Brick Gothic
The brick Gothic, North German brick gothic or North German brick building, is a common in northern Germany, northern Netherlands and the Baltic region construction of the Gothic. The use of brick as a building material began in northern Europe in the 12th century, therefore, the oldest buildings still belong to the so-called brick Romanesque. In the 16th century Brick Gothic passed into the brick Renaissance.
It is characterized on the one hand the lack of figurative architectural sculptures that were not possible with bricks, on the other hand, the rich structure of brick ornaments and surface structuring by the alternation of red and glazed tiles and whitewashed walls.
Many coined by the Brick Gothic old towns and individual buildings were added to the list of UNESCO world heritage.
Dissemination of Brick Gothic
Brick architecture can be found primarily in areas where there are insufficient reserves of natural stone. This is particularly the case in the northern German lowlands. As this area largely covered with the sphere of influence of the Hanseatic League ( with the exception of Westphalia and the Rhineland ), the brick Gothic has become a symbol of this powerful Cities and next to the Low German language is an essential element of the North German cultural area, especially in the younger city foundations and the colonization area north and east of the Elbe. This cultural area comprised in the Middle Ages and the early modern period the entire southern Baltic and had great influence on Scandinavia. The southernmost buildings of brick Gothic ( in Germany ), even outside the actual distribution area, the hilltop church of Altenburg in Thuringia and the Red Tower in Chemnitz. Unique Gothic brick buildings were also built far outside the North German - Scandinavian building scene, such as the Cathedral of Albi in southern France.
In the northwest, especially along the Weser and the Elbe, the transport of sandstone was relatively easy. This resulted in a synthesis of the stringent design areas east of the Elbe with the Rhenish architecture result. Bricks were used here primarily for fine masonry of the walls, while the sandstone was used for plastic design. Since the brick was coming no personal creative function, are most of the North West German buildings outside of Brick Gothic in the strict sense.
The lack of natural stone did not lead anywhere inevitably to the formation of a typical brick - building style. So there was a lack in other areas, such as in Upper Bavaria and Swabia, often on building materials, there but no well- brick style has emerged. Differentiated architectural sculpture was here mostly executed in stone, often blinded and the brick core with natural stone. In addition, however, there are also Gothic buildings in almost "pure" brick construction. These include, for example, the parish churches of St. Jacob in Straubing, St. John or St. Martin in Dingolfing, Landshut.
Historical conditions
In the course of German Ostsiedlung the Slavic lands east of the Elbe were settled during the 12th and 13th centuries by merchants and colonists from the north-west Germany. Founded in 1158, Henry the Lion Lübeck, 1160, he conquered the Slavic prince seat Schwerin. The settlement was accompanied by the Christianization of the Slavs and the bishoprics of Ratzeburg, Schwerin, Pomerania, Brandenburg and Others were established.
The newly founded towns were soon joined the Hanseatic League together and formed the Wendish quarters around the center of Lübeck and the Livonian gotländisch - quarters with the suburb of Tallinn ( Reval ). The wealthy merchant cities of the Hanseatic League were particularly marked by church and secular representative buildings such as council and parish churches, town halls, town houses of wealthy merchants or city gates. In rural areas, had the monastery architecture of the Order of a significant proportion of the development of the brick architecture, especially that of the Cistercian and Premonstratensian. Between Prussia and Estonia, the German Order secured his rule with the construction of numerous castles of the order, which were also built of brick.
History of development
Churches of brick had been constructed in the early Christian era, back in demonstrative definition for marble architecture pagan temple. Famous examples of this period are preserved in Ravenna.
North of the Alps, the brick architecture began in the 12th century by, so even in the Romanesque period. For a long time had dominated in northern Germany wooden, but are not suitable for monumental buildings. For smaller buildings, especially in the rural area, remained throughout the range of the brick Gothic style of half-timbered building until well into modern times typical.
The use of brick as a substitute material for natural stone began in the Guelph area one with the domes and parish churches in Oldenburg ( Holstein), Segeberg, Ratzeburg, Schleswig and the Lübeck Cathedral, for Henry the Lion in 1173 the foundation stone was laid.
In the Mark Brandenburg, where the natural lack of stone deposits and the distance to the Baltic Sea over which a transport would have been possible, a replacement building material made doubly necessary, used the brick architecture with the construction of the Brandenburg Cathedral, which was in 1165 started the bear under Albrecht. A key position for the Brandenburg brick architecture takes the monastery Jerichow one with its already begun in 1148 Collegiate. During the rebuilding of the cathedral at Havel mountain after a major fire brick and stone were used in colorful mixture.
In Denmark, natural stone also had to be brought from a great distance. In addition to numerous churches and the Nyborg Castle and other worldly large buildings were built in brick. Ribe Cathedral is in its older parts of natural stone, but was then extended in brick.
Characteristics of Brick Gothic
The Romanesque brick buildings close yet close to contemporary stone architecture and translate their design language in the new brick technology. In the Gothic era, however, developed a characteristic style which is characterized by reduction of material: The buildings are often very heavy, monumental in size, but outwardly rather simple and not nearly as delicate as in the southern areas. However, they are based clearly on the cathedrals of France and from there also influenced Scheldt Gothic Flanders.
At a later time, techniques implemented by the affiliated churches outwardly sophisticated: so kalkte you back standing wall surfaces often white, so that was a color contrast with the dark brick material. In addition, we manufactured special shaped bricks, which allowed for better imitation of the architectural sculpture.
The brick tile as a starting material
The starting material for the production of bricks is clay, which was abundant in the northern German lowlands, so that the brick developed there as a substitute material for natural stone.
As standard in the construction of representative building bricks sat in the so-called monastery format ( about 28 × 15 × 9 cm to 30 × 14 × 10 cm with an average of 1.5 cm gap ) by. In contrast to the stone Gothic monastery stones and shaped bricks were made not in the workers' huts, but by specialized companies outside the construction sites.
Brick with glaze
Shaped stone
Black glazed molded brick
Brick friezes at the village church Steffenhagen
Reception and interpretation
In the 19th century, the reception of Brick Gothic experienced by the Gothic Revival (also: Neo-Gothic ) to the 1860s, a new bloom. Important architects of this style were eg Friedrich August Stiller in Berlin and Simon Loschen in Bremen. An important example of Gothic Revival building in the style of Brick Gothic is Schinkel Friedrichswerdersche church in Berlin.
Beginning of the 20th century adopted the so-called homeland security architecture as a style of architecture in northern Germany, especially in Schleswig -Holstein building with brick neo-gothic free from ornament, but to traditional models based on newly. Villas in this style characterize the single-family housing partially until today.