Thearchitecture of Germany has a long, rich and diverse history. Every major European style fromRoman toPostmodern is represented, including renowned examples ofCarolingian,Romanesque,Gothic,Renaissance,Baroque,Classical,Modern andInternational Style architecture.
Centuries of fragmentation of Germany intoprincipalities and kingdoms caused a great regional diversity and favouredvernacular architecture. This made for aheterogeneous and diverse architectural style, with architecture differing from town to town. While this diversity may still be witnessed in small towns, the devastation of architectural heritage in the larger cities centres duringWorld War II resulted partly in extensive rebuilding characterized by simplemodernist architecture. In this context, however, it must be emphasized that many German cities had already changed their face in the course of industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries with towns likeMunich orBerlin developing from very small municipalities to major cities. Overall around 7 out of 10 buildings before World War II are still standing today,[1][2][3] with even 40 % of Berlin´s buildings dating from before 1950.[4]
German urban culture is therefore not only urban but is also shaped by medium-sized cities, rural small towns and large villages. From an architectural point of view, it is a generally recognized fact that the main centers are not representative of the whole country.
TheBrandenburg Gate,[5]Cologne Cathedral,St. Paul's Church (Frankfurt am Main),Neuschwanstein Castle,Hambach Castle,Wartburg and theReichstag building are some of the most symbolic constructions of Germany.
One of the oldest buildings in the world was found inBilzingsleben, dating to around 400.000 BP.[7]
Starting with the Linear Pottery culturecircular enclosures andlong houses, the biggest buildings of their time, were erected in Germany, from around 5.000 BC.
TheUnetice culture erected large burial mound like theLeubingen tumulus and the graves inHelmsdorf andBornhöck.
By the lateBronze Age, theUrnfield culture (c. 1300 BC – c. 750 BC) had replaced theBell Beaker,Unetice andTumulus cultures in central Europe,[8] whilst theNordic Bronze Age had developed in Scandinavia and northern Germany. TheHallstatt culture, which had developed from the Urnfield culture, was the predominant Western and Central European culture from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and during the earlyIron Age (8th to 6th centuries BC). It was followed by theLa Tène culture (5th to 1st centuries BC).
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The people who had adopted these cultural characteristics in central and southern Germany are regarded asCelts. How and if the Celts are related to the Urnfield culture remains disputed. However, Celtic cultural centres developed in central Europe during the late Bronze Age (c. 1200 BC until 700 BC). Some, like theHeuneburg, the oldest city north of the Alps,[9] grew to become important cultural centres of the Iron Age in Central Europe, that maintained trade routes to theMediterranean.[10][11][12][13][14][15]
TheItalic peoples, including theLatins, from which theRomans emerged, come from the Urnfield culture of central Europe. Later the Romans would return to Germany to erect buildings of the Roman architecture.[16][17][18]
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TheRoman Empire once extended over much of today'sFederal Republic of Germany, and there are still remains from around 100–150AD at thelimes, the border defence system ofAncient Rome marking theboundaries of the Roman Empire. In addition to border fortifications such as forts and military camps, the Romans also builtthermae, bridges, andamphitheatres.
An important metropolis of that time wasTrier, where thePorta Nigra, the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps is located, together with the remains of variousthermal spas, a Roman bridge, and the (largely reconstructed)Aula Palatina.
With the departure of the Romans, their urban culture and advances in architecture (e.g., underfloor heating, glass windows) vanished from Germany.
ThePre-Romanesque period in Western European architecture is usually dated from either the emergence of theMerovingian kingdom in about 500 or from theCarolingian Renaissance in the late 8th century, to the beginning of the 11th centuryRomanesque period. German buildings from this period includeLorsch Abbey. This combines elements of the Roman triumphal arch (arch-shaped passageways, half-columns) with the vernacular Teutonic heritage (baseless triangles of the blind arcade, polychromatic masonry).
One of the most important churches in this style is theAbbey Church of St. Michael's, constructed between 1001 and 1031 under the direction ofBishopBernward of Hildesheim (993–1022) as the chapel of hisBenedictinemonastery. It is built in the so-calledOttonian (Early-Romanesque) style. TheOttonian Renaissance was a renaissance that accompanied the reigns of the first threeemperors of theSaxon Dynasty, all named Otto:Otto I (936–973),Otto II (973–983), andOtto III (983–1002).
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TheRomanesque period, from the 10th to the early 13th century, is characterised by semi-circular arches, robust appearance, small paired windows, and groin vaults. Many churches in Germany date from this time, including thetwelve Romanesque churches of Cologne. The most significant building of this period in Germany is theSpeyer Cathedral. It was built in stages from about 1030, and was in the 11th century the largest building in the Christian world and an architectural symbol of the power of theSalian dynasty, a dynasty of fourGerman Kings (1024–1125).
The cathedrals ofWorms andMainz are other important examples of Romanesque style. Many churches and monasteries were founded in this era, particularly inSaxony-Anhalt. The Rhenish Romanesque, for example atLimburg Cathedral, produced works that used coloured surrounds. Of particular importance are also the church ofSt. Servatius inQuedlinburg, and alsoLuebeck Cathedral,Brunswick Cathedral,St. Mary's Cathedral andSt. Michael inHildesheim,Trier Cathedral,Naumburg Cathedral andBamberg Cathedral, whose last phase of construction falls in the Gothic period.
Maulbronn Abbey is considered a significant example ofCistercian architecture. It was built between the 12th and 15th centuries, and therefore includes Gothic elements. In the 11th century there also began construction of numerous castles, including the famous castle ofWartburg, which was later expanded in the Gothic style.
Gothic architecture flourished during the high and latemedieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture. The first Gothic buildings in Germany were built from about 1230, for example theLiebfrauenkirche (German for Church ofOur dear Lady) ca. 1233–1283 inTrier, which is one of the most important earlyGothic cathedrals in Germany and falls into the architectural tradition of theFrench Gothic.[citation needed]
Freiburg Cathedral was built in three stages, the first beginning in 1120 under thedukes of Zähringen, the second beginning in 1210, and the third in 1230. Of the original building, only the foundations still exist. It is noted for its 116-metre tower, whichJacob Burckhardt reputedly claimed is the most beautiful in Christian architecture. The tower is nearly square at the base, and at its centre is the dodecagonal star gallery. Above this gallery, the tower is octagonal and tapered, with the spire above. It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany that was completed in the Middle Ages (1330), and survived the bombing raids of November 1944, which destroyed all of the houses on the west and north side of the market.
Cologne Cathedral is afterMilan Cathedral the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Construction began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete – a period of over 600 years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall.[19] Because of its enormous twin spires, it also has the largest façade of any church in the world. Thechoir of the cathedral, measured between the piers, also holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1, exceeding evenBeauvais Cathedral which has a slightly higher vault.[20]
Brick Gothic (German:Backsteingotik) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common inNorthern Europe, especially inNorthern Germany and the regions around theBaltic Sea without natural rock resources. The buildings are built more or less using onlybricks.Stralsund City Hall and St. Nicholas Church are good examples of this style. Cities such asLübeck,Rostock,Wismar,Stralsund,Greifswald, andSzczecin (Stettin),Kołobrzeg (Kolberg),Gdańsk (Danzig) in present-day northern and western Poland, regions that had been German-settled since the Middle Ages, are shaped by this regional style. A model for many North German churches was St. Mary's in Lübeck, built between 1200 and 1350.
The building of Gothic churches was accompanied by the construction of theguild houses and the construction of town halls by the risingbourgeoisie. A good example is the Gothic Town Hall (13th century) atStralsund. There is alsoBremen Town Hall (1410) and the (reconstructed) city hall ofMünster (originally from 1350).
The dwellings of this period were mainlytimber-framed buildings, as can still be seen inGoslar andQuedlinburg. Quedlinburg has one of the oldesthalf-timbered houses in Germany. The method of construction, used extensively for town houses of the Medieval andRenaissance periods, (seeDornstetten, illustrated above) lasted into the 20th century for rural buildings. There are around 2.4 million timber framed buildings in Germany.[23]
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Renaissance architecture belongs to the period between the early 14th and early 16th centuries in different parts of Europe, when there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and culture. The earliest example of Renaissance architecture in Germany is the Fugger chapel inSt. Anne's Church, Augsburg. At that time, Germany was fragmented into numerous principalities, the citizens generally had few rights and armed conflict, especially the religious conflicts of theProtestant Reformation, ensured that large tracts of land remained virtually undeveloped.
Some princes, however, promoted modern art, for example inTorgau,Aschaffenburg, andLandshut, where the Renaissance era originated. Examples include the decorated inner courtyard ofTrausnitz Castle and the ducalLandshut Residence in the inner city, built by Italian Renaissance master craftsmen.
TheSt. Michael's Church inMunich, (begun around 1581), is an important Renaissance building. There is alsoHeidelberg Castle with its typical Renaissance façades, and theAugsburg City Hall, built from 1614 to 1620 by the Augsburg architectElias Holl.
In the area of theWeser there are numerous castles and manor houses inWeser Renaissance style. InWolfenbüttel, the castle of the Guelphs and the Evangelical town church Beatae-Maria-Virginis are worth mentioning as special examples of the Renaissance. InThuringia andSaxony, many churches and palaces in the Renaissance style were built, for example, William Castle with castle in Schmalkalden, the church of Rudolstadt, the Castle of Gotha, theOld Town Hall in Leipzig, the interior of the presbytery, theFreiberg Cathedral, the Castle in Dresden or the Schönhof in Gorlitz. In northern Germany there isGüstrower Castle and the rich interior of Stralsund'sNikolai Church.
Baroque architecture began in the early 17th century in Italy, reinventing the humanist vocabulary of Renaissance architecture in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. Whereas the Renaissance drew on the wealth and power of the Italian courts, and was a blend of secular and religious forces, the Baroque directly linked to theCounter-Reformation, a movement within theCatholic Church to reform itself in response to theProtestant Reformation.
The Baroque style arrived in Germany after theThirty Years War. The Baroque architecture of the German government royal and princely houses was based on the model of France, especially the court ofLouis XIV atVersailles. Examples are theZwinger Palace inDresden, built byMatthäus Daniel Pöppelmann from 1709 to 1728, initially for the holding of court festivals. The architecture of absolutism always put the ruler at the centre, thus increasing the spatial composition, for example, the power of the ruler – perhaps in the form of the magnificent staircase leading to the person of the ruler.
The interaction of architecture, painting and sculpture is an essential feature of Baroque architecture. An important example is theWürzburg Residence with the Emperor's Hall and the staircase, whose construction began under the leadership ofJohann Balthasar Neumann in 1720. The frescoes over the staircase were painted byGiovanni Battista Tiepolo from 1751 to 1753.
Other well-known Baroque palaces are theNew Palace inPotsdam,Schloss Charlottenburg inBerlin,Schloss Weißenstein inPommersfelden andAugustusburg Castle inBrühl, whose interiors are partly in theRococo style. Rococo is the late phase of the Baroque, in which the decoration became even more abundant and showed most colors in even brighter tones. For example,Sanssouci Palace, built from 1745 to 1747, which was the former summer palace ofFrederick the Great, King ofPrussia, inPotsdam, nearBerlin.
The most well-known examples of Bavarian Baroque include theBenedictine abbey in Ottobeuren, theWeltenburg and theEttal Abbey, and theAsam Church in Munich.
Other examples of Baroque church architecture are theBasilica of the Vierzehnheiligen in Upper Franconia and the rebuiltFrauenkirche in Dresden, created byGeorge Bähr between 1722 and 1743.
Classicism arrived in Germany in the second half of the 18th century. It drew inspiration from theclassical architecture of antiquity and was a reaction against the Baroque style, in both architecture andlandscape design.
TheDessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm is one of the first and largest English parks in Germany. It was created in the late 18th century under the regency ofDuke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau (1740–1817), after returning from aGrand Tour to Italy, the Netherlands, England, France and Switzerland which he had taken together with his architect friendFriedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff. Unlike the formalBaroque gardens, it celebrated the naturalistic manner of theEnglish landscape garden and symbolised the promised freedom of theEnlightenment era.
TheBrandenburg Gate inBerlin, commissioned by KingFrederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and completed byCarl Gotthard Langhans in 1791, is arguably one of the most famous monuments of classicism in Germany. The Brandenburg Gate was restored from 2000 to 2002 by theStiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin (Berlin Monument Conservation Foundation).[25] It is now considered one of Europe's most famous landmarks.
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The most important architect of this style in Germany was undoubtedlyKarl Friedrich Schinkel. Schinkel's style, in his most productive period, is defined by its appeal to Greek rather than Roman architecture, avoiding the style that was linked to the recent French occupiers. His most famous buildings are found in and around Berlin. These includeNeue Wache (1816–1818), theSchauspielhaus (1819–1821) at theGendarmenmarkt, which replaced the earlier theatre that was destroyed by fire in 1817, and theAltes Museum (old museum, see photo) onMuseum Island (1823–1830).
Leo von Klenze (1784–1864) was a court architect of Bavarian KingLudwig I, another prominent representative of theGreek Revival style. Ludwig's passion forHellenism inspired the architectural style of von Klenze, who built many neoclassical buildings in Munich, including theRuhmeshalle and theMonopteros in the Englischer Garten. OnKönigsplatz he designed probably the best known modern Hellenistic architectural ensemble.
NearRegensburg he built theWalhalla temple, named afterValhalla, the home of the gods in Norse mythology.
Another important building of the period isWilhelm Castle inKassel (begun 1786).
Historicism, sometimes known aseclecticism, is an architectural style that draws inspiration from historic styles or craftsmanship. After theneoclassical period (which could itself be considered a historicist movement), a new historicist phase emerged in the middle of the 19th century, marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in architecture and in the genre ofhistory painting.
An important architect of this period wasGottfried Semper, who built the gallery (1855) at theZwinger Palace and theSemperoper (1878) inDresden, and was involved with the first design of theSchwerin Palace. Semper's buildings have features derived from the early Renaissance style, Baroque and even featuresCorinthian order pillars typical ofancient Greek architecture.[26][27]
There were regional variants of the historicist styles in Germany. Examples are theresort architecture (especially inMV on the GermanBaltic coast), theHanover School of Architecture and the Nuremberg style.
The predilection for medieval buildings has its most famous exemplar in theNeuschwanstein Castle, whichLudwig II commissioned in 1869. Neuschwanstein was designed byChristian Jank, a theatrical set designer, which possibly explains the fantastical nature of the resulting building. The architectural expertise, vital to a building in such a perilous site, was provided first by the Munich court architectEduard Riedel and later byGeorg von Dollmann, son-in-law of Leo von Klenze.
There is also, at the end of the period, theReichstag building (1894) byPaul Wallot.
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GermanArt Nouveau is commonly known by its German name,Jugendstil. The name is taken from the artistic journal,Jugend, which was published in Munich and which espoused the new artistic movement. Two other journals,Simplicissimus, published in Munich, andPan, published in Berlin, proved to be important proponents of the Jugendstil. The two main centres for Jugendstil art in Germany were Munich and Darmstadt.
Drawing from traditional Germanprintmaking, the style uses precise and hard edges, an element that was rather different from the flowing lines seen in Art Nouveau elsewhere.Henry Van de Velde, who worked most of his career in Germany, was a Belgian theorist who influenced many others to continue in this style of graphic art includingPeter Behrens,Hermann Obrist, andRichard Riemerschmid.August Endell is another notable Art Nouveau designer.[28]
The distinctive character ofmodern architecture is the elimination of unnecessary ornament from a building and faithfulness to its structure and function. The style is commonly summed up in four slogans:ornament is a crime,truth to materials,form follows function, andLe Corbusier's description of houses as "machines for living". It developed early in the 20th century. It was adopted by many influential architects andarchitectural educators. Although few "modern buildings" were built in the first half of the century, after theSecond World War it became the dominant architectural style for institutional and corporate buildings for three decades.
The initial impetus for modernist architecture in Germany was mainly industrial construction, in which the architectural design was not subjected to so much to the prevailing historicism, for example theAEG Turbine Hall in Berlin byPeter Behrens (1908–1909), and especially theFagus Factory byWalter Gropius inAlfeld an der Leine (1911–1914). During this period (1915) there occurred the construction of the first skyscraper inJena.
The so-called "classical modernism" in Germany is essentially identical to theBauhaus, founded byWalter Gropius in 1919, shortly after he had succeededHenry van de Velde inWeimar as Director of the Arts and Crafts School. The Bauhaus became the most influential art and architecture school of the 20th century. Although at first it had no architecture department, Gropius saw in architecture the "ultimate goal of all artistic activity."
TheEinstein Tower (German:Einsteinturm) is an astrophysicalobservatory in theAlbert Einstein Science Park inPotsdam, designed byarchitectErich Mendelsohn. This was one of Mendelsohn's first major projects, completed when a youngRichard Neutra was on his staff, and his best-known building. At a time of inflation and economic hardship, the Bauhaus sought a cost-effective, functional and modern design for housing. Thus in Weimar in 1923 there arose theHaus am Horn ofGeorg Muche andAdolf Meyer. In 1925, a year after the nationalist parties gained a majority in the Thuringian state parliament, the Bauhaus in Weimar was shut down. That same year, inDessau, Gropius began to build a new school, completed in 1926. TheBauhaus Dessau is by far the most famous monument of classical modern art in Germany.
When the Nazis gained power in 1932, the Bauhaus shut down. After this there was adiaspora of masters and students of the Bauhaus across the world, especially in the United States, and the Bauhaus style spread through the world, becoming known as theInternational Style. In 1927, one of the first and most defining manifestations of the International Style was theWeissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, built as a component of the exhibition "Die Wohnung," organized by the Deutscher Werkbund, and overseen byMies van der Rohe. The fifteen contributing architects included Mies, and other names most associated with the movement:Peter Behrens,Le Corbusier,Walter Gropius,J.J.P. Oud,Mart Stam, andBruno Taut. The exhibition was enormously popular, with thousands of daily visitors.
A number of housing estates built in this period are now among the most important buildings of the modernist period. They include theHorseshoe housing estate built inBerlin in 1930 byBruno Taut andMartin Wagner during theWeimar Republic, TheAllotment Dammerstock (1930) inKarlsruhe by Gropius, and theZeche Zollverein inEssen, built from 1927 to 1932 byFritz Schupp andMartin Kremmer.
Between 1926 and 1940 most radio towers in Germany were built of wood, of which the tallest was that ofTransmitter Muehlacker (190 metres).[citation needed] The only remaining of them isGliwice Radio Tower inGliwice (nowadays Poland).
TheNazi architecture (1933–1945) with main architectAlbert Speer served propaganda purposes.[citation needed]
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During the Allied strategic bombing campaign of World War II, the historic city centres of most cities suffered severe losses to architectural heritage, with significant cases of almost total annihilation.
The fiercely discussedreconstruction efforts after the war varied considerably betweenEast andWest Germany, and between individual cities. In most cities some of the more significant landmarks were restored or reconstructed, often in a simplified manner. In general, the cities were not reconstructed according to their historic appearance, but in a functional, modernist style, with often a greater emphasis on desperately needed housing, than historic structures.
There is a recent trend that began in the late 20th century and continues to the 21st century in many German cities to resume reconstruction work andNew Classical architecture in core areas. Examples of this can be found at theNeumarkt inDresden (including the famousFrauenkirche), with reconstructions in theold town ofFrankfurt (Dom-Römer Project), with theCity Palace ofBerlin, theHistoric Market Place inHildesheim and the old market andCity Palace ofPotsdam.
