Architecture in Germany
Germany has a rich and diverse architectural history , the lines of which extend from the Carolingian Renaissance to contemporary architecture . The article gives an overview of the past and present of architecture in Germany , attached to buildings that shape the image of the country and to outstanding builders , architects and engineers who have worked or are working in Germany.
German architecture is characterized by a large degree of regional diversity, due to the centuries-long division of German territory into principalities , kingdoms and other domains. This resulted in a very heterogeneous picture, in some cases there are architectural differences from city to city, from village to village. This gives today's Germany a particularly rich historical building heritage. In many German cities, however, the consequences of the destruction in World War II can not be overlooked ; especially in the city centers of larger cities, the historical buildings are mostly just - reconstructed - islands in the midst of the simpler architecture of the reconstruction . Among the smaller and medium-sized towns, however, there are many mostly well-preserved old towns, see the list of towns with a historical center in Germany . Some of them are connected by well-known theme and holiday routes such as the German Half-timbered Road and the Romantic Road .
Germany’s architecture is naturally also closely interwoven with that of its neighboring states and other European countries. Architectural styles make almost never stop at national borders, one that architectural history from a purely "German" architecture can not speak. Architecture is always a cross-border medium that connects and symbolizes a cultural area. This was the case with the construction huts wandering through Central Europe in the Middle Ages , with baroque architecture, for example at the Würzburg Residence, and this is increasingly the case in today's tightly networked world in which architects are often internationally active and shape developments in style globally. The old towns with many half-timbered houses and pitched roofs , monumental buildings (especially churches) from the Romanesque and Gothic styles , a rich heritage of castles and palaces , and extensive residential and block-edge districts from the time of the industrial revolution are considered to be characteristic of the German cultural and architectural landscape (mostly historicism ), in northern Germany brick Gothic and brick expressionism , the modernist Bauhaus movement that emerged here and subsequent rather sober styles as well as postmodernism .
There are numerous protected architectural and cultural monuments in Germany , although by no means all valuable buildings and ensembles are also registered monuments. In addition, there is the world's third largest number of buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage List, see World Heritage in Germany . The most symbolic buildings in Germany include the Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building and the television tower in the capital Berlin, the Cologne Cathedral as the largest cathedral, the romantic symbol Neuschwanstein Castle , as well as the Wartburg , the Frankfurt Paulskirche and the Hambach Castle as important historical locations.
Architectural history
Antiquity
The Roman Empire once extended over large parts of what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. Remains of the Limes , the Roman border fortification that was built around 100–150 AD , are still preserved today. In addition to military structures such as forts and military camps, the Romans built z. B. also typical thermal baths , bridges and amphitheater .
An important metropolis of this time was Trier , where you can still see the Porta Nigra , probably the best preserved city gate of antiquity , the remains of various thermal baths, a Roman bridge and the (rebuilt) Constantine basilica.
With the departure of the Romans , their urban culture disappeared and so did their advances in architecture (e.g. heating , window glass ) - there are hardly any buildings that have survived from the Teutons , as they lived in hut settlements.
Pre-Romanesque
Important pre-Romanesque buildings are the Palatine Chapel in Aachen , built around 800 under Charlemagne , today part of the Aachen Cathedral , which was built according to Byzantine models; furthermore the monastery churches on the island of Reichenau and the gate hall of the monastery of Lorsch from the early 9th century, which is a particularly beautiful example among the few surviving Carolingian buildings in Germany. The art bloom of this period is also known as the Carolingian Renaissance and is considered to be the first classical architectural movement to revive motifs from antiquity .
A building that, in the opinion of some architectural historians, prepared the Romanesque , which began in Germany around 1030, is the monastery church of St. Michael in Hildesheim (around 1010-1033).
Romanesque
The most important Romanesque building in the Federal Republic is the Speyer Cathedral . It was built in several construction phases from around 1030, was the largest building in the Christian world in the 11th century and a structural symbol of power for the Salians .
The Worms Cathedral and the Mainz Cathedral are also frequently cited examples of Romanesque architecture.
Evidence of Romanesque architecture can be found throughout the country, as many churches and monasteries were founded during this period. In Saxony-Anhalt you can find the Romanesque Road , for example . The Rhenish Romanesque, whose buildings such as B. Limburg Cathedral or the town church of Bacharach produced buildings that are often colored. The collegiate church of St. Servatius in Quedlinburg , but also the Lübeck Cathedral , the Brunswick Cathedral , the Hildesheim Cathedral , the Trier Cathedral and the Bamberg Cathedral , the last phase of which was built during the Gothic period, are of particular importance .
The Maulbronn Monastery , which is considered an important example of Cistercian architecture, is also worth seeing . It was built between the 12th and 15th centuries and therefore has Gothic elements.
The 11th century also saw the start of construction on numerous castles , such as Nuremberg Castle and Wartburg , both of which were later expanded in the Gothic style.
Gothic
The Gothic has its origins in France; the first Gothic building in Germany, the Magdeburg Cathedral , was built from 1209. In the years that followed, other buildings followed, such as the Liebfrauenkirche in Trier (approx. 1233–1283) and the Elisabeth Church in Marburg (approx. 1235–1283). The Freiburg Minster , the construction of which started around 1200, has an authentic Gothic spire that was completed around 1340; this cathedral is one of the most important Gothic buildings in Germany.
Because of the long construction time of the churches and cathedrals, which were built by craftsmen organized in building huts , many of the most famous buildings were not completed until the 19th century, when the Gothic style came back into fashion in the context of Romanticism and Historicism: This applies before Especially for the Cologne Cathedral , which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world after the Milan Cathedral and which was finally completed in 1880 after centuries of construction with the help of rediscovered Gothic plans. Even the Ulm Minster was not completed until the end of the 19th century after a very long construction freeze, its 161.55 meter high tower was completed around 1890 - it is still the highest church tower in the world today.
In the area of the Baltic Sea coast, the so-called brick Gothic prevailed . Cities like Lübeck , Rostock , Wismar , Stralsund and Greifswald are characterized by this regional style variant. Since there is only a small amount of natural stone in the coastal region, brick also had to be used when building large structures. The development of shaped bricks created its own formal language, and the brick also gave the buildings a special color. St. Marien in Lübeck, which was built between 1200 and 1350, served as a model for the architectural style of many North German churches.
In the Gothic period , in addition to church buildings, the construction of guild houses and, above all, town halls appeared as a building task - a sign of the emerging bourgeoisie. Famous here are the town hall of Stralsund (around 1350) and the Bremen town hall (1410), the facade of which, however, was redesigned during the Renaissance period. A special example of a Gothic secular building is the (rebuilt) town hall of Münster in Westphalia (originally from 1350).
The residential buildings of this time were mainly half-timbered buildings, as you can still see them today in cities such as Goslar or Quedlinburg . One of the oldest half-timbered houses in Germany is in Quedlinburg ; the post construction from the 14th century now houses the half-timbered museum .
Renaissance and Mannerism
Since the German builders have seen neither Italy nor the buildings of antiquity, Italian Renaissance architecture in the hands of German builders “initially became a pure misunderstanding” in the 16th century. The decor of the Lombard and Venetian early Renaissance is taken from sample books. The façades are clad with it, the Gothic stepped gables are smoothed with volutes and “Mannerist, antique-style mesentery” made of stone is used. This is how a bourgeois “Lego antiquity” emerged in Germany in the 16th century, with a collection of small elements whose individual molds look glued on. The connection to the Italian Renaissance succeeds in the palace buildings in Dresden , Berlin, Torgau, Brieg and in the Munich Church of St. Michael , where often only ornament predominates. In Germany, a deliberately anti-classical architecture, Mannerism, developed parallel to the Italian late Renaissance up to 1650. Mannerist representations, labyrinth, ball, egg, cube (Hieronymus Bosch) allude to the surrealism of the 20th century. The characteristic of Mannerism in Germany is the decoration of the Nordic Renaissance , characterized by the Floris style named after the Dutchman Cornelis Floris . In Northern Europe, especially in Germany, fittings , scrollwork , cartilage and auricular work , obelisks and volutes now adorn the gables of the buildings and form the "tailwork".
When the Fuggers had their family chapel in the St. Anna church in Augsburg designed in the “Italian style” in 1509 , they paved the way for the Italian Renaissance in Germany. Augsburg , the trading city, was one of the most important metropolises in Europe at this time . A piece of Italian culture was also imported through the trade connections. However, the renaissance, which then took hold in Germany around 1520, could not really spread well in the country due to the political conditions of the time. Germany was split up into numerous principalities , the citizens mostly had few rights and armed conflicts, especially the religious conflicts in the course of the Reformation, ensured that large areas remained virtually underdeveloped. Some princes, however, promoted the “modern art” understood Renaissance, for example in Torgau ( Hartenfels Castle , City Hall ), Aschaffenburg ( Johannisburg Castle ) or Landshut . In Landshut, the Landshut city residence is a very authentic Renaissance building, built by Italian master craftsmen. St. Michael in Munich is also an important Renaissance building north of the Alps (construction started around 1581). The Augsburg town hall is also an important Renaissance building, but it was built late, between 1614 and 1620, by the Augsburg builder Elias Holl .
The work of the church prince Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg in Halle (Saale) from 1514 to 1541 is considered to be the largest planned representative renaissance development north of the Alps. With the Moritzburg , the New Residence , the cathedral and the market church , an impressive ensemble of the Renaissance has been created. Together with the old town , especially the Stadtgottesacker , Halle's renaissance is considered sui generis .
An example of Renaissance architecture with “Dutch influences” is Heidelberg Castle . Examples of the Dutch Renaissance can be found in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia , where numerous castles and mansions in the Weser Renaissance style were built in the area of the Weser . The cities of Hameln and Lemgo have an excellent cityscape in the Renaissance style . In Wolfenbüttel , the Castle of the Guelphs and the Protestant town church Beatae-Maria-Virginis are worth mentioning as special examples of the Renaissance.
In Thuringia and Saxony , many churches and castles were built in the Renaissance style. For example the Wilhelmsburg with the castle chapel in Schmalkalden , the town church of Rudolstadt , the castle in Gotha , the town hall in Leipzig , the interior of the choir is the Freiberg cathedral, the castle in Dresden or the Schönhof in Görlitz . In Northern Germany, the Güstrow Castle and the particularly rich interior of the Stralsund Nikolaikirche are of interest.
Baroque
The baroque set in in Germany was somewhat delayed due to the Thirty Years' War , around 1650.
The baroque architecture of the German royal and princely houses, like the court ceremony, was always based on the example of France , especially at the court of the Sun King in Versailles . This is how the Dresden Zwinger was created in Dresden, which Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann built between 1709 and 1728, initially to hold court festivities, as were customary at the court of the Sun King. The architecture of absolutism always focused on the ruler. B. the spatial composition the power position of the respective ruler - for example in the form of the magnificent staircases that lead to the person of the ruler - also the wall and ceiling paintings and the sculptures on the sculptured walls with their motifs mostly praise the princely or royal builders.
The interplay of architecture, painting and sculpture is an essential feature of baroque architecture. An important example is the Würzburg Residence with the Imperial Hall and the staircase, construction of which began in 1720 under the direction of Johann Balthasar Neumann . Many different architects and artists from all over Europe contributed to its construction, which is why the Würzburg Residence is considered a "synthesis of European baroque". The frescoes in the stairwell, for example, were created by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo between 1751 and 1753.
Other well-known baroque palaces are the New Palais in Potsdam , the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin , the Weißenstein Palace near Pommersfelden and the Augustusburg Palace in Brühl , some of whose interiors are designed in the Rococo style.
Rococo is the late phase of the baroque, in which the decor was even more lush and the colors used mostly showed lighter shades. In the case of Sanssouci Palace , which was built between 1745 and 1747, one even speaks of "Friderizian Rococo", as the lavish style is executed here with a certain severity.
The Wieskirche near Steingaden, completed in 1754, is an outstanding example of Rococo and, because of its two master builders Dominikus Zimmermann and Johann Baptist Zimmermann, a highlight of sacred architecture in the foothills of the Alps. Due to the many monasteries and churches in the region, also called Pfaffenwinkel , very experienced builders and craftsmen who specialize in sacred buildings were able to develop here, such as the Zimmermann brothers.
The best-known examples of the Bavarian Baroque include the Benedictine Church in Ottobeuren , the Weltenburg Monastery , the Ettal Monastery and the St. Johann Nepomuk Church, known as the Asam Church , in Munich.
Further examples of baroque sacred architecture are the pilgrimage church Vierzehnheiligen in Upper Franconia and the rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche , which George Bähr originally created between 1722 and 1743.
classicism
The classicism arose in Germany in the second half of the 18th century. As the name suggests, it was based on the classical architecture of antiquity . Classicism is to be understood as a counter-movement to the Baroque and is also ideally differentiated from the architectural style of absolutism . This applied not only to the architecture , but also to the landscape architecture .
Exemplary here are the Wörlitz grounds with the Wörlitz Castle , which belong to the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm . Under the direction of Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff , a landscape garden was created here from 1764 , also known as the English Garden or Landscape Park, which reflects the enlightened attitude of Prince Leopold III. reflected. In contrast to the strictly geometric baroque gardens, the English landscape garden, designed to be close to nature, celebrated the freedom of nature, which in turn symbolizes the freedom of man recognized in the Enlightenment .
The structural and theoretical impulses for this style came from England ; So the Wörlitz Castle also resembles an English country seat, the English country seats in turn were based on the Italian Renaissance , especially Palladio .
The Brandenburg Gate , which Carl Gotthard Langhans completed in 1791, is probably one of the most famous buildings of classicism in Germany.
The most important architect of this style in Germany was undoubtedly Karl Friedrich Schinkel . He built for the Prussian royal house, u. a. in Berlin : the Neue Wache (1818), the Charlottenhof Palace (from 1826) and the Old Museum (1830), with which the history of Berlin's Museum Island began.
The architect Leo von Klenze made a name for himself at the Bavarian court . The Königsplatz in Munich (from 1816) with the Glyptothek, the Propylaea and the collection of antiquities built by Georg Friedrich Ziebland is probably his most famous work; it is modeled on a Greek temple complex.
The Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel (construction began in 1786), whose park consists of the baroque Karlsberg and the landscaped garden, which was expanded from 1763, is also one of the most important buildings of the time .
historicism
The first building of historicism on the European mainland is the neo-Gothic Nauener Tor in Potsdam from 1755. This style spread throughout Germany from around 1810 and generally referred to styles of the past, in addition to the ancient world and the Italian Renaissance , the Gothic came now and the Romanesque style again. The corresponding styles of historicism were each given the prefix "Neo-" or "Neu-", see Neo-Romanesque , Neo-Gothic , Neo-Renaissance , Neo-Baroque and Neoclassicism .
There were also regional expressions that eclectically combined different styles or took up motifs typical of the region. Examples of this are the spa architecture (particularly pronounced on the German Baltic Sea coast), the Hanover architecture school , the Nuremberg style , the Semper Nicolai school in the Dresden area and the Johann Albrecht style in Mecklenburg . Sometimes there were stylistic deviations from city to city.
Special representative buildings of the empire, however, were often created in a similar style throughout Germany, the Prussian imperial post offices z. B. mostly in neo-Gothic clinker brick construction, museums and judicial buildings often in the style of neoclassicism and temples of the muses or operas according to neo-baroque specifications. Many town halls were built in neo-Gothic architecture as a reference to the first town halls in the Middle Ages, e.g. the Munich town hall . The Venetian Renaissance, on the other hand, was the model for many private commercial buildings, such as the Hamburg Alster Arcades . This tendency to assign architectural styles to a specific purpose can later be observed throughout the German Empire , according to its "moral-associative meaning".
An important architect of this time is Gottfried Semper , who built the picture gallery (1855) at the Dresden Zwinger and the first (burned down) and also the second, today's Dresden opera, the Semperoper (1878). He also worked on the first plans for the romantic Schwerin Castle , which was completed in 1857 under Georg Adolf Demmler , Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and the Schinkel student Friedrich August Stüler .
The preference for medieval buildings, which emerged from the art of Romanticism , can also be found in the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle , which Ludwig II had built from 1869. In the Gothic enthusiasm of this era, the Cologne Cathedral and the Ulm Minster were also completed and new buildings such as the Wiesbaden Market Church began. Large neo-baroque sacred buildings such as the Berlin Cathedral were also built later .
The neo-renaissance based on Italian models began in Germany in 1816 with the Palais Leuchtenberg in Munich by Leo von Klenze and extensions to the Munich residence from 1826. Based on the model of the Loggia dei Lanzi , the Feldherrnhalle was built by Friedrich von Gärtner from 1841 to 1844 .
After the war of 1870/71, the “patriotic consciousness returned to the so-called German Renaissance ”, which is mainly understood to mean its mannerist phase. One example of this is the town hall in Bielefeld . Thanks to French reparations payments as a result of the war, prosperity is growing in the empire, and many new historicist buildings are still being built in the phase after the actual founding period . Colonies of villas are growing around many important cities, and in some cases entire city districts are being created or completely redesigned using urban block edge construction. B. Berlin-Charlottenburg and the Leipziger Südvorstadt .
A well-known building from the late phase of historicism is the Reichstag building (1894) by Paul Wallot , whose facade reflects the style search and the resulting mix of styles of the time.
Art Nouveau
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The Art Nouveau began in the field of arts and crafts around 1890 and lasted only until about 1910. The term goes back to the 1896 Munich published magazine The youth back.
An important example of Art Nouveau architecture in Germany is the artists' colony on Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt, where Joseph Maria Olbrich , the architect of the Vienna Secession , realized numerous buildings between 1901 and 1908, including the Hochzeitsturm, a Darmstadt landmark . Peter Behrens , who later worked as an architect and designer for AEG , also built a house here.
The Belgian Henry van de Velde was formative for the German Art Nouveau movement. In Art Nouveau he saw a new style that promised the longed-for diversity of forms of a new era. In Weimar he built a school of applied arts (1906) and an art school (1911), the latter is now the main building of the Bauhaus University Weimar and was also the first seat of the State Bauhaus Institute.
Modern
Modern architecture in Germany received its initial impetus mainly from industrial construction , in which architectural design was not so much subject to the prevailing historicism . Worth mentioning here are: The AEG turbine hall in Berlin by Peter Behrens (1908–1909) and in particular the Fagus factory by Walter Gropius in Alfeld an der Leine (1911–1914). During this time (1915), Building 15 was also Germany's first solitary high-rise in Jena .
The so-called classical modern in Germany is essentially congruent with the new building , i. H. primarily with the buildings of functionalism as shaped by the Bauhaus and the New Frankfurt .
Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in 1919 shortly after he succeeded Henry van de Velde in Weimar as head of the arts and crafts school. The Bauhaus was to develop into the most influential art and architecture school of the 20th century. Although the Bauhaus did not initially have an architecture department, Gropius saw architecture as the "ultimate goal of all artistic activity". Initially, some Bauhaus members were inclined to Expressionist architecture - buildings such as the Einstein Tower by Erich Mendelsohn (1921) or the Hamburg Chilehaus by Fritz Höger (1924) had a visionary, sensational new language of form and thus shaped the architectural scene for a short time. This is a modern style specific to Germany, with some regional characteristics.
In times of inflation and economic hardship, the Bauhaus endeavored to develop inexpensive, modern and functional residential buildings. Thus arose in 1923 in Weimar, the Haus am Horn of Georg Muche and Adolf Meyer . In 1925, a year after the nationalist parties had gained a majority in the Thuringian state parliament, the Bauhaus in Weimar had to close. In the same year, Gropius began building a new school in Dessau , which was completed in 1926. The Bauhaus Dessau is by far the most famous classic modern building in Germany.
But the National Socialists made life difficult for the Bauhaus members in Dessau as well. Mies van der Rohe headed the Bauhaus from 1930, trying to keep the Bauhaus as apolitical as possible; but when the National Socialists gained power in the state parliament in 1932, the Bauhaus had to close. The attempted move to Berlin was finally followed by the self-dissolution in 1933. After the seizure of power, many masters and students of the Bauhaus emigrated to the USA or other countries, became teachers or architects there and spread the Bauhaus style all over the world, so that it later became International Style, the international style .
The German Werkbund also played a special role in modern architecture . In 1927, under the direction of Mies van der Rohe, it organized an exhibition on contemporary living in Stuttgart, and built the Weißenhofsiedlung . Here you can still see the houses of the most famous architects of European modernism such as Le Corbusier , Mies van der Rohe , Hans Scharoun , Mart Stam or JJP Oud .
Housing construction was a predominant building task in the Weimar Republic . During this time, a number of housing estates were built in Berlin that are today among the most important building ensembles of classical modernism: for example the Britz horseshoe housing estate (1930) by Bruno Taut and Martin Wagner , the large housing estate “ Onkel Toms Hütte ” (1931) by Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner , Hugo Häring , Otto Rudolf Salvisberg and Alfred Grenander and the Siemensstadt (1930) by Hans Scharoun , Walter Gropius , Hugo Häring, Otto Bartning , Fred Forbát and Paul Henning . Also to be mentioned is the Dammerstock housing estate (1930) in Karlsruhe by Walter Gropius, Otto Haesler u. a.
The Zeche Zollverein in Essen is also a special work of modernism ; it was built between 1927 and 1932 by Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer . It should also be emphasized that between 1926 and 1940 most of the transmission towers in Germany were made of wood . These towers were the tallest wooden structures ever erected. Today only the Gleiwitz transmission tower in Gleiwitz , which has been in Poland since 1945, remains .
An accompanying movement to the modernist movement emerging in Europe and especially Germany was the Heimatschutz architecture from 1904 until the early 1960s , which maintained and further developed the architecture typical of the region in many places without being generally interested in a conflict with other contemporary movements. All new buildings should fit harmoniously into the surrounding cultural landscape .
Architecture under National Socialism
The seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933 meant the temporary end of modern architecture in Germany. The architecture Nazism preferred a strict, monumental, highly simplified Neoclassicism . Representative buildings and urban redevelopments show a clear tendency towards oversizing. The architecture served the self-portrayal of the National Socialists , who wanted to convey the appearance of greatness, eternity and power and therefore preferred ancient forms with (curtain) facades and wall coverings made of natural stone .
The best known example is that of Albert Speer from 1934 planned Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg . Among other things, one can see the unfinished congress hall built in the style of the Colosseum (Ludwig and Franz Ruff, from 1934), in which the Documentation Center ( Günther Domenig , 2001) is located today, and the Zeppelin grandstand modeled on the Pergamon Altar (Albert Speer, 1934–1937), which, in addition to the reference to antiquity, also conveys the quasi-religious aspect of National Socialist ideology .
Another example is the " Reichssportfeld " planned by Werner March for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin with the Olympic Stadium . Here you can also see the typical sculptures - the oversized, idealized figures (see: Arno Breker ) - that often adorned the ruling architecture of the National Socialists .
A declared model of architecture under National Socialism was Prussian Classicism , especially the works of Karl Friedrich Schinkel . For example, a similarity can be seen in the facade of Schinkel's Altes Museum and the House of Art in Munich planned by Paul Ludwig Troost , which opened in 1937 as the "House of German Art" with the " Great German Art Exhibition ". In Munich, the " capital of the movement ", it also established the King Place a "party area" with u. a. NSDAP administrative buildings planned by Troost .
The founding cities of this time include Wolfsburg ("City of the KdF-Wagens ", from 1938) and Salzgitter ("City of the Hermann Göring Works"); In addition, there were reconstruction plans for conquered cities and gigantic urban planning for the so-called “Führer cities” of Munich , Hamburg , Nuremberg , Linz and Berlin . On behalf of Adolf Hitler , Albert Speer planned the conversion of the Reich capital Berlin into " World Capital Germania " from 1937 ; The Tempelhof Airport , which was planned from 1935 onwards, was also part of the plan , the lobby of which reflects the stone architectural ideal of that time.
post war period
German Democratic Republic
The general secretary of the SED Walter Ulbricht , who can be described as an opponent of modern architecture and who, due to his position of power, had more influence on the architectural style than the architects of his time, had a great influence on post-war architecture. The model of the early buildings was on the one hand the monumental socialist-classicist (also: "Stalinist") architecture of the USSR , and on the other hand it was the traditional Prussian building culture in the spirit of Karl Friedrich Schinkel .
Prussia's ruling architecture also inspired the GDR's first major building project , the German prestige project of socialist classicism: Stalinallee , today Karl-Marx-Allee . It was a huge reconstruction project with which the party leadership also wanted to demonstrate the strength of socialism , workers should live here in palace architecture. Hermann Henselmann was one of the leading architects of the first phase of construction (1951–1958) , and the following are also to be named: Egon Hartmann , Richard Paulick , Kurt Leucht , Hanns Hopp and Karl Souradny . Incidentally, it was construction workers on Stalinallee who started the uprising of June 17, 1953 with a protest march the day before.
Other major projects of the time in this style were the Russian Embassy in Berlin , the founding of the city and the new building of Eisenhüttenstadt (then 1951–61 Stalinstadt), parts of Magdeburg's inner city (especially Ernst-Reuter-Allee), the Leipziger Ring-Café and Sportforum and the University of Transport in Dresden . A special feature are some projects based on specific regional styles , including the Lange Straße in Rostock , which is inspired by brick Gothic , buildings on the Dresden Altmarkt in the local Baroque style , as well as the new buildings in the local city center, loosely based on the Mecklenburg prewar architecture of Neubrandenburg (to on the market place).
From 1955, however, socialist classicism and regionalism fell out of favor with the SED party leadership (the first section of the former Stalinallee is not even mentioned in a later GDR architecture guide), and the era of uniform industrialized construction methods such as prefabricated buildings began. This system construction with masses of simple, prefabricated components should enable more efficient, more cost-effective construction so that the need for apartments could be met more quickly. The second section of Karl-Marx-Allee (from Strausberger Platz to Alexanderplatz ) has already been built using prefabricated panels.
The well-known official buildings of the GDR included the now demolished Palace of the Republic ( Heinz Graffunder and Karl-Ernst Swora, 1976), as well as the preserved State Council building (1964) with a modified, integrated portal of the Berlin City Palace , which was demolished in 1950 by order of the SED .
Special mention should be made of the engineer-architect Ulrich Müther , whose shell structures, such as the Teepott completed in 1968 (with Erich Kaufmann and Hans Fleischhauer) in Warnemünde and the Seerose café in Potsdam , are remarkable individual buildings.
Large urban development projects in addition to Eisenhüttenstadt were the later housing developments in Hoyerswerda and Halle-Neustadt .
The most tragically famous building in the GDR is undoubtedly the Berlin Wall , which was erected on August 13, 1961 . The increasing deterioration of the building stock of many city centers and residential buildings during the real existing socialism should not be forgotten .
The best-known surviving individual building from the GDR era is the Berlin TV tower , which is the tallest building in Germany and, after reunification, underwent a change from a politically co-opted symbol of socialism to an ideology-free symbol of Berlin as a whole and to a German identification tag. Thanks to its distinctive design and its “retro charm”, it has a recognition value of global significance and is now one of the most popular sights in Germany.
Federal Republic of Germany
After the Second World War , as in the GDR, reconstruction was the top priority in the Federal Republic of Germany . With regard to urban development , the city planners divided into two camps: one wanted to restore the prewar state of the cities as much as possible in order to restore the identity of the city and its residents - as was practiced in Munich , for example - the other wanted a new beginning in urban planning the modern architecture with lots of green, open spaces and a future-proof, modern infrastructure, in short: the car-friendly city. B. in Hanover . The results were e.g. Sometimes different and even today there is still or again discussion about the reconstruction of war-torn inner cities, such as in 2007 in the old town of Frankfurt am Main ( Dom-Römer project ). With regard to the architectural style, most of the architects of the Federal Republic of Germany wanted to tie in with pre-war modernism, or develop it further - neoclassicism was largely frowned upon in West Germany .
Many destroyed churches were built or reconstructed. On the 100th anniversary of the first German parliamentary assembly in 1948, the Paulskirche in Frankfurt was rebuilt ( Rudolf Schwarz et al.), Which set a political example in the young Federal Republic as a symbol of democracy . An important church building from the post-war period is the Matthäuskirche in Pforzheim, planned by Egon Eiermann . Among other things, this became the model for Eiermann's most famous work, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (1963), which, along with the ruins of the old Memorial Church, became a symbol of the reconstruction.
The Interbau (Hansaviertel) in Berlin in 1957 , which took place under the direction of Otto Bartning and in which numerous international architects also took part, including Alvar Aalto , Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, was important for residential construction . In the 1960s and 1970s, mass housing construction followed in the Federal Republic of Germany, for example between 1962 and 1974 in the Märkisches Viertel in Berlin (keyword: brutalism).
The link to pre-war modernism also seemed successful because a number of early modern architects were now building in the Federal Republic. First and foremost, Mies van der Rohe , who planned the Neue Nationalgalerie (1968) in Berlin, and Hans Scharoun , who with Edgar Wisniewski directly opposite the iconic Philharmonic (1956–1963, 1979–1984) and the Berlin State Library (1967–1976) built.
The architecture of the USA had a great influence . H. the prevailing international style there , which is most evident in the company headquarters built at the time, e.g. B. on Dreischeibenhaus or Thyssen building in Dusseldorf , the American on contemporary high-rise construction is oriented.
The Munich Olympic Stadium for the 1972 Summer Olympics is one of the most representative buildings in the Federal Republic of Germany . The architects of the sensational tent construction were Günter Behnisch , Frei Otto ( Pritzker Prize posthumously 2015), Fritz Auer , Winfried Büxel , Jürgen Joedicke , Erhard Tränkner and Karlheinz Weber with Leonhardt + Andrä . The complex was deliberately planned as a contrast to the Berlin buildings for the 1936 Summer Olympics ; it should act as a democratic symbol and convey lightness, openness and transparency.
The Bundeshaus in Bonn (1988–1992) planned by Behnisch & Partner is also one of the representative democratic buildings, but due to the political change and the subsequent partial move of the government to Berlin, it no longer performs its actual function.
Postmodern
The “ postmodern ” architectural style began in the USA around the mid-1970s and lasted until the late 1980s, which is why it was limited to West Germany. Postmodernism is considered a countermovement to the international style and has its theoretical foundation in the philosophical and literary theoretical trend of the same name . The postmodern formal language typically works with citations from the history of architecture, some of which are exaggerated by some architects like caricatures; In addition, the architecture should not only limit its function, but should also “tell” or convey content.
An example of postmodernism in Germany is the German Architecture Museum (opened in 1984) in Frankfurt am Main. Oswald Mathias Ungers gutted an existing villa and built a “house within a house” inside. The built-in “house” is a quote from the history of architecture: it embodies the legendary original hut that stands for the beginning of architecture.
One of the most important works of postmodern architecture is the Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart , planned by James Stirling since 1977 and also completed in 1984 , which caused a sensation with its monumentality, the play with historical quotations and daring colors.
Hans Hollein planned the Museum of Modern Art (1991) in Frankfurt am Main, also in the style of postmodernism .
With the 256 m high postmodern Frankfurt exhibition tower by Helmut Jahn , the hitherto tallest skyscraper in Europe was built in 1991 , which was replaced in 1997 by the likewise postmodern Commerzbank Tower by Norman Foster , which is still Germany's tallest skyscraper .
Deconstructivism
The Deconstruction began in the late 1980s and also received impulses from contemporary philosophy . A forerunner to this development was Gottfried Böhm , who became known for “concrete rocks” like the Neviges pilgrimage cathedral , which was designed in 1968. Böhm received the renowned Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1986 .
The deconstructivist buildings for the Vitra company in Weil am Rhein caused a stir : the Vitra Design Museum (1989) by Frank O. Gehry and the fire station (1993) by Zaha Hadid . In Germany this laid the foundation for a worldwide movement for renewal in architecture.
Another example is the Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg . Items are allocated to the monumental architecture of the applied by the Nazis Party Rally Grounds has Guenther Domenig installing the Documentation Center (2001) in the unfinished Congress Hall decidedly deconstructivist planned. The Ufa Crystal Palace in Dresden is also an often cited example of deconstructivism in Germany.
Deconstructivism is also one of the contemporary architectural trends, as can be seen in more recent plans - such as the design for the new building for the European Central Bank in Frankfurt am Main by Coop Himmelb (l) au .
Contemporary currents
Contemporary architecture in Germany is shaped - especially in the public perception - by a number of well-known, internationally active architects (“star architects”). These companies receive many orders for larger projects and representative buildings. Even German architects are often active around the world today.
It is now often impossible to distinguish architecture in Germany from the rest of the world; the development of architecture can often only be grasped in a global context. This global interchangeability and uniformity of contemporary architecture is also often criticized. German architectural offices manage a. a. major urban development projects (e.g. Albert Speer & Partner in the People's Republic of China , Ingenhoven Architects in Ireland ). On the other hand, offices from abroad carry out projects in Germany, often in cooperation with locally based offices. For example, the Swiss Herzog & de Meuron designed the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg or Zaha Hadid the “ phæno ” science museum in Wolfsburg (2005).
Various globalized trends can currently be observed in architecture. From the deconstruction has the increased use of computers in the design phase, a kind of neo- Expressionism developed. In this way, individually shaped, sculptural structures are created, which are intended to give their content, in some cases just the building itself, an artistic expression. Examples are the extension of the Jewish Museum Berlin by Daniel Libeskind or Frank O. Gehry's buildings at the so-called Medienhafen in Düsseldorf .
As a counter-movement to the deconstructivist or expressive world of forms, there is minimalism , with its buildings deliberately designed in a sparse and reduced formal language, as can be seen in the buildings of Tadao Ando in: z. B. the conference center for Vitra in Weil am Rhein and the art and exhibition building of the Langen Foundation near Neuss .
The current of technology-oriented, new functionalism is represented, for example, by Norman Foster , as can be seen on the dome of the Reichstag building in Berlin or the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt am Main . The latter in particular is a building that is planned in the spirit of " ecological building " and designed to conserve resources from the draft to the technical equipment. This type of construction as well as “ sustainable building ” (e.g. Anna Heringer ) are among the trend-setting, if not style-defining developments in the German architecture scene. Not least because of the high technical standards in the construction industry, Germany is considered a pioneer when it comes to “ecological” architecture. With the help of new technologies and materials, energy-saving structures are being developed, such as the so-called passive houses or "solar houses" (see solar architecture ). The use of regional and natural building materials is also gaining importance again in this context, e.g. B. Natural stones such as sandstone , lime paints , clay / loam , brick , slate , thatch and wood .
The increasingly public discussion of architecture and urban planning today means that committed citizens as well as prominent stakeholders influence structural decisions. For example, through the use of non-profit associations and the expenditure of several well-known people (including TV presenter Günther Jauch , SAP founder Hasso Plattner ), instead of a modern new building for the Brandenburg State Parliament, the reconstruction of the historic Potsdam City Palace was achieved. The castle was rebuilt in slightly different cubature and with its baroque facades at the original location.
The reconstruction of buildings that were destroyed during the war or later demolished is another trend in German building culture that is increasingly affecting the whole of Germany. The most prominent reconstruction in recent years is undoubtedly the baroque Dresden Frauenkirche (2005) with the Neumarkt that surrounds it . Other current examples are the Berlin City Palace , Potsdamer Mitte with the City Palace , Barberini Palace and the Garrison Church , as well as part of Frankfurt's old town ( Dom-Römer project ). Further projects are being considered or planned nationwide to repair war and demolition wounds and to repair the cityscape .
In this context, there is also a general trend towards a resumption of classical scales, proportions and architectural details, which is also known as neo-classical architecture . This trend is due to an increasing rejection of modernist architectural styles in the population, as this type of contemporary architecture is often perceived as cold, impersonal, insignificant or immeasurable. People are longing for more “human” standards, for more small parts, for regional grounding and for classically designed and structured facades (e.g. through ornaments , cornices and pilasters ). This development can be seen u. a. in the New Urbanism (Engl. New Urbanism ), which is increasingly recognized the Federal Republic and the urban rather than loosened row development block perimeter construction promoted. Individual architects have already dedicated themselves to this topic for a long time or work according to its ideals, e.g. B. Hans Kollhoff , Sergei Tchoban , the office Patzschke & Patzschke , Weise und Treuner Architects , Tobias Nöfer Architects or the Berlin city planner Hans Stimmann . They are characterized by their recourse to traditional, tried-and-tested architectural elements, materials and building arrangements, some of which are newly combined or further developed. Sometimes new varieties of postmodernism emerge .
Social relevance
In 2007 the Federal Foundation for Building Culture was founded, whose aim is to "promote the quality of the built environment" and, among other things, to promote the perception of planning and construction services from Germany at home and abroad.
Museums, exhibitions and events
- German Architecture Museum , Frankfurt
- Architecture museum of the Technical University of Munich
- Architecture Day
- Open Monument Day
See also
- Building culture , architecture center
- Category: Building in Germany by style
- List of reconstructed buildings in Germany
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b as a memorial to the defeat of the division of Germany; Elmar Elling: National Symbols (December 29, 2005) on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education , accessed on August 18, 2011.
- ↑ a b c d Wilfried Koch: Building Style - European Architecture from Antiquity to the Present , Orbis-Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-572-05927-5 , p. 216
- ↑ a b Wilfried Koch: Architectural Style - European Architecture from Antiquity to the Present , Orbis-Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-572-05927-5 , p. 375.
- ↑ Gottfried Kiesow: Expressionism and Heimatschutzstil. In: Monuments, magazine for monument culture in Germany. No. 3, June 2011, ISSN 0941-7125 , p. 56 ff.
- ↑ Top 15 sights in Germany , accessed on September 4, 2014.
- ↑ "The costs dictate the form" , architect DW Dreysse in an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau , June 11, 2014
- ↑ Historical reconstruction: The longing for the old city is unbroken , Dankwart Guratzsch for Die Welt , August 26, 2012
- ↑ Builders revive the past , Die Welt, December 18, 2014
literature
- Overall representations
- Mathias Wallner and Heike Werner: Architecture and History in Germany. Verlag Werner, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-9809471-1-4 .
- Antiquity
- Charles Marie Ternes : Roman Germany. Aspects of its history and culture . Reclam, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-15-010341-X .
- Pre-Romanesque
- Michael Imhof , Christoph Winterer : Charlemagne . Life and impact, art and architecture. Edition Winterer, Petersberg 2005, ISBN 978-3-932526-61-9 .
- Romanesque
- Dethard von Winterfeld : The Kaiserdome Speyer , Mainz , Worms and their Romanesque environment. Echter Verlag , Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-429-01489-1 .
- Gothic
- Gottfried Kiesow : Ways to Brick Gothic. German Foundation for Monument Protection, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-936942-34-X .
- Renaissance
- Hans-Joachim Kadatz: German Renaissance architecture . From the early bourgeois revolution to the end of the Thirty Years War. Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1983 (also dissertation Humboldt University Berlin 1986).
- Wilfried Koch : Architectural style. European architecture from antiquity to the present. Orbis-Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-572-05927-5 , p. 216 (Renaissance, Mannerism Germany).
- Baroque
- Stephan Hoppe : What is baroque. Architecture and Urban Development in Europe 1580–1770. 2nd edition Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-89678-694-4 .
- Hermann Bauer , Anna Bauer: Johann Baptist and Dominikus Zimmermann . Origin and completion of the Bavarian Rococo. Pustet, Regensburg 1985, ISBN 3-7917-0918-6 .
- classicism
- Frank-Andreas Bechtoldt and Thomas Weiss (eds.): Weltbild Wörlitz. Design of a cultural landscape. Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit 1996, ISBN 3-7757-0603-8 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name by the State Palaces and Gardens of Wörlitz, March 21 to June 2, 1996).
- historicism
- Valentin W. Hammerschmidt: Claim and Expression of the Architecture of Late Historicism in Germany (1860-1914) . Lang, Frankfurt / M. 1985, ISBN 3-8204-8351-9 (plus dissertation, University of Stuttgart 1984).
- Art Nouveau
- Stefanie Lieb : What is Art Nouveau? An analysis of Art Nouveau architecture from 1890–1910 . 2nd edition Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2002, ISBN 978-3-89678-693-7 .
- Modern
- Wolfgang Pehnt: The Architecture of Expressionism. Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit 1998, ISBN 3-7757-0668-2 .
- Romana Schneider and Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (eds.): Modern Architecture in Germany 1900 to 1950. Expressionism and New Objectivity. Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit 1994, ISBN 3-7757-0452-3 .
- Romana Schneider and Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (ed.): Modern architecture in Germany 1900 to 1950. Reform and tradition. Ostfildern-Ruit 1992. ISBN 3-7757-0363-2 .
- Romana Schneider, Winfried Nerdinger and Wilfried Wang (eds.): Architecture in the 20th century. Germany. Prestel, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-7913-2293-1 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Deutsches Architekturmuseum , Frankfurt / M. March 25 to June 25, 2000).
- Winfried Nerdinger and Cornelius Tafel: Architecture Guide Germany. 20th century. Birkhäuser, Basel 1996, ISBN 3-7643-5315-5 .
- Andreas Butter, Ulrich Hartung (Ed.): Ostmoderne. Architecture in Berlin 1945–1965 . JOVIS Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 978-3-936314-41-0 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Deutscher Werkbund Berlin e.V.).
- Architecture under National Socialism
- Romana Schneider and Wilfried Wang (eds.): Modern architecture in Germany 1900 to 2000. Power and monument. Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit 1997, ISBN 3-7757-0713-1 , pp. 101–161 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt / M. January 24 to April 5, 1998).
- Winfried Nerdinger (Ed.): Architecture, power, memory. Opinions 1984–2004 . Prestel, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7913-3227-9
- Post-war GDR
- Romana Schneider and Wilfried Wang (eds.): Modern architecture in Germany 1900 to 2000. Power and monument. Hatje, Ostfildern-Ruit 1997, ISBN 3-7757-0713-1 , pp. 163-231 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt / M. January 24 to April 5, 1998).
- Klaus von Beyme u. a. (Ed.): New cities from ruins. German post-war urban development. Prestel, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7913-1164-6 .
- Werner Durth , Jörn Düwel , Niels Gutschow : Architecture and urban planning of the GDR. The early years . JOVIS Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-939633-29-7 .
- Post-war Federal Republic
- Winfried Nerdinger u. a. (Ed.): New cities from ruins. German post-war urban development. Prestel, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7913-1164-6 .
- Winfried Nerdinger and Ines Florschütz (ed.): Architecture of the child prodigies. Awakening and displacement in Bavaria 1945–1960 . Pustet, Salzburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-7025-0505-9 .
- Wolfgang Jean Stock and Ingeborg Flagge (Hrsg.): Architecture and Democracy. Build for Politics from the American Revolution to the Present . Hatje, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-7757-0402-7 .
- Postmodern
- Heinrich Klotz (ed.): The revision of the modern. Postmodern architecture. 1960-1980. Prestel, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7913-0664-2 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt / M. June 1 to October 10, 1984).
- Ingeborg flag and Romana Schneider (ed.): The revision of the postmodern. Post-Modernism Revisited. Hamburg 2004. ISBN 3-88506-558-4
- Deconstructivism
- Ingeborg flag and Romana Schneider (ed.): The revision of the postmodern. Post-Modernism Revisited. Junius-Verlag, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-88506-558-4 .
- Current architecture
- Gert Kähler : Building culture in Germany . Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning , Bonn 2002 (2 vol.).
- Status report long version, inventory, trends, recommendations . 2002, ISBN 3-87994-061-4 .
- Process communication, surveys, interviews . 2002, ISBN 3-87994-062-2 .
