Pinnacle

Pinnacles (from the Italian foglia, leaf or needle in the plant world ) or pinnacles are carved out of stone, slender, pointed expiring turrets, who served in the Gothic architecture of the elevation of gables and buttresses. In addition to this aesthetic function they frequently also have a static, as they additionally stabilize the structure by weight.

Pinnacles usually consist of a four - or octagonal shank or body, which often has a tracery consisting of ornament and in the middle part has the form of a tabernacle. Is often crowned with a finial, pyramidal tip to the shank. Sometimes they serve as carriers of statues.

Pinnacles in the late Gothic

Pinnacles in the ecclesiastical architecture of the Gothic period are turret -like essays on sacred buildings. Built in the Gothic style body of the tower has a small diameter and is covered with a helmet or a finial as Fialenkrone. In late Gothic gable roofed by the turrets often consists of a simple bevel to protect the masonry from rain or snow, such as at the village church Pröttlin.