Germany Architecture

It’S Your Schloss. Churches and castles around Germany manifest stunning Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque styles. The Romanesque period, spanning the years 800 to 1300, arose from direct imitation of Roman ruins. Outstanding Romanesque cathedrals can be found along the Rhein at Speyer, Trier, Mainz, and Worms.

Medieval Cathedrals. Gothic style, characterized by pointed rib vaulting, gradually replaced the Romanesque from between 1300 and 1500. The Gothic cathedral at Cologne is one of the most famous structures in Germany. Secular architecture at the end of the Middle Ages is best remembered through the fachwerk (half-timbered) houses that still dominate the Altstädte of many German cities. In the South, the Renaissance influence can be seen in the Augsburg Rathaus and the Heidelberg Schloß .

I’M Baroque. By 1550, Lutheran reforms put a damper on the unrestrained extravagance of cathedrals in the north, while the Counter-Reformation in the Catholic south spurred the new Baroque style. The Zwinger in Dresden exemplifies Baroque fluidity, contrast, and exaggerated motion. This style eventually reached an opulent extreme with Rococo, as exemplified by Schloß Sanssouci in Potsdam . Versailles’ decadent precedent influenced Bavarian castles, notably the Herrenchiemsee and the Königsschlößer .

Neoclassical Classics. The late 18th century saw an attempt to bring Greco-Roman prestige to Germany in the form of Np. 525p. 388eoclassical architecture. This style was spurred on by the pomp of Karl Friedrich Schinkel , state architect of Prussia. The Brandenburg Gate and the buildings along Unter den Linden in Berlin .

Jugendstil. The Mathildenhöhe buildings in Darmstadt are products of a much more modern movement, Jugendstil, which took its name from Die Jugend magazine. In the 1920s and early 30s, Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus school of Weimar and Dessau came to the fore, seeking to unite the principles of form and function in sleek glass and concrete buildings.

National Socialist And Soviet Structures. Hitler disapproved of these new building styles. He named a design school reject, Albert Speer, as his minister of architecture, and commissioned large neoclassical buildings appropriate to the “thousand-year Reich.” Many were intended for public rallies, such as the congress hall and stadium in Nürnberg and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin . After the war, Soviet architecture began to clutter East Germany, reaching its pinnacle with the 368m Fernsehturm (TV tower) in Berlin . Berlin’s Karl-Marx-Allee is rich in Plattenbauen, the dispassionate pre-fab apartment buildings that can be found throughout eastern Germany.

Post-Wall And The Scene Today. New construction has once again put Germany on the architectural map, although many buildings were designed by non-German architects. Berlin is home to many high-profile projects, such as Sir Norman Foster’s glass dome on the Reichstag and the reconstruction of Potsdamer Platz , anchored by the steel and glass Sony Center. Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum opened in 2002, and American architect Peter Eisenman’s jarring Holocaust memorial was unveiled in 2005.