The Rittergutskirche Kleinliebenau is a historical monument situated on the old Via Regia. The church was mentioned for the first time in 1309. In the Middle Ages it offered shelter to the traders travelling along that road. It has been dedicated to St. Nicholas – the patron of merchants. The baroque interior, which is today almost entirely preserved, dates back to 1787. During the 1970s the church was still in use for services. In 2001 it became property of the town of Schkeuditz and in 2005 the historical building was sold to the teacher Henrik Mroska for the symbolic amount of one Euro. Already the same year the Kultur- und Pilgerverein Kleinliebenau e. V. (Cultural and Pilgrim Association Kleinliebenau) was founded with the mission to restore and preserve the sacral historical place for the generations to come. Each year an average number of 50 pilgrims (sometimes even more) make a stop off in Kleinliebenau on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The initial idea of the members of the Association was to invite artists to make artistic interventions in the church. Paying a tribute to the baroque interior of the 18th century, the mediator – the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (Museum of Contemporary Art) suggested to leave it intact and instead to bringing in the Berlin based landscape architectural studio LE BALTO and to commission them to design the garden around the building of the church.

Atelier le balto's Lustgang is made up of the following elements: A raised wooden walkway, 100 cm wide and ca. 25 cm above ground, runs around the outside of the church. As you walk along it, it provides an excellent view of the unusual structural features of the church and the characteristics of the surrounding landscape. This walkway opens up towards the graveyard. At its north-western corner, the platform is built up to provide seating accommodation for concerts and events. The pathway is flanked by hollows, up to 40 cm deep, planted with willows. These reflect the characteristic motif of the ditches which are found along the roadside in many parts of the village. The optical framing of the church by the platform and the plants accentuates the special character of the village with its church. The entrance area is paved with robust high-quality stonework, to withstand frequent usage during the popular events held by the cultural and pilgrims' association. To the south of the church, a colourful meadow with a large variety of plant species is planned. The Lustgang project starts off at the area surrounding the pilgrim church, (re)creating space for the church. The rather unfavourable position of the site (the church is situated close to a road) is thus softened, creating far more pleasant surroundings for the gatherings of pilgrims and churchgoers. The title Lustgang refers to an old term taken from landscape art, meaning a pleasant means of experience, in the same way as e.g. walking through a garden. The path is intentionally structured in order to generate and stimulate perception at various levels.

atelier le balto

Atelier le balto was founded in 2000 in Berlin. The members of the atelier are Marc Pouzol, Veronique Faucheur and Marc Vatinel. They design garden landscapes in the urban space. Fallow land and vacancies stuck between residential buildings usually represent the field of their activities. One of the leading concepts is creating a growing and constantly transforming garden, whose maintenance involves its users. "Our goal is not to define but to show the potential, to see it as a chance – also the traces of the history - and not simply to position ready-made objects. We seek the engagement and the participation of the people, listen to their needs and take the specific context into consideration."