The examples of German Gothic cathedrals are few as compared with those in France and England. Of the three finest—Strasburg, Ratisbon, Cologne—the last is the most magnificent and is also the largest of all Mediæval cathedrals after Seville and Milan. Its plan is derived from Amiens, while the edifice embraces the chief features of many French cathedrals and is, in fact, an epitomised imitation of French Gothic.
Cologne.—Meanwhile, there is a German legend of the origin of the design, which is interesting for the light it throws on the Mediæval spirit. While the architect, bidden by the archbishop to build the noblest shrine in Christendom, sat beside the river pondering, an old man approached him and, having traced in the sand a plan, immediately obliterated it. But the architect had seen enough to know that the plan was the one that was dawning in his mind yet still eluded him. When the old man consented to give it and moreover promised the master-builder a life of fame and riches, demanding only his soul in recompense, the master-builder’s eyes were opened and he cried “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Then he told his confessor, who contrived a scheme whereby the devil might be circumvented. Satan had promised to return, bringing the plan. The master-builder kept the appointment and, snatching the precious document with one hand, in the other brandished a fragment of the True Cross. “I am vanquished!” exclaimed Satan; “but you shall reap no benefit, through your treachery. Your name will be forgotten and your work will never be completed.”
Time, however, discounted the Devil’s curse, for the cathedral was completed during the nineteenth century. It had been begun in 1270 and in all the additions subsequently made the original design was adhered to. Hence Cologne presents a very remarkable example of structural unity; and, by the same token, a rather chill precision, product of imitation, instead of a growth which reflects the changing style of successive centuries.
The plan, as at Amiens, includes double side-aisles and a chevêt of seven apses and an ambulatory, but its transepts are extended by an extra bay and one bay of the nave is included in the western entrance. Here the German fondness for towers and spires, already noted in their Romanesque architecture, finds expression in twin towers, crowned with spires of openwork tracery. This last feature is a characteristic of German Gothic. The transition from the tower to the spire is admirably arranged so as to enforce the function and beauty of each; and the effect should be compared with that of S. Stephen, Vienna. In the latter the transition is more gradual, so that the spire seems to start from the ground and, notwithstanding the splendour of the whole, “it lacks the vigour and accent” that a better definition of tower and spire produces.
S. Stephen is an example of the so-called “Hall Church,” in which the nave and aisles are of equal height. This typically German feature, seen also in S. Lambert, Hildesheim, S. Quentin, Mainz, and S. Elizabeth, Marburg, abolishes the clerestory and triforium and thus dispenses with flying buttresses. It reduces the importance of the nave and, while giving the interior an impression of superior spaciousness, minimises the variety and picturesqueness of the vistas. The nave and aisles are covered on the exterior by a single roof of high pitch.
The German builders made up for their lack of originality by extreme skill of handicraft, which tended to over-elaboration and a merely mechanical excellence. This was displayed in the increasing intricacy of the window traceries, which were more regarded than the proportions of the window openings. Thus, an excessive height was given to the clerestory windows and in many cases the opening is too narrow for its height. A characteristic which often appears is the double tracery; that is to say, the employment of tracery on both the outer and the inner wall surfaces.
Piers usually take the place of columns and are treated as lofty posts for the support of the vaulting, their surfaces being frequently indented with niches bearing statues. The vaultings are quite often distinguished by complicated ribs, which, however, are not employed so constructively as in England, but rather as decorative details. The mouldings show a steady growth away from simplicity toward increased complexity, until in the fifteenth century occurs the characteristic feature of “inter-penetration.” In this two separate sets of moulding are interwoven, alternately appearing and disappearing in and out of the same stone. Where foliage is thus used with intertwining branches the forms are treated naturalistically; and this aptitude for exact imitation led also to the occasional abandonment of the more formal tracery of windows in favour of “branch tracery” or the representation of branches of trees—another instance of preoccupation with technical execution rather than with design.
While the stained glass is good, the iron-work is a special characteristic of German ornamentation. Another typical feature is the Tabernacle for enshrining the Host. It is a structure of stone or wood, standing independent of the altar, rising to a considerable height in the form of a tower and spire, richly decorated.
In the north, as at Lübeck and neighbouring cities in the valley of the Elbe, the lack of stone led to the use of brick, and the substitution of moulded and coloured brickwork for sculptured ornament.
Secular Buildings.—The most famous of the Gothic castles is Marienburg in Prussia, including the chapel and chapter house and the Great Hall of the Order of the German Knights. Other examples are Heilsberg, in East Prussia and the Albrechtsburg at Meissen in Saxony. Among the finest of the Town Halls are those of Ratisbon, Brunswick, Halberstadt, Hildesheim, and Munster, and the brick examples of Breslau and Lübeck. In domestic architecture the roofs were carried to a remarkable height, consisting of several stories lighted by dormer windows; the space being utilised for storage and the drying of linen in the monthly wash. And a picturesque diversity is given to the character of the streets according as these roofs run parallel to it or at right angles. In the latter case the gables mount up with stepped outlines, and often are decorated with frescoed paintings.