Saxon Renaissance

A typical building from the Renaissance period in Leipzig is shown. Here the so-called Princely House.

House in Hainstrasse in Leipzig

The Saxon Renaissance is a special type of architecture from the Renaissance period . It was particularly widespread in the area of the Electorate of Saxony on the middle Elbe . Style-shaping influences came mainly from Bohemia , Italy and Poland . For this purpose, Italian artist families wandered around and roamed the Saxon cultural area along their hiking routes in search of commissions, thus ensuring a mix of styles as well as their own style development.

history

The most important forerunner of the renaissance in the Saxon area was the electoral Saxon state master builder Arnold von Westfalen (approx. 1425–1481), who created the Albrechtsburg in Meißen in the transition from the late Gothic to the renaissance . Transitional forms of Baudekors can be found on Hartenfels Castle , Schloss Wurzen , Castle Hinterglauchau and Castle Heynitz .

The Saxon ruling dynasty of the Wettins , who commissioned their own large-scale buildings and, under Elector Moritz, also called Italian artists to Saxony, was decisive for the expansion of the new architectural style, which originated in Italy and spread throughout Germany . Well-known artists and builders who worked in Saxony were: Giovanni Maria Nosseni from Lugano , Hans von Dehn-Rothfelser , Benedetto Tola (* 1525 in Brescia / Italy; † 1572), Gabriel de Tola, Caspar Voigt von Wierandt , Hans Irmisch , Rochus of Lynar , Carlo di Cesare del Palagio . Franz Maidburg built the main altar of the town church of Annaberg in 1519 and initiated the renaissance in Saxony. The Saxon master builders used the Renaissance style from around 1530 and exported it to northern Germany (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg).

After the Wettin property was divided into an Ernestine and an Albertine line in 1485, Torgau, along with Wittenberg , developed into the preferred residence of the Ernestine electors. The Torgau Hartenfels Castle, which was considerably new and rebuilt by the middle of the 16th, with its famous Wendelstein, is one of the most important early Renaissance buildings in Germany. After the Wittenberg surrender and the transfer of Torgau to the Albertines, Elector Moritz initially continued work on the castle. The permanent relocation of the residence to Dresden by the end of the 16th century largely saved Hartenfels Castle from later stylistic changes, such as that experienced by the Dresden Residenzschloss , which was considerably enlarged from 1548 to 1556. The facades of Dresden Castle were richly decorated with sgraffiti and Moritz's brother and successor, Elector August , who ruled from 1553 to 1586, completed the building, which became a major work of the Saxon Renaissance. Later, however, after a fire, the interior was made Baroque and the exterior facades were reworked in the 19th century in the neo-renaissance style.

Area changes in the course of the Wittenberg surrender

The area of Saxony did not yet include the margravates of Upper and Lower Lusatia , which belonged to the Bohemian crown and only fell to Saxony in 1635. Saxony also extended further north into the Fläming . At the beginning of the early Renaissance the Wettin lands were split up. The Lutheran Reformation started from the Electorate of Saxony, which was under Ernestine rule, with centers of rulership in Wittenberg and Torgau, while the Reformation was only introduced in 1539 in the Albertine rulership area adjacent to the south (predominantly Margraviate of Meissen). After the end of the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, the Upper Saxon-Meissnian area then formed a politically rounded area.

The artistic and structural development was particularly encouraged by Elector August , who ruled from 1553 until his death in 1586. There is evidence of his great interest in questions of construction and architecture . His library contained many architectural writings and sample books of building elements. His main work is the huge Augustusburg hunting lodge , built from 1568 to 1572. Nowhere in Europe has an ideal geometric plan been implemented so consistently. The design of the original model could go back to August itself. He also completed the expansion of the Dresden Residenzschloss (1553–1556), which his brother Moritz had begun. He had the Jägerhof (Dresden) built and numerous older castles converted into hunting castles, including Nossen , Grillenburg , Schwarzenberg and the new Gommern Castle ; for his wife he had Annaburg and Lichtenburg Castle built, as the official castles of Dippoldiswalde and Freudenstein . His successor Christian I (1586–1591) continued his father's construction work. Above all, the activities of Nosseni caused the architectural style to spread in Saxony.

The style rubbed off on private building activity in the urban centers. Wealthy citizens began to copy the resulting magnificent buildings in Dresden and Meißen and erected houses with arched portals , facades with square bay windows above the ground floor, often in pairs. Further domestic style elements of the Renaissance can be found on the ornaments of the front doors and the window frames. The wooden ceilings are beautifully designed. The way in which most of the town houses were designed at this time can be traced back to the influence of Dresden. In addition to the buildings, altars but also grave slabs have become the subject of the changed design in Saxony. In cities such as Meißen , Pirna , Freiberg , Görlitz , Zwickau , Torgau and Wittenberg, there are still numerous Renaissance townhouses to this day.

From 1656 Wolf Caspar von Klengel (1630–1691) was chief builder; under him the replacement of the late Renaissance forms with the new baroque style was announced. As a “prelude”, Johann Georg Starcke built the Dresden Palais in the Great Garden for Johann Georg II from 1678 , based on models of the French and Italian early baroque. Johann Georg's grandson August the Strong , who was impressed by his grandfather's opulent court festivities, pushed the new architectural style forward with unprecedented energy from 1694 and thus created the Dresden Baroque , which shaped an entire century and radiated far beyond the national borders. How long the building traditions trained in the Renaissance continued to have an effect can be seen in the Renaissance gables of the Ortenburg in Bautzen, which were only built in 1698 according to plans by Martin Pötzsch; Gables in a similar, even baroque-looking transition style were attached to Althörnitz Castle as early as 1660 .

Spatial demarcation

In addition to the Saxon characteristics of the Renaissance styles, there are other areas of distribution in Germany. These are:

North German Renaissance region
Renaissance in the Weser area
Westphalian Renaissance region
Rhenish Renaissance region
Renaissance on the Main
Renaissance in the Neckar area
Renaissance region in the foothills of the Alps

There are also distinctive regional characteristics in other countries.

Architectural characteristics

Characteristic are the typical triangular gables on the dwelling houses and tower structures (in the early days also round gables), in addition a dominance of the colors white and gray as well as plastered buildings without natural stone decor. Buildings from the time of the Saxon Renaissance can be found today in almost all areas that were the property of the House of Wettin at the time of the Renaissance , i.e. in today's federal states of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt (southern part) and Brandenburg (Niederlausitz) as well as in adjacent areas such as Poland and Bohemia.

On the other hand, master builders of the Weser Renaissance carried out the conversion of the old monastery to Schloss Leitzkau near Magdeburg, whose facades and gables therefore have natural stone decor and fan tips.

Works

The most striking and preserved large structures of this time were above all castles and town halls, which can still be found in large numbers in their original state.

Selection of buildings from the Saxon Renaissance with the typical features: