Opus spicatum
Opus spicatum ( Latin 'Ährenwerk' from Latin spica ' Ähre ') is a masonry made of stones or thin bricks , which are arranged vertically alternately at an angle to each other and thus form a spike or herringbone-like pattern.
history
"Opus spicatum" was already used in ancient times for decorative purposes in masonry and as a packing layer foundation . This technique was also used in the Middle Ages. They were primarily used as infill masonry for so-called shell masonry . The two outer sides of the respective wall were built from carefully hewn blocks. The remaining space between the shell walls was filled with sloping flat stones to produce the desired wall thickness. Occasionally one sees a layer of flat bricked stones between the sloping layers.
This masonry technique represented an enormous cost saving compared to the massive construction from cuboids. The problem, however, was a - albeit small - lateral thrust exerted by this masonry. Cracks between the formwork and infill masonry can also often be observed.
In ruins of medieval buildings it can often be observed that the expensive blocks of the formwork masonry were removed in order to extract building material, while the "opus spicatum" layers were preserved as inferior building material.
A number of monuments in the village churches in Central Hesse have preserved corn masonry, for example churches in Almuthshausen , Dautphe , Fronhausen (Lahn) , Niederellenbach , Schemmern and on the Christenberg .
symbolism
Originally, the “Opus spicatum” motif - especially as an insert in a masonry bond - was likely to have had a disastrous ( apotropaic ) meaning. Only in later times was it viewed as a pure decorative motif.
