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Osram to bathe St. Peter's Basilica in LED light: digital lighting innovation and history together

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Munich, October 30, 2017

Osram to bathe St. Peter's Basilica in LED light: digital lighting innovation and history together

Osram and the Technical Services Department of the office of the Vatican City State Governor are combining to undertake the new lighting program for St Peter's Basilica.

Saint Peter's is the largest church in the world and the center of Catholicism. The Governorate of the Vatican City State and the office of the Fabric of Saint Peter have chosen Osram LED technology to renew the interior lighting of the Basilica. The new lighting will illuminate the interior in all its magnificence, power and architec- tural complexity. These innovative LED fittings will create a unique experience, sim- ilar to that provided by the illuminations installed in the Sistine Chapel in 2014, while giving energy savings of around 85%.

The Osram lighting systems have proved their value already with the illuminations in the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael rooms and also in St. Peter's Square . In the case of St. Pe- ter’s Basilica, this lighting project will combine the professional skills of the Technical Services Departments of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and OSRAM's ad- vanced digital lighting technology. “We won worldwide recognition for the cutting-edge LED lighting system we installed in the Sistine Chapel, ” said Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG. “We are very excited about this new opportunity to demon strate our skills as a provider of complex, large-scale lighting solutions by conducting the lighting project in St. Peter's Basilica.”

St. Peter’s Basilica can hold a congregation of 20, 000 people, and is around 190 meters long, the three naves each 58 meters wide, the central nave 45.50 meters at its highest point, and the cupola about 136 meters high up to the cross at its peak; the interior, with its vast mosaic decorations, is a treasure trove of some of the most famous works of art in the world, such as Bernini’s Baldacchino, and Michelangelo's Pietà.

The lighting can be adjusted according to the occasion when the building is in use. The new lighting system will accentuate the properties of the materials used and the building itself, highlighting the plasticity of the structure, its marbles and its architecture. The choices have been made in consultation with the Technical Services of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, the office of the Fabric of St. Peter’s and the art experts from the Vatican Museums. The lighting and installation project should be complete by Christ- mas 2018.

Osram will apply the proven lighting system used in the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Ba- silica.
Picture: Osram

Osram Chief Executive Officer Olaf Berlien with Pope Franziskus. Picture: Osram

The lighting of the nave, ceiling space and dome will be brigh ter thanks to OSRAM tech- nology.
Picture: Vatikan

OSRAM Licht AG
Marcel-Breuer-Strasse 6, 80807 Munich, Germany Corporate Communications & Brand Strategy

PRESS CONTACT
Jens Hack
Tel. +49 89 6213 2129
E-mail: j.hack@osram.com

About OSRAM
OSRAM with headquarters in Munich, Germany is a globally leading lighting manufacturer with a company history of around 100 years. The product spectrum contains high-tech applications based on semiconductor technologies such as infrared and laser. Products are used in a wide variety of applications ranging from vir- tual reality, autonomous driving and mobile phones to networked, intelligent lighting solutions in buildings and cities. The company is global technology and market leader in the automotive lighting technology sector. OSRAM had approximately 24, 600 employees around the world in continued business sectors (without Ledvance) with turnover of 3.8 billion euros to the end of the 2016 fiscal year (30 September). The company is listed on the Frankfurt am Main and Munich stock exchanges under WKN: LED 400 (stock exchange symbol: OSR). For further information, see www.osram.com.
 
press contacts

Jens Hack
Germany
Tel.:
+49 89 6213 2129
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