A Text-Book of the History of Architecture / Seventh Edition, revised

by A. D. F. Hamlin

FIG. 143.

—PLAN OF
ULM CATHEDRAL. In spite of its vast size and slow construction, it is in style the most uniform of all great Gothic cathedrals, as it is the most lofty (excepting the choir of Beauvais) and the largest excepting Milan and Seville. Unfortunately its details, though pure and correct, are singularly dry and mechanical, while its very uniformity deprives it of the picturesque and varied charm which results from a mixture of styles recording the labors of successive generations. The same criticism may be raised against the late cathedral of Ulm (choir, 1377–1449; nave, 1477; Fig. 143). The Cologne influence is observable in the widely separated cathedrals of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Metz in the W., Minden and Halberstadt (begun 1250; mainly built after 1327) in Saxony, and in the S. in the church of St. Catherine at Oppenheim. To the E. and S., in the cathedrals of Prague (Bohemia) by Matthew of Arras (1344–52) and Ratisbon (or Regensburg, 1275) the French influence predominates, at least in the details and construction. The last-named is one of the most dignified and beautiful of German Gothic churches—German in plan, French in execution. The French influence also manifests itself in the details of many of the peculiarly German churches with aisles of equal height (see [p. 240]).

More peculiarly German are the brick churches of North Germany, where stone was almost wholly lacking. In these, flat walls, square towers, and decoration by colored tiles and bricks are characteristic, as at Brandenburg (St. Godehard and St. Catherine, 1346–1400), at Prentzlau, Tängermünde, Königsberg, &c. Lübeck possesses notable monuments of brick architecture in the churches of St. Mary and St. Catherine, both much alike in plan and in the flat and barren simplicity of their exteriors. St. Martin’s at Landshut in the South is also a notable brick church.

LATE GOTHIC. As in France and England, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were mainly occupied with the completion of existing churches, many of which, up to that time, were still without naves. The works of this period show the exaggerated attenuation of detail already alluded to, though their richness and elegance sometimes atone for their mechanical character. The complicated ribbed vaults of this period are among its most striking features (see [p. 239]). Spire-building was as general as was the erection of central square towers in England, during the same period. To this time also belong the overloaded traceries and minute detail of the St. Sebald and St. Lorenz churches and of several secular buildings at Nuremberg, the façade of Chemnitz Cathedral, and similar works. The nave and tower of St. Stephen at Vienna (1359–1433), the church of Sta. Maria in Gestade in the same city, and the cathedral of Kaschau in Hungary, are Austrian masterpieces of late Gothic design.

SECULAR BUILDINGS. Germany possesses a number of important examples of secular Gothic work, chiefly municipal buildings (gates and town halls) and castles. The first completely Gothic castle or palace was not built until 1280, at Marienburg (Prussia), and was completed a century later. It consists of two courts, the earlier of the two forming a closed square and containing the chapel and chapter-house of the Order of the German knights. The later and larger court is less regular, its chief feature being the Great Hall of the Order, in two aisles. All the vaulting is of the richest multiple-ribbed type. Other castles are at Marienwerder, Heilsberg (1350) in E. Prussia, Karlstein in Bohemia (1347), and the Albrechtsburg at Meissen in Saxony (1471–83).

Among town halls, most of which date from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries may be mentioned those of Ratisbon (Regensburg), Münster and Hildesheim, Halberstadt, Brunswick, Lübeck, and Bremen—the last two of brick. These, and the city gates, such as the Spahlenthor at Basle (Switzerland) and others at Lübeck and Wismar, are generally very picturesque edifices. Many fine guildhalls were also built during the last two centuries of the Gothic style; and dwelling-houses of the same period, of quaint and effective design, with stepped or traceried gables, lofty roofs, openwork balconies and corner turrets, are to be found in many cities. Nuremberg is especially rich in these.

THE NETHERLANDS, as might be expected from their position, underwent the influences of both France and Germany. During the thirteenth century, largely through the intimate monastic relations between Tournay and Noyon, the French influence became paramount in what is now Belgium, while Holland remained more strongly German in style. Of the two countries Belgium developed by far the most interesting architecture. Some of its cathedrals, notably those of Tournay, Antwerp, Brussels, Malines (Mechlin), Mons and Louvain, rank high among structures of their class, both in scale and in artistic treatment. The Flemish town halls and guildhalls merit particular attention for their size and richness, exemplifying in a worthy manner the wealth, prosperity, and independence of the weavers and merchants of Antwerp, Ypres, Ghent (Gand), Louvain, and other cities in the fifteenth century.

CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES. The earliest purely Gothic edifice in Belgium was the choir of Ste. Gudule (1225) at Brussels, followed in 1242 by the choir and transepts of Tournay, designed with pointed vaults, side chapels, and a complete chevet. The transept-ends are round, as at Noyon. It was surpassed in splendor by the Cathedral of Antwerp (1352–1422), remarkable for its seven-aisled nave and narrow transepts. It covers some 70,000 square feet, but its great size is not as effective internally as it should be, owing to the poverty of the details and the lack of finely felt proportion in the various parts. The late west front (1422–1518) displays the florid taste of the wealthy Flemish burgher population of that period, but is so rich and elegant, especially its lofty and slender north spire, that its over-decoration is pardonable. The cathedral of St. Rombaut at Malines (choir, 1366; nave, 1454–64) is a more satisfactory church, though smaller and with its western towers incomplete. The cathedral of Louvain belongs to the same period (1373–1433). St. Wandru at Mons (1450–1528) and St. Jacques at Liège (1522–58) are interesting parish churches of the first rank, remarkable especially for the use of color in their internal decoration, for their late tracery and ribbed vaulting, and for the absence of Renaissance details at that late period.

TOWN HALLS: GUILDHALLS. These were really the most characteristic Flemish edifices, and are in most cases the most conspicuous monuments of their respective cities. The Cloth Hall of Ypres (1304) is the earliest and most imposing among them; similar halls were built not much later at Bruges, Louvain, Malines and Ghent. The town halls were mostly of later date, the earliest being that of Bruges (1377). The town halls of Brussels with its imposing and graceful tower, of Louvain (1448–63; Fig. 144) and of Oudenärde (early 16th century) are conspicuous monuments of this class.