Heavy duty floor closer WAB 180 cope with heavy glass doors in Heidelberg’s Church of the Holy Spirit

Glass panels in historic church intended to reduce heating costs

The Church of the Holy Spirit, located directly on the market square, is one of the main tourist magnets in Heidelberg. It is also considered one of the most visited churches in Germany. The cornerstone was laid in 1398.

But even a landmarked church has to evolve with the times. A new heating system was installed to give visitors the opportunity to spend time in the church without being driven away by the cold during the colder months. However, to bring the large church to acceptable temperatures, it was necessary to prevent cold air from constantly flowing in from the outside because the entrance doors rarely stay closed due to the large number of visitors.

Therefore, a solution had to be found to shield the interior from the cold air but, at the same time, it could not interfere with the overall appearance of the landmark. This was achieved by installing floor to ceiling glass elements with integrated all-glass doors in the Gothic arches that lead to the nave and side aisles of the church.  This was a major challenge, as the doors had to be as inconspicuous as possible. The Ehrmann company was put in charge of this task. The glass elements of the doors were hung on vertical supports with the help of narrow cross beams.

Floor closer WAB 180 doesn’t surrender even to the heaviest doors

The doors had to be able to close on their own, so they needed an inconspicuous closing device that could handle the extremely heavy glass doors easily and without any problems.

The heavy duty floor closer WAB 180 solved this difficult requirement. Due to its special design, it can be used for doors up to 600 kg. In the Church of the Holy Spirit, stone slabs were used instead of the usual cover plates, so that the floor closer can really integrate with its environment. The lever was also invisibly integrated into the vertical support.