depending on the event. The hall's distinctive domed architecture and flexible layout distinguish it from a conventional fixed-seat theatre. It serves local groups as well as visiting organisers and touring performers. Between the Eifel and the Rhine, in the farming country west of Koblenz, Ochtendung keeps a Kulturhalle of the ordinary and useful kind: one large room that carries the village's carnival, its club evenings, its assemblies and, a few times a year, a concert. Touring operatic gala programmes have reached it. No ensemble is based there and no architect's name attaches to it — its value lies in being the only room in the place big enough to hold everybody.