ancient architecture

The Roman Empire once extended over much of what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. The remains of the Limes Germanicus, the Roman frontier fortifications built around 100-150 AD, are still preserved today. In addition to military structures such as forts and camps, the Romans also built baths, bridges, and amphitheatres.

An important metropolis of this time was the ancient city of Trier (or Trier), where today, among other things, a set of Roman Monuments of Trier are preserved that have been declared a World Heritage Site in 1986, such as the Porta Nigra, probably the best preserved city gate from Antiquity, the remains of several imperial baths, a Roman bridge, an amphitheater and the (reconstructed) Basilica of Constantine.

With the retreat of the Romans, their urban culture and progress in architecture disappeared (e.g. heating and window glass). Hardly any buildings have survived from the Germanic tribes, as they lived in home settlements.

Pre-Romanesque architecture

Since the Carolingian era, under the impulse of the emperor and the prelates, Germany was provided with numerous religious buildings, of which very few remain. Mention may be made of the palatine chapel of Aix-la-Chapelle, built around 800 by Charlemagne, today part of the Aachen Cathedral: Built according to Byzantine models with a central plan, due to Eudes of Metz, it is an heir to antiquity. Its plan is reminiscent of that of San Vitale in Ravenna or the churches of the East, although it is not clear if Eudes himself would have seen those buildings or simply sketches that would have been sent to him.[2]​.

A specific innovation of the Carolingian period is the western massif or Westwerk of the churches. It is a quasi-autonomous building body in relation to the nave and located to the west that consists of a massive multi-story tower, often framed by two stair turrets. The ground floor comprises a vaulted entrance porch housing relics. The first floor, which acts as a chapel, is a gallery open over the nave by openings.[3] The most famous example is the abbey church of Corvey. The latest jewel of Carolingian architecture is the Fulda Abbey Church, which is almost the size of a Gothic cathedral. It was built by the architect and abbot of the monastery, Ratgar.[2]​.

Important pre-Romanesque buildings are, in addition to the aforementioned palatine chapel in Aachen, the monastery churches on the island Reichenau and the entrance hall of the Lorsch Abbey from the turn of the century, which is a particularly beautiful example among the few surviving Carolingian buildings in Germany. The art of this era is also known as the Carolingian Renaissance and is considered the first classical architectural movement, reviving motifs from Antiquity.

The restoration of imperial authority in the century was accompanied by a renewal of religious architecture. Large wooden carpentry churches of harmonious proportions were built, such as the monastery church of St. Michael in Hildesheim (around 1010-1033) and St. Cyriacus of Gernrode.

Romanesque architecture

After the division of the great Carolingian empire, feudality was established against a background of numerous states almost continually at war with each other. In this context, the monasteries were the only social organization that remained immune to this instability and in them, scholars and artists found an inviolable place in which the precious ancient works were preserved. Architecture was then a sacred discipline. Any abab was a good master builder, capable of drawing a plan and directing the construction of a church, the quintessential monument of the moment, to the point that Romanesque architecture is sometimes called monastic.

In Germany, the style developed in the 2nd centuries and continued until the mid-13th century. Of the three Romanesque schools—Lombard, Rhineland and French—obviously the Rhineland will be the one that stylistically marks the stage, although it will have borrowings from the others in the neighboring areas. These different schools will have several artistic centers busy solving the problem of replacing the old wooden ceilings of the Latin basilicas with stone vaults. At a time of frequent Norman raids, those roofs of the monasteries burned easily and quickly, causing the collapse of a large part of the buildings. The problem was solved with different methods that depended on local resources, technical difficulties and the skill of the performers, which led to a great variety of manifestations, despite the ill-founded opinion of stylistic unity. The vaults will be the characteristic element, not only because of their use but because of the special construction provisions that they required. By exerting an important lateral thrust, they had to be counteracted with the construction of thick walls, buttresses and transverse arches resting on thick pillars. This gave the buildings a severe, austere character and the churches looked like fortresses preceded by a powerful narthex in the shape of a donjon. It is not yet the triumphant church, but it is already a militant church, a symbol of a time in which military monastic orders and communities of soldier monks were established: crusaders and Teutonic knights.

The vaulting of the main nave required the use, in the side naves, of either a continuous semi-barrel vault (quarter circle), or a series of arches that have their longitudinal axis perpendicular to that of the lateral ones. These two counterthrust systems have the disadvantage of making it difficult to drill windows into high walls; As a result, the main part of the church received daylight only from the lower nave windows and was therefore left in relative darkness.

The vault system was applied first to the crypt (barrel vault or groin vault), then to the apse (cul-de-four vault) and choir, then to the side aisles and finally to the main nave, but after three centuries of trial and error, already by the middle of the century, Romanesque art had reached its peak almost everywhere. In general, Romanesque churches were built on a plan in the shape of a Latin cross; The few that had floor plans in a Greek cross or polygonal shape were covered with a vault of domes with squinches or pendants. They were always oriented; the choir, to the east and the tower, to the west.

gothic architecture

Germany received Gothic, belatedly, possibly through the Cistercian order. The early style that arrived from France was already quite formed there[Note 1]​ and would coexist for some time with the German Romanesque forms, which resisted the new style, and thus the first pointed arches were not built until the first years of the century. The French influence was going to be very important since the French architects of the century traveled throughout central Europe, also taking their techniques. Until the end of the Early Middle Ages the Gothic style was not generally accepted in Germany. During the 19th century, columns in churches became extraordinarily thin, ribs acquired very sharp profiles, vaults were flattened and covered with network-like combinations of ribs. In the 19th century, Germany, as was the case with what would become Belgium and the Netherlands, was already a prosperous country that produced rich architecture of great interest.

During the early French Gothic period in Germany only one significant work of this style was begun, around 1180, the Gothic reconstruction of Limburg Cathedral based on the model of Laon Cathedral. The first major building to begin in the Gothic style, Magdeburg Cathedral (from 1207/1209), dates back to the French High Gothic period, but its oldest parts still clearly show early Gothic features. Magdeburg had been the seat of an important diocese since 968 (only inferior in category to the primal see of Mainz), from where part of Eastern Europe had been evangelized. Bishop Albert II, who had studied in France and wanted to imitate the style of the buildings he had seen there, promoted the reconstruction of the cathedral in 1209, which lasted throughout the century and was not completed until 1520 with the placement of the spiers of the towers. Elements of the German Romanesque tradition are still noticeable in it.

However, in several late Romanesque churches, the traditional overall proportions and arched doorways and windows were maintained, but the structurally advantageous innovation of the pointed-arch ribbed vault was adopted for the ceilings. The central building of the Church of Our Lady of Trier (from about 1230), the Abbey of St. Maurice&action=edit&redlink=1 "Benedictine Abbey of St. Maurice (Tholey) (not yet drafted)") in Tholey (from about 1230) and the Hall Church of St. Elizabeth "Church of St. Elizabeth (Marburg)") in Marburg (1235-1283) are considered the first purely Gothic churches in today's German territory. Saint Elizabeth is an important milestone in the evolution of German Gothic, a church of the Teutonic Order that houses the tombs of the ladngraves of Thuringia, to whose family Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia (or Hungary) belonged, who died in 1231 after a life of asceticism and charity, and was canonized shortly afterwards. The church was also built a few years after his death. It has a longitudinal plan, with two tall towers on the façade. The eastern part does not have an ambulatory but rather a trefoil shape made up of the central apse and two symmetrical apses that open into the transept, constituting a triple choir that replaces the radial chapels of French Gothic, and that encompasses a unitary and concave space, adapting the French formal language and a geometrically determined spatial planimetry, almost with a central plan, with longitudinal naves. The formal language of this architecture is similar to that of Toul and Trier, although Marburg depended ecclesiastically on Mainz. The rivalry between the landgrave of Thuringia and the archbishop of Mainz led the landgrave to seek his own model in a foreign archdiocese. The early Gothic church of the Cistercian monastery of Haina), which may also precede the church of Marburg, is closely related to the church of St. Elizabeth.

Renaissance and mannerism

The Renaissance in the Holy Roman Empire was inspired by philosophers and artists who, such as Johannes Reuchlin and Albrecht Dürer, had visited Italy. Among the great architectural achievements of this period are the Landshut residence (1536-1544), Heidelberg Castle, Johannisburg Castle (1605-1614) in Aschaffenburg and the Augsburg Town Hall (1615-1624). In July 1567, the Cologne Council of Aldermen approved the project of a new two-story loggia "Log (architecture)") by Wilhelm Vernukken, in Renaissance style, for the Cologne Town Hall, to be built between 1569 and 1573.

St. Michael's Church "St. Michael's Church (Munich)") in Munich is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps built at the request of Duke William V of Bavaria between 1583 and 1597 to make it the spiritual center of the Counter-Reformation; It was inspired by the church of the Gesù. Its architect still remains unknown.[15]​[16][17]​.

Since the German master builders had not traveled to Italy nor were familiar with the buildings of Antiquity, in the century the Italian Renaissance architecture that fell into the hands of those masters was "at first a pure misunderstanding."[18] From decorative pattern books, early Lombard and Venetian Renaissance decoration was adopted. For this reason the facades were disguised, with the Gothic gable stepped with smoothed volutes and used in stone an "obsolete antiquated mannerism".[18] Thus arose in Germany, in the 19th century, a bourgeois "lego-antique"[18]​ with a small collection of elements that seem attached to the buildings. The connection with the Italian Renaissance was successful in palatial buildings in Dresden, Berlin, Torgau and Brieg. In Germany, in parallel to the late Renaissance that occurred in Italy until 1650, a deliberately anti-classical architecture developed, Mannerism, whose motifs—the labyrinth, the sphere, the egg, the cubes (Hieronymus Bosch)—prefigure the surrealism of the 19th century. Typical of Mannerism in Germany is the decoration of the Nordic Renaissance, which is characterized by the Floris style named after the Dutchman Cornelis Floris. In northern Europe, especially in Germany, ornaments, scrolls, cartilages and auriculars, obelisks and volutes adorn the gables of buildings and form the Schweifwerk, a decorative system of bands ending in split tongues and crows' beaks.

When in 1509 the Fuggers built their family chapel in the "Italian style" in the "St. Germany had fragmented into many principalities, the burghers often had few rights, and armed conflicts, especially religious conflicts following the Reformation, meant that large areas remained virtually undeveloped. However, some princes promoted "modern art" understood in the Renaissance, as in Torgau (Hartenfels Castle, Town Hall&action=edit&redlink=1 "Town Hall (Torgau) (not yet). redacted)")), Aschaffenburg (Johannisburg Castle) or in Landshut. In Landshut, the Town Hall was already an authentic Renaissance building, built by Italian master craftsmen. The Augsburg Town Hall is also an important Renaissance building, but it was built late, between 1614 and 1620, by the Augsburg master builder Elias Holl.

baroque architecture

Due to the Thirty Years' War, the Baroque was delayed in Germany, starting from approximately 1650 onwards.

The baroque government architecture of the German royal and princely houses, as well as the court ceremonial, always based on the model of France, especially at the court of the Sun King at Versailles. Thus, the Zwinger was built in Dresden, which Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann built between 1709 and 1728, initially to celebrate court festivals, as was customary at the court of the Sun King.

The architecture of absolutism always placed the ruler at the center; For example, the spatial composition highlighted the power position of the respective ruler, with stairs and paintings on the walls and ceilings and sculptures on the walls that mainly praised princely or royal builders with their motifs.

The interaction of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture is an essential characteristic of Baroque architecture. An important example is the Würzburg residence with the Kaisersaal and the staircase, the construction of which began in 1720 under the direction of Johann Balthasar Neumann. Many 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 on the staircase were made by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo between 1751 and 1753.

Other well-known baroque palaces are the New Palace in Potsdam), the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, the Weissenstein Palace near Pommersfelden and the Augustusburg Palace in Brühl (North Rhine-Westphalia), whose interiors are partly designed in the Rococo style.

Rococo is the last phase of the Baroque, in which the decoration was much more exquisite and the colors used were generally lighter tones. In the Sanssouci Palace, which was built between 1745 and 1747, it is known as the "Friderizian Rococo" („Friderizianischem Rokoko“), since the splendid style is executed to a certain extent.

The Wieskirche in Steingaden, built in 1754, is an imposing example of Rococo and, thanks to its two master builders, Dominikus Zimmermann and Johann Baptist Zimmermann, it stands out among the sacred architecture of the Alpine foothills. Through the region's many monasteries and churches, also called Pfaffenwinkel"), the development of highly specialized builders and craftsmen in religious buildings, such as the Zimmermann brothers, was possible.

The most famous examples of the Bavarian Baroque include the Benedictine Church of Ottobeuren, the Weltenburg Monastery, the Ettal Monastery and the Church of St. John of Nepomuk, called Asamkirche, in Munich.

Other examples of Baroque architecture include the Vierzehnheiligen pilgrimage church in Upper Franconia, the work of Neumann (1743-1753) and the reconstructed Frauenkirche "Frauenkirche (Dresden)") in Dresden, which George Bähr originally created between 1722 and 1743.

Neoclassicism architecture

Classicism arrived in Germany in the second half of the century. It was oriented, as its name indicates, towards the classical architecture of Antiquity, as a reaction to the baroque and rococo. From 1769, the then Prince Leopold III commissioned the design of the Wörlitz Park" to Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau, in the style of an English landscape garden (it is part of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Kingdom, a UNESCO World Heritage Site). At the same time, the construction of the Wörlitz Castle" began with the intention of representing the royal house, entrusted to Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff") which demolished a previous baroque hunting lodge and was inspired by ancient English buildings and the architecture of Andrea Palladio. Construction was completed in 1773. It is considered the basis of what is considered the founding building of German classicism and is one of the few examples of Palladianism in the country. Another of the most important buildings of the period was Wilhelmshöhe Palace (1786-1798), in Kassel, designed by Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow") for Landgrave William I of Hesse-Kassel. Its park consists of the baroque gardens of Karlsberg and the landscape garden built in 1763.

But the work that strongly introduced Neoclassicism in Germany was the Brandenburg Gate (1789-1793),[23]​[24]​ erected in Berlin by Carl Gotthard Langhans: it is a severe Doric monument, the first of its kind based on the reconstructions published in the second half of the century of the Propylaea of Athens.[25]​ When referring to the Athenian model, Langhans took a version of Roman Doric. simplified: unlike authentic Doric, the columns have plinths and are unevenly spaced in the side pavilions, while half metopes appear at the end of the frieze (the Greeks, instead, ended the frieze with a triglyph). Wilkins (architect)"), or in the propylaea of Chester Castle"), by Thomas Harrison&action=edit&redlink=1 "Thomas Harrison (architect) (not yet written)"), in the United Kingdom or in the Propyläen of the Königsplatz (which close the whole of the square together with the Munich Glyptotheque and the Staatliche Antikensammlungen) by Leo von Klenze.[27]​.

Other works that should be considered are the studies of Friedrich Gilly.[28] The young architect built little in his short life and never visited Italy, but after 1790 he prepared some important projects: the design for the National Theater in Berlin and the monument to Frederick the Great. In particular, in the theater the close link with Ledoux's contemporary French architecture can be seen: Gilly renounced much of the decorations and reinforced the volumes, defined in their form by the specific function they would have to fulfill. Like Ledoux in France and Soane in England, Gilly seemed to announce a totally new architecture, but it will not find a place in nineteenth-century society, dominated by the commissions of owners of industries and mines: men of great wealth, but in general culturally poor.[29]​.

Gilly's student was Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who after a neo-Gothic debut, approached neoclassicism of neo-Greek origin, a style that was very successful in Germany. In general, Schinkel's work, with its Gothic, classical and picturesque elements, is closer to England than to France or Italy, but his functional interpretation of classicism, which will once again be in vogue between 1910 and 1940, was identified as a deeply national style. At the beginning of the century he made the Neue Wache (1818) and other buildings in Berlin, with clear and elegant forms that even influenced the architecture of distant countries, such as Finland.[30] Other notable works by Schinkel are the Charlottenhof Palace (from 1826), the Berliner Schauspielhaus and the Altes Museum (1830) in Berlin - with which the history of the Museum Island began - which combines the theme of the long portico of the stoa of ancient Greece, with the rotunda of the Pantheon arranged inside: the result is a very expanded perspective, which entrusts its own communicative capacity to a colonnade of eighteen Ionic columns. In the Berlin theater, the architect exalted the functionality of the different parts, giving the building and its marked volumes an extraordinary three-dimensionality: the element closest to tradition is the hexastyle colonnade crowned by a richly decorated pediment.

Schinkel's rival was Leo von Klenze (1784-1864),[31] who began to stand out in the Bayerischer Hof"). But fame came to him mainly linked to the works in the Königsplatz "Königsplatz (Munich)") in Munich (from 1816), a neo-Greek complex with the Glyptotheque (1816-1834), the Propylaea "Propylaea (Munich)") and the collection of antiquities, built by Georg Friedrich Ziebland"). His greatest project was undoubtedly another neo-Greek monument on the banks of the Danube near Regensburg, the Walhalla "Walhalla (monument)") (1830-1842), the mythological place where the souls of heroes fallen in battle were gathered: it is a peripteral temple in Doric style, arranged on a powerful plinth that is accessed by wide stairs. The construction is extremely reminiscent of the aforementioned monument designed by Gilly for Frederick the Great, but von Klenze gives the work a more romantic impression: the Walhalla presents in its interior the busts of the most important personalities of Germany, with a bas-relief that illustrates the history of Germany.

Historicism

The first building of historicism on the European mainland was the neo-Gothic gate of the Nauener Tor in Potsdam, built in 1755. This style spread from around 1810 throughout Germany and generally refers to the styles of the past, which in addition to recovering the ancient and Italian Renaissance, made Gothic and Romanesque again in fashion. The corresponding styles were named with the prefix neo, such as neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque and neoclassicism. It was in central and eastern Europe, divided into multiple states and subjected to the tensions that would eventually produce German unification and the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans, that neo-Gothic became the expression of a "national" art.

In addition, there were still regional characteristics that combined different eclectic styles or typical regional motifs. Examples include the Bäderarchitektur (spa architecture, especially pronounced on Germany's Baltic coast), the Hannover school of architecture, the Nuremberg style, the Semper Nicolai school in the Dresden area, and the Johann Albrecht style in Mecklenburg. Sometimes there were even stylistic deviations from one city to another.

Despite this many representative buildings of the empire were often created throughout Germany in a similar style: the offices of the Prussian Imperial Post Office, mostly in the clinker neo-Gothic style; the museums and judicial buildings, in neoclassical style; the temples of the muses or operas, in neo-baroque. Many town halls (Rathaus) were built in neo-Gothic architecture, taking as a reference the first town halls of the Middle Ages, for example, the new Munich Town Hall "New Town Hall (Munich)"). The Venetian Renaissance, on the other hand, was the model for many private commercial buildings, such as the Hamburg Alsterarkaden"). This tendency of attributing architectural styles for a particular purpose could be observed throughout the German Empire, in accordance with its "moral-associative meaning."[32]​.

An important architect of the time was Gottfried Semper, who built the Gemäldegalerie (1847-1855) in the Zwinger in Dresden and the first (burned down) and second Dresden Opera House, the Semperoper (1878). He also participated in the first plans for the romantic Schwerin Castle, which was completed in 1857 under the direction of Georg Adolf Demmler), Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and Schinkel's student Friedrich August Stüler.

The preference for medieval buildings, which arose from the art of Romanticism, can also be found in the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle (1869-1886), which was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1869. In the Gothic enthusiasm of that time, the Cologne Cathedral and the Ulmer Münster were completed and new buildings such as the Lutheran church of the Marktkirche "Marktkirche (Wiesbaden)") were completed in Wiesbaden. Later, large neo-baroque sacred buildings such as the Berlin Cathedral were built in the neo-baroque style.

Jugendstil

German Art Nouveau is commonly known by its German name, Jugendstil, which began in the field of arts and crafts around 1890 and lasted until around 1910. The name is taken from the art magazine, Die Jugend, which was published in Munich and which advocated the new art movement. It was founded in 1896 by Georg Hirth") (Hirth remained as editor until his death in 1916, and the magazine continued publication until 1940.) The magazine was instrumental in promoting the style in Germany. As a result, its name was adopted as the most common German term for the style: Jugendstil ("youth style"). Although, by the turn of the century, the word was applied only to two-dimensional examples of the graphic arts,[33] especially the forms of organic typography and graphic design found and influenced by German magazines such as Jugend&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jugend (magazine) (not yet written)"), Pan&action=edit&redlink=1 "Pan (magazine) (not yet written)") and Simplicissimus, is now applied to the broader manifestations of Art Nouveau visual arts in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic States and the Nordic countries.[34]​.

The two main centers of Jugendstil art in Germany were Munich and Darmstadt. Architects such as Bernhard Pankok (1872-1943), Martin Dülfer (1859-1942), Hans Karl Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas (1849-1921) and August Endell (1871-1925) worked in Munich. An important example of German Jugendstil architecture was the artists' colony at Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt, where Joseph Maria Olbrich, the architect of the Vienna Secession, made numerous buildings between 1901 and 1908, including the Hochzeitsturm, a landmark in Darmstadt. Peter Behrens, who later worked as an architect and designer for AEG, also built a residential building here.

The Belgian Henry van de Velde was influential in the German Jugendstil movement. He saw in Jugendstil a new style that promised the desired variety of forms of a new era. In Weimar, he built a School of Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule, 1906) and an art school (Kunstschule, 1911), the latter now the main building of the Bauhaus University of Weimar and was also the first headquarters of the state Bauhaus institution.

modern architecture

The first period of rationalist architecture began in the years immediately before the First World War (1914), when the experience of the Arts and Crafts movement was collected and reworked by the Werkbund movement (1907, Munich), to which Hoffmann and van de Velde adhered.

The initial impulses for the arrival of modern architecture in Germany were essentially given in some industrial buildings, in which the architectural design was not so subject to the prevailing historicism. Key were the AEG factory (1908-1909) in Berlin, the work of Peter Behrens, and especially the Fagus factory, in Alfeld an der Leine&action=edit&redlink=1 "Alfeld (Leine) (not yet written)") (1911-1914), the work of Walter Gropius. At that time (1915), the country's first solo high-rise building (42 m), Bau 15, was built in Jena.

Gropius, one of the architects of the Werkbund, founded the Bauhaus in 1919, shortly after succeeding Henry van de Velde in Weimar as director of the School of Applied Arts. The Bauhaus would become the most influential art and architecture school of the century. Although initially the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department, Gropius saw architecture as the "ultimate goal of all artistic activity." Initially, some members of the Bauhaus leaned towards expressionist architecture: buildings such as Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower (1921) or Fritz Höger's Hamburg Chilehaus (1924) had a visionary and sensationally new language, shaping architecture for a short time. This is a specific styleGerman modern style with some regional characteristics.

Walter Gropius, one of the architects of the Werkbund, directed the Bauhaus from 1919 onwards, first in the city of Weimar and later in Dessau. This second stage of Modern architecture, understood as rationalist architecture, began in those post-war years and spread throughout Europe until the Second World War.

A large and important group of architects committed to the movement: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius himself, founded the International Congress of Modern Architecture (C.I.A.M.), with sections in many countries and convened periodically between 1928 and 1959. The success in the dissemination of its principles and experiences represented the establishment of the concept of Modern Architecture par excellence in the vocabulary of architects, urban planners, critics and art historians.

The so-called classical modernity in Germany was essentially congruent with the Modern Movement (in German, Neuen Bauen, mainly with the buildings of functionalism such as the Bauhaus and the Neue Frankfurt) that have characterized it.

In Germany, two important modern movements appeared after the First World War. The Bauhaus was a school organized in Weimar in 1919 under the direction of Walter Gropius. Gropius was the son of Berlin's official state architect, and had studied before the war with Peter Behrens and designed the modern Fagus turbine factory. The Bauhaus was a merger of the prewar Academy of Arts and the school of technology. In 1926 it was transferred from Weimar to Dessau; Gropius designed the new school and student dormitories in the new purely functional modernist style that he was encouraging. The school brought together modernists in all fields; the faculty included the modernist painters Vasily Kandinsky, Joseph Albers and Paul Klee, and designer Marcel Breuer.

Postwar period

SED General Secretary Walter Ulbricht, who can be described as an opponent of modern architecture and who, through his position of power, had more influence on the architectural style than the architects of his time, marked post-war architecture. One of the models of the first buildings was the sometimes 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.

Prussian architecture also inspired the first major building project of the GDR, the project chosen to give prestige to socialist classicism: the Stalinallee, today Karl-Marx-Allee. It was a massive reconstruction project, with which the party leaders also wanted to demonstrate the strength of socialism, in which workers had to live in palatial architecture. Hermann Henselmann") was one of the main architects of the first construction phase (1951-1958), such as Egon Hartmann, Richard Paulick&action=edit&redlink=1 "Richard Paulick (Architekt) (not yet drafted")", Kurt Leucht"), Hanns Hopp") and Karl Souradny"). There was a strike by Stalinallee construction workers, which led to the uprising of June 17, 1953") with a protest march the day before, which ended with 125 dead.

Other important projects of the time in this style were the Russian Embassy in Berlin"), the founding of the city and construction of Eisenhüttenstadt (then Stalinstadt 1951-1961), parts of the center of Magdeburg (especially Ernst-Reuter-Allee), the Ring-Café&action=edit&redlink=1 "Ring-Café (Leipzig) (not yet drafted)") and the Sportforum") in Leipzig and the Transport School") in Dresden. A special feature are some projects based on specific regional styles, such as the Baltic Gothic inspired Lange Straße&action=edit&redlink=1 "Lange Straße (Rostock) (not yet drafted)") in Rostock, the buildings on the Dresdner Altmarkt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Altmarkt (Dresden) (not yet drafted)") in the style of Local baroque as well as Mecklenburg pre-war architecture in Neubrandenburg, the new development of the local inner city (market square).

However, from 1955 onwards, socialist classicism and regionalism fell out of favor with the SED party leaders (in a later architectural guide to the GDR, the first section of the former Stalin Allee is not mentioned), and the era of uniform industrialized construction, with prefabricated buildings, began. This design system, with massively simple, prefabricated components, was to allow for more efficient and less costly construction, so that the need for housing could be met more quickly. The second section of Karl-Marx-Allee (from Strausberger Platz to Alexanderplatz) has already been built based on the use of prefabricated panels.

Among the well-known official buildings of the GDR are the palace of the Republic "Republic Palace (Berlin)") (1973-1976), now demolished (work by Heinz Graffunder") and Karl-Ernst Swora), as well as the State Council building") (1964) with an integrated portal modified from the Royal Palace in Berlin, which was demolished in 1950 under the command of the SED.

Postmodernism

The architectural style of "postmodernism" began around the mid-1970s in the US and continued until the late 1980s, its spread in Germany being limited to the Western part. Postmodernism is considered a counter-movement against the International style "International Style (architecture)") and has the same theoretical foundations of philosophical or literary theory. Postmodern language normally operates with quotes from the history of architecture, which are used by some architects as a caricature and also claims that architecture is not limited to function, but also to "say" or mediate content.

An example of postmodernism in Germany is the German Museum of Architecture (renovated in 1984) in Frankfurt am Main. Oswald Mathias Ungers (1926-2007) has gutted an existing century villa and installed "a house within a house" inside. The built-in house embodies the legendary primitive cabin, signifying the beginning of architecture.

As one of the most significant works of postmodern architecture is the work of the British James Stirling "James Stirling (architect)") (1926-1992), planned since 1977 and completed in 1984, the New State Gallery of Stuttgart (1979-1984), which seeks monumentality by playing with historical quotes and color.

Also postmodern in style are two works by the Austrian Hans Hollein (1934-2014): the Museum Abteiberg" (1972-1982), in Mönchengladbach, and the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt am Main" (1987-1991).

At 256 meters, the postmodern crown of the Frankfurt Messeturm office skyscraper, the work of Helmut Jahn, was the tallest skyscraper in Europe since 1991, being replaced in 1997 by Norman Foster's Commerzbank Tower, which is still the tallest building in Germany.

Deconstructivism

Deconstructivism began in the late 1980s and received impulses from certain lines of contemporary thought. A precursor to this development was Gottfried Böhm, who became known for his "concrete rocks", such as the Neviges pilgrimage cathedral, which was designed in 1968. Böhm received the renowned Pritzker Prize for Architecture 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 global renewal movement in architecture.

Another example is the Nazi Party Concentration Camp Documentation Center in Nuremberg. Unlike the monumental architecture of the Nazi Party Concentration Camps designed by the National Socialists, Günther Domenig designed the installation of the Documentation Center (2001) in the unfinished Congress Palace in a decidedly deconstructivist manner. The UFA Palast in Dresden is also often cited as an 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 of the new European Central Bank Headquarters building in Frankfurt developed by Coop Himmelb(l)auau "Coop Himmelb(l)au").

Contenido

La arquitectura contemporánea en Alemania está conformada, especialmente a los ojos del público, por una serie de arquitectos reconocidos internacionalmente ("arquitectos estrella"). Estas firmas reciben muchos pedidos para grandes proyectos más grandes y edificios representativos.

En la actualidad a menudo es imposible distinguir la arquitectura en Alemania de la del resto del mundo, y el desarrollo arquitectónico con frecuencia solo puede entenderse en un contexto global. Esta intercambiabilidad global y uniformidad de la arquitectura contemporánea también suele ser objeto de críticas.[41]​ Las oficinas de arquitectura alemanas lideran grandes proyectos urbanos (por ejemplo, Albert Speer & Partner en la República Popular China, Ingenhoven Architekten en Irlanda). Por otro lado, las oficinas del extranjero implementan proyectos en Alemania, a menudo en cooperación con las oficinas locales. Por ejemplo, los arquitectos suizos Herzog & de Meuron diseñaron el Allianz Arena en Múnich y la Filarmónica del Elba en Hamburgo o Zaha Hadid el museo de ciencias Phaeno en Wolfsburgo (2005).

En la actualidad se pueden observar diversas tendencias globalizadas en arquitectura. Una de ellas es una forma de neoexpresionismo desarrollado a partir del deconstructivismo mediante el uso intensivo de computadoras, incluso en la fase de diseño. De esta manera, se crean estructuras escultóricas de forma individual que pretenden dar una expresión artística a su contenido y, en algunos casos, solo al edificio en sí mismo. Algunos ejemplos son la ampliación del Museo Judío de Berlín de Daniel Libeskind o los edificios de Frank O. Gehry en el llamado Medienhafen de Düsseldorf.

El minimalismo es el movimiento inverso a la tendencia deconstructivista, con sus edificios diseñados deliberadamente en un lenguaje de formas escueto y reducido, como se puede ver en los edificios de Tadao Andō en el centro de conferencias de Vitra en Weil am Rhein y el edificio de arte y exposiciones de la Fundación Langen cerca de Neuss.

La corriente del nuevo funcionalismo "Funcionalismo (arquitectura)") orientado a la tecnología está representada, por ejemplo, por Norman Foster, con diseños como la cúpula del edificio del Reichstag en Berlín o en la Torre Commerzbank en Frankfurt am Main. Este último en particular es un edificio que está planeado con el espíritu de "edificio ecológico" y diseñado para ser amigable con los recursos, desde el proyecto hasta el equipamiento técnico. Este tipo de construcción y "edificio sostenible" (por ejemplo, Anna Heringer) se encuentra entre los desarrollos que marcan tendencia, —si no definen estilo—, en la escena arquitectónica alemana. Alemania es considerada pionera en lo que respecta a la arquitectura "ecológica" no solo por los altos estándares técnicos en la industria de la construcción. Con la ayuda de nuevas técnicas y materiales, se están desarrollando edificios que ahorran energía, como las llamadas casas pasivas o "casas solares" (ver Tecnología solar pasiva). El uso de materiales de construcción regionales y naturales, —como arenisca pintura a la cal#Pintura_a_la_cal "Pintura (material)"), arcilla o marga, ladrillo, pizarra, paja y madera—, se está volviendo cada vez más importante en este contexto.

El creciente debate público actual en torno a la arquitectura y la planificación urbana tiene como consecuencia que los ciudadanos comprometidos y las partes interesadas destacadas influyen en la toma de decisiones. Por ejemplo, mediante la participación de asociaciones sin fines de lucro y el aporte de diversas personalidades, (incluido el presentador de televisión Günther Jauch y el fundador de SAP, Hasso Plattner), fue posible impulsar la reconstrucción del histórico Palacio de la Ciudad de Potsdam, en lugar de construir un edificio nuevo y moderno como sede del Parlamento Regional de Brandeburgo. El castillo fue reconstruido en un volumen ligeramente diferente y con sus fachadas barrocas en la ubicación original.

La reconstrucción de edificios destruidos durante la guerra o demolidos posteriormente es otra tendencia actual con incidencia creciente en toda la República Federal. Las reconstrucciones más destacadas de los últimos años fueron la desarrollada en el edificio de la Casa Gremial de los Carniceros de Hildesheim (1989) en la plaza del mercado de Hildesheim y la reconstrucción de la Frauenkirche "Frauenkirche (Dresde)") en Dresde (2005) con la zona histórica del Neumarkt "Neumarkt (Dresde)") circundante. Otros ejemplos actuales son el Palacio de la Ciudad de Berlín, la Iglesia de la Guarnición en Postdam, así como parte del casco antiguo de Frankfurt (proyecto Dom-Römer). Se están considerando o planificando otros proyectos de reconstrucción crítica de ciudades en todo el país para reparar las huellas dejadas por la guerra y las demoliciones siguientes, de modo de recuperar paisajes urbanos históricos.[42]​.

En este contexto de revalorización de los estilos arquitectónicos del pasado, también se produce una tendencia general hacia la recuperación de escalas, proporciones y detalles arquitectónicos clásicos, lo que también se conoce como arquitectura neoclásica. Esta tendencia se debe a que parte de la población experimentó un creciente rechazo por los estilos arquitectónicos modernistas, ya que este tipo de arquitectura contemporánea suele ser percibida como fría, impersonal, irrelevante o fuera de escala humana. Las personas anhelan estándares "más humanos", de menor escala, de base regional y con fachadas de diseño y estructura clásicas (por ejemplo, a través de ornamentos, cornisas y pilastras).[43]​ Este desarrollo se puede ver, por ejemplo en el Nuevo urbanismo, que se está imponiendo cada vez más en la República Federal y que promueve la construcción de edificios urbanos diseñados para ocupar el perímetro del espacio edificable,[Nota 3]​ en lugar del desarrollo de construcciones en forma de filas.

Algunos arquitectos que se han dedicado a este tema durante algún tiempo son, por ejemplo Hans Kollhoff, Sergei Tchoban o el urbanista berlinés Hans Stimmann. Se caracterizan por emplear elementos arquitectónicos, materiales y disposiciones constructivas clásicos y probados, combinándolos o no de formas novedosas.

Social importance

The Federal Foundation for Building Culture was founded in 2007 with the aim of "promoting the quality of the built environment" and, among other things, promoting the perception of Germany's planning and construction work, both at home and abroad.

ancient architecture

The Roman Empire once extended over much of what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. The remains of the Limes Germanicus, the Roman frontier fortifications built around 100-150 AD, are still preserved today. In addition to military structures such as forts and camps, the Romans also built baths, bridges, and amphitheatres.

An important metropolis of this time was the ancient city of Trier (or Trier), where today, among other things, a set of Roman Monuments of Trier are preserved that have been declared a World Heritage Site in 1986, such as the Porta Nigra, probably the best preserved city gate from Antiquity, the remains of several imperial baths, a Roman bridge, an amphitheater and the (reconstructed) Basilica of Constantine.

With the retreat of the Romans, their urban culture and progress in architecture disappeared (e.g. heating and window glass). Hardly any buildings have survived from the Germanic tribes, as they lived in home settlements.

Pre-Romanesque architecture

Since the Carolingian era, under the impulse of the emperor and the prelates, Germany was provided with numerous religious buildings, of which very few remain. Mention may be made of the palatine chapel of Aix-la-Chapelle, built around 800 by Charlemagne, today part of the Aachen Cathedral: Built according to Byzantine models with a central plan, due to Eudes of Metz, it is an heir to antiquity. Its plan is reminiscent of that of San Vitale in Ravenna or the churches of the East, although it is not clear if Eudes himself would have seen those buildings or simply sketches that would have been sent to him.[2]​.

A specific innovation of the Carolingian period is the western massif or Westwerk of the churches. It is a quasi-autonomous building body in relation to the nave and located to the west that consists of a massive multi-story tower, often framed by two stair turrets. The ground floor comprises a vaulted entrance porch housing relics. The first floor, which acts as a chapel, is a gallery open over the nave by openings.[3] The most famous example is the abbey church of Corvey. The latest jewel of Carolingian architecture is the Fulda Abbey Church, which is almost the size of a Gothic cathedral. It was built by the architect and abbot of the monastery, Ratgar.[2]​.

Important pre-Romanesque buildings are, in addition to the aforementioned palatine chapel in Aachen, the monastery churches on the island Reichenau and the entrance hall of the Lorsch Abbey from the turn of the century, which is a particularly beautiful example among the few surviving Carolingian buildings in Germany. The art of this era is also known as the Carolingian Renaissance and is considered the first classical architectural movement, reviving motifs from Antiquity.

The restoration of imperial authority in the century was accompanied by a renewal of religious architecture. Large wooden carpentry churches of harmonious proportions were built, such as the monastery church of St. Michael in Hildesheim (around 1010-1033) and St. Cyriacus of Gernrode.

Romanesque architecture

After the division of the great Carolingian empire, feudality was established against a background of numerous states almost continually at war with each other. In this context, the monasteries were the only social organization that remained immune to this instability and in them, scholars and artists found an inviolable place in which the precious ancient works were preserved. Architecture was then a sacred discipline. Any abab was a good master builder, capable of drawing a plan and directing the construction of a church, the quintessential monument of the moment, to the point that Romanesque architecture is sometimes called monastic.

In Germany, the style developed in the 2nd centuries and continued until the mid-13th century. Of the three Romanesque schools—Lombard, Rhineland and French—obviously the Rhineland will be the one that stylistically marks the stage, although it will have borrowings from the others in the neighboring areas. These different schools will have several artistic centers busy solving the problem of replacing the old wooden ceilings of the Latin basilicas with stone vaults. At a time of frequent Norman raids, those roofs of the monasteries burned easily and quickly, causing the collapse of a large part of the buildings. The problem was solved with different methods that depended on local resources, technical difficulties and the skill of the performers, which led to a great variety of manifestations, despite the ill-founded opinion of stylistic unity. The vaults will be the characteristic element, not only because of their use but because of the special construction provisions that they required. By exerting an important lateral thrust, they had to be counteracted with the construction of thick walls, buttresses and transverse arches resting on thick pillars. This gave the buildings a severe, austere character and the churches looked like fortresses preceded by a powerful narthex in the shape of a donjon. It is not yet the triumphant church, but it is already a militant church, a symbol of a time in which military monastic orders and communities of soldier monks were established: crusaders and Teutonic knights.

The vaulting of the main nave required the use, in the side naves, of either a continuous semi-barrel vault (quarter circle), or a series of arches that have their longitudinal axis perpendicular to that of the lateral ones. These two counterthrust systems have the disadvantage of making it difficult to drill windows into high walls; As a result, the main part of the church received daylight only from the lower nave windows and was therefore left in relative darkness.

The vault system was applied first to the crypt (barrel vault or groin vault), then to the apse (cul-de-four vault) and choir, then to the side aisles and finally to the main nave, but after three centuries of trial and error, already by the middle of the century, Romanesque art had reached its peak almost everywhere. In general, Romanesque churches were built on a plan in the shape of a Latin cross; The few that had floor plans in a Greek cross or polygonal shape were covered with a vault of domes with squinches or pendants. They were always oriented; the choir, to the east and the tower, to the west.

gothic architecture

Germany received Gothic, belatedly, possibly through the Cistercian order. The early style that arrived from France was already quite formed there[Note 1]​ and would coexist for some time with the German Romanesque forms, which resisted the new style, and thus the first pointed arches were not built until the first years of the century. The French influence was going to be very important since the French architects of the century traveled throughout central Europe, also taking their techniques. Until the end of the Early Middle Ages the Gothic style was not generally accepted in Germany. During the 19th century, columns in churches became extraordinarily thin, ribs acquired very sharp profiles, vaults were flattened and covered with network-like combinations of ribs. In the 19th century, Germany, as was the case with what would become Belgium and the Netherlands, was already a prosperous country that produced rich architecture of great interest.

During the early French Gothic period in Germany only one significant work of this style was begun, around 1180, the Gothic reconstruction of Limburg Cathedral based on the model of Laon Cathedral. The first major building to begin in the Gothic style, Magdeburg Cathedral (from 1207/1209), dates back to the French High Gothic period, but its oldest parts still clearly show early Gothic features. Magdeburg had been the seat of an important diocese since 968 (only inferior in category to the primal see of Mainz), from where part of Eastern Europe had been evangelized. Bishop Albert II, who had studied in France and wanted to imitate the style of the buildings he had seen there, promoted the reconstruction of the cathedral in 1209, which lasted throughout the century and was not completed until 1520 with the placement of the spiers of the towers. Elements of the German Romanesque tradition are still noticeable in it.

However, in several late Romanesque churches, the traditional overall proportions and arched doorways and windows were maintained, but the structurally advantageous innovation of the pointed-arch ribbed vault was adopted for the ceilings. The central building of the Church of Our Lady of Trier (from about 1230), the Abbey of St. Maurice&action=edit&redlink=1 "Benedictine Abbey of St. Maurice (Tholey) (not yet drafted)") in Tholey (from about 1230) and the Hall Church of St. Elizabeth "Church of St. Elizabeth (Marburg)") in Marburg (1235-1283) are considered the first purely Gothic churches in today's German territory. Saint Elizabeth is an important milestone in the evolution of German Gothic, a church of the Teutonic Order that houses the tombs of the ladngraves of Thuringia, to whose family Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia (or Hungary) belonged, who died in 1231 after a life of asceticism and charity, and was canonized shortly afterwards. The church was also built a few years after his death. It has a longitudinal plan, with two tall towers on the façade. The eastern part does not have an ambulatory but rather a trefoil shape made up of the central apse and two symmetrical apses that open into the transept, constituting a triple choir that replaces the radial chapels of French Gothic, and that encompasses a unitary and concave space, adapting the French formal language and a geometrically determined spatial planimetry, almost with a central plan, with longitudinal naves. The formal language of this architecture is similar to that of Toul and Trier, although Marburg depended ecclesiastically on Mainz. The rivalry between the landgrave of Thuringia and the archbishop of Mainz led the landgrave to seek his own model in a foreign archdiocese. The early Gothic church of the Cistercian monastery of Haina), which may also precede the church of Marburg, is closely related to the church of St. Elizabeth.

Renaissance and mannerism

The Renaissance in the Holy Roman Empire was inspired by philosophers and artists who, such as Johannes Reuchlin and Albrecht Dürer, had visited Italy. Among the great architectural achievements of this period are the Landshut residence (1536-1544), Heidelberg Castle, Johannisburg Castle (1605-1614) in Aschaffenburg and the Augsburg Town Hall (1615-1624). In July 1567, the Cologne Council of Aldermen approved the project of a new two-story loggia "Log (architecture)") by Wilhelm Vernukken, in Renaissance style, for the Cologne Town Hall, to be built between 1569 and 1573.

St. Michael's Church "St. Michael's Church (Munich)") in Munich is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps built at the request of Duke William V of Bavaria between 1583 and 1597 to make it the spiritual center of the Counter-Reformation; It was inspired by the church of the Gesù. Its architect still remains unknown.[15]​[16][17]​.

Since the German master builders had not traveled to Italy nor were familiar with the buildings of Antiquity, in the century the Italian Renaissance architecture that fell into the hands of those masters was "at first a pure misunderstanding."[18] From decorative pattern books, early Lombard and Venetian Renaissance decoration was adopted. For this reason the facades were disguised, with the Gothic gable stepped with smoothed volutes and used in stone an "obsolete antiquated mannerism".[18] Thus arose in Germany, in the 19th century, a bourgeois "lego-antique"[18]​ with a small collection of elements that seem attached to the buildings. The connection with the Italian Renaissance was successful in palatial buildings in Dresden, Berlin, Torgau and Brieg. In Germany, in parallel to the late Renaissance that occurred in Italy until 1650, a deliberately anti-classical architecture developed, Mannerism, whose motifs—the labyrinth, the sphere, the egg, the cubes (Hieronymus Bosch)—prefigure the surrealism of the 19th century. Typical of Mannerism in Germany is the decoration of the Nordic Renaissance, which is characterized by the Floris style named after the Dutchman Cornelis Floris. In northern Europe, especially in Germany, ornaments, scrolls, cartilages and auriculars, obelisks and volutes adorn the gables of buildings and form the Schweifwerk, a decorative system of bands ending in split tongues and crows' beaks.

When in 1509 the Fuggers built their family chapel in the "Italian style" in the "St. Germany had fragmented into many principalities, the burghers often had few rights, and armed conflicts, especially religious conflicts following the Reformation, meant that large areas remained virtually undeveloped. However, some princes promoted "modern art" understood in the Renaissance, as in Torgau (Hartenfels Castle, Town Hall&action=edit&redlink=1 "Town Hall (Torgau) (not yet). redacted)")), Aschaffenburg (Johannisburg Castle) or in Landshut. In Landshut, the Town Hall was already an authentic Renaissance building, built by Italian master craftsmen. The Augsburg Town Hall is also an important Renaissance building, but it was built late, between 1614 and 1620, by the Augsburg master builder Elias Holl.

baroque architecture

Due to the Thirty Years' War, the Baroque was delayed in Germany, starting from approximately 1650 onwards.

The baroque government architecture of the German royal and princely houses, as well as the court ceremonial, always based on the model of France, especially at the court of the Sun King at Versailles. Thus, the Zwinger was built in Dresden, which Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann built between 1709 and 1728, initially to celebrate court festivals, as was customary at the court of the Sun King.

The architecture of absolutism always placed the ruler at the center; For example, the spatial composition highlighted the power position of the respective ruler, with stairs and paintings on the walls and ceilings and sculptures on the walls that mainly praised princely or royal builders with their motifs.

The interaction of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture is an essential characteristic of Baroque architecture. An important example is the Würzburg residence with the Kaisersaal and the staircase, the construction of which began in 1720 under the direction of Johann Balthasar Neumann. Many 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 on the staircase were made by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo between 1751 and 1753.

Other well-known baroque palaces are the New Palace in Potsdam), the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, the Weissenstein Palace near Pommersfelden and the Augustusburg Palace in Brühl (North Rhine-Westphalia), whose interiors are partly designed in the Rococo style.

Rococo is the last phase of the Baroque, in which the decoration was much more exquisite and the colors used were generally lighter tones. In the Sanssouci Palace, which was built between 1745 and 1747, it is known as the "Friderizian Rococo" („Friderizianischem Rokoko“), since the splendid style is executed to a certain extent.

The Wieskirche in Steingaden, built in 1754, is an imposing example of Rococo and, thanks to its two master builders, Dominikus Zimmermann and Johann Baptist Zimmermann, it stands out among the sacred architecture of the Alpine foothills. Through the region's many monasteries and churches, also called Pfaffenwinkel"), the development of highly specialized builders and craftsmen in religious buildings, such as the Zimmermann brothers, was possible.

The most famous examples of the Bavarian Baroque include the Benedictine Church of Ottobeuren, the Weltenburg Monastery, the Ettal Monastery and the Church of St. John of Nepomuk, called Asamkirche, in Munich.

Other examples of Baroque architecture include the Vierzehnheiligen pilgrimage church in Upper Franconia, the work of Neumann (1743-1753) and the reconstructed Frauenkirche "Frauenkirche (Dresden)") in Dresden, which George Bähr originally created between 1722 and 1743.

Neoclassicism architecture

Classicism arrived in Germany in the second half of the century. It was oriented, as its name indicates, towards the classical architecture of Antiquity, as a reaction to the baroque and rococo. From 1769, the then Prince Leopold III commissioned the design of the Wörlitz Park" to Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau, in the style of an English landscape garden (it is part of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Kingdom, a UNESCO World Heritage Site). At the same time, the construction of the Wörlitz Castle" began with the intention of representing the royal house, entrusted to Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff") which demolished a previous baroque hunting lodge and was inspired by ancient English buildings and the architecture of Andrea Palladio. Construction was completed in 1773. It is considered the basis of what is considered the founding building of German classicism and is one of the few examples of Palladianism in the country. Another of the most important buildings of the period was Wilhelmshöhe Palace (1786-1798), in Kassel, designed by Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow") for Landgrave William I of Hesse-Kassel. Its park consists of the baroque gardens of Karlsberg and the landscape garden built in 1763.

But the work that strongly introduced Neoclassicism in Germany was the Brandenburg Gate (1789-1793),[23]​[24]​ erected in Berlin by Carl Gotthard Langhans: it is a severe Doric monument, the first of its kind based on the reconstructions published in the second half of the century of the Propylaea of Athens.[25]​ When referring to the Athenian model, Langhans took a version of Roman Doric. simplified: unlike authentic Doric, the columns have plinths and are unevenly spaced in the side pavilions, while half metopes appear at the end of the frieze (the Greeks, instead, ended the frieze with a triglyph). Wilkins (architect)"), or in the propylaea of Chester Castle"), by Thomas Harrison&action=edit&redlink=1 "Thomas Harrison (architect) (not yet written)"), in the United Kingdom or in the Propyläen of the Königsplatz (which close the whole of the square together with the Munich Glyptotheque and the Staatliche Antikensammlungen) by Leo von Klenze.[27]​.

Other works that should be considered are the studies of Friedrich Gilly.[28] The young architect built little in his short life and never visited Italy, but after 1790 he prepared some important projects: the design for the National Theater in Berlin and the monument to Frederick the Great. In particular, in the theater the close link with Ledoux's contemporary French architecture can be seen: Gilly renounced much of the decorations and reinforced the volumes, defined in their form by the specific function they would have to fulfill. Like Ledoux in France and Soane in England, Gilly seemed to announce a totally new architecture, but it will not find a place in nineteenth-century society, dominated by the commissions of owners of industries and mines: men of great wealth, but in general culturally poor.[29]​.

Gilly's student was Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who after a neo-Gothic debut, approached neoclassicism of neo-Greek origin, a style that was very successful in Germany. In general, Schinkel's work, with its Gothic, classical and picturesque elements, is closer to England than to France or Italy, but his functional interpretation of classicism, which will once again be in vogue between 1910 and 1940, was identified as a deeply national style. At the beginning of the century he made the Neue Wache (1818) and other buildings in Berlin, with clear and elegant forms that even influenced the architecture of distant countries, such as Finland.[30] Other notable works by Schinkel are the Charlottenhof Palace (from 1826), the Berliner Schauspielhaus and the Altes Museum (1830) in Berlin - with which the history of the Museum Island began - which combines the theme of the long portico of the stoa of ancient Greece, with the rotunda of the Pantheon arranged inside: the result is a very expanded perspective, which entrusts its own communicative capacity to a colonnade of eighteen Ionic columns. In the Berlin theater, the architect exalted the functionality of the different parts, giving the building and its marked volumes an extraordinary three-dimensionality: the element closest to tradition is the hexastyle colonnade crowned by a richly decorated pediment.

Schinkel's rival was Leo von Klenze (1784-1864),[31] who began to stand out in the Bayerischer Hof"). But fame came to him mainly linked to the works in the Königsplatz "Königsplatz (Munich)") in Munich (from 1816), a neo-Greek complex with the Glyptotheque (1816-1834), the Propylaea "Propylaea (Munich)") and the collection of antiquities, built by Georg Friedrich Ziebland"). His greatest project was undoubtedly another neo-Greek monument on the banks of the Danube near Regensburg, the Walhalla "Walhalla (monument)") (1830-1842), the mythological place where the souls of heroes fallen in battle were gathered: it is a peripteral temple in Doric style, arranged on a powerful plinth that is accessed by wide stairs. The construction is extremely reminiscent of the aforementioned monument designed by Gilly for Frederick the Great, but von Klenze gives the work a more romantic impression: the Walhalla presents in its interior the busts of the most important personalities of Germany, with a bas-relief that illustrates the history of Germany.

Historicism

The first building of historicism on the European mainland was the neo-Gothic gate of the Nauener Tor in Potsdam, built in 1755. This style spread from around 1810 throughout Germany and generally refers to the styles of the past, which in addition to recovering the ancient and Italian Renaissance, made Gothic and Romanesque again in fashion. The corresponding styles were named with the prefix neo, such as neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque and neoclassicism. It was in central and eastern Europe, divided into multiple states and subjected to the tensions that would eventually produce German unification and the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans, that neo-Gothic became the expression of a "national" art.

In addition, there were still regional characteristics that combined different eclectic styles or typical regional motifs. Examples include the Bäderarchitektur (spa architecture, especially pronounced on Germany's Baltic coast), the Hannover school of architecture, the Nuremberg style, the Semper Nicolai school in the Dresden area, and the Johann Albrecht style in Mecklenburg. Sometimes there were even stylistic deviations from one city to another.

Despite this many representative buildings of the empire were often created throughout Germany in a similar style: the offices of the Prussian Imperial Post Office, mostly in the clinker neo-Gothic style; the museums and judicial buildings, in neoclassical style; the temples of the muses or operas, in neo-baroque. Many town halls (Rathaus) were built in neo-Gothic architecture, taking as a reference the first town halls of the Middle Ages, for example, the new Munich Town Hall "New Town Hall (Munich)"). The Venetian Renaissance, on the other hand, was the model for many private commercial buildings, such as the Hamburg Alsterarkaden"). This tendency of attributing architectural styles for a particular purpose could be observed throughout the German Empire, in accordance with its "moral-associative meaning."[32]​.

An important architect of the time was Gottfried Semper, who built the Gemäldegalerie (1847-1855) in the Zwinger in Dresden and the first (burned down) and second Dresden Opera House, the Semperoper (1878). He also participated in the first plans for the romantic Schwerin Castle, which was completed in 1857 under the direction of Georg Adolf Demmler), Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and Schinkel's student Friedrich August Stüler.

The preference for medieval buildings, which arose from the art of Romanticism, can also be found in the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle (1869-1886), which was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1869. In the Gothic enthusiasm of that time, the Cologne Cathedral and the Ulmer Münster were completed and new buildings such as the Lutheran church of the Marktkirche "Marktkirche (Wiesbaden)") were completed in Wiesbaden. Later, large neo-baroque sacred buildings such as the Berlin Cathedral were built in the neo-baroque style.

Jugendstil

German Art Nouveau is commonly known by its German name, Jugendstil, which began in the field of arts and crafts around 1890 and lasted until around 1910. The name is taken from the art magazine, Die Jugend, which was published in Munich and which advocated the new art movement. It was founded in 1896 by Georg Hirth") (Hirth remained as editor until his death in 1916, and the magazine continued publication until 1940.) The magazine was instrumental in promoting the style in Germany. As a result, its name was adopted as the most common German term for the style: Jugendstil ("youth style"). Although, by the turn of the century, the word was applied only to two-dimensional examples of the graphic arts,[33] especially the forms of organic typography and graphic design found and influenced by German magazines such as Jugend&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jugend (magazine) (not yet written)"), Pan&action=edit&redlink=1 "Pan (magazine) (not yet written)") and Simplicissimus, is now applied to the broader manifestations of Art Nouveau visual arts in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic States and the Nordic countries.[34]​.

The two main centers of Jugendstil art in Germany were Munich and Darmstadt. Architects such as Bernhard Pankok (1872-1943), Martin Dülfer (1859-1942), Hans Karl Eduard von Berlepsch-Valendas (1849-1921) and August Endell (1871-1925) worked in Munich. An important example of German Jugendstil architecture was the artists' colony at Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt, where Joseph Maria Olbrich, the architect of the Vienna Secession, made numerous buildings between 1901 and 1908, including the Hochzeitsturm, a landmark in Darmstadt. Peter Behrens, who later worked as an architect and designer for AEG, also built a residential building here.

The Belgian Henry van de Velde was influential in the German Jugendstil movement. He saw in Jugendstil a new style that promised the desired variety of forms of a new era. In Weimar, he built a School of Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule, 1906) and an art school (Kunstschule, 1911), the latter now the main building of the Bauhaus University of Weimar and was also the first headquarters of the state Bauhaus institution.

modern architecture

The first period of rationalist architecture began in the years immediately before the First World War (1914), when the experience of the Arts and Crafts movement was collected and reworked by the Werkbund movement (1907, Munich), to which Hoffmann and van de Velde adhered.

The initial impulses for the arrival of modern architecture in Germany were essentially given in some industrial buildings, in which the architectural design was not so subject to the prevailing historicism. Key were the AEG factory (1908-1909) in Berlin, the work of Peter Behrens, and especially the Fagus factory, in Alfeld an der Leine&action=edit&redlink=1 "Alfeld (Leine) (not yet written)") (1911-1914), the work of Walter Gropius. At that time (1915), the country's first solo high-rise building (42 m), Bau 15, was built in Jena.

Gropius, one of the architects of the Werkbund, founded the Bauhaus in 1919, shortly after succeeding Henry van de Velde in Weimar as director of the School of Applied Arts. The Bauhaus would become the most influential art and architecture school of the century. Although initially the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department, Gropius saw architecture as the "ultimate goal of all artistic activity." Initially, some members of the Bauhaus leaned towards expressionist architecture: buildings such as Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower (1921) or Fritz Höger's Hamburg Chilehaus (1924) had a visionary and sensationally new language, shaping architecture for a short time. This is a specific styleGerman modern style with some regional characteristics.

Walter Gropius, one of the architects of the Werkbund, directed the Bauhaus from 1919 onwards, first in the city of Weimar and later in Dessau. This second stage of Modern architecture, understood as rationalist architecture, began in those post-war years and spread throughout Europe until the Second World War.

A large and important group of architects committed to the movement: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius himself, founded the International Congress of Modern Architecture (C.I.A.M.), with sections in many countries and convened periodically between 1928 and 1959. The success in the dissemination of its principles and experiences represented the establishment of the concept of Modern Architecture par excellence in the vocabulary of architects, urban planners, critics and art historians.

The so-called classical modernity in Germany was essentially congruent with the Modern Movement (in German, Neuen Bauen, mainly with the buildings of functionalism such as the Bauhaus and the Neue Frankfurt) that have characterized it.

In Germany, two important modern movements appeared after the First World War. The Bauhaus was a school organized in Weimar in 1919 under the direction of Walter Gropius. Gropius was the son of Berlin's official state architect, and had studied before the war with Peter Behrens and designed the modern Fagus turbine factory. The Bauhaus was a merger of the prewar Academy of Arts and the school of technology. In 1926 it was transferred from Weimar to Dessau; Gropius designed the new school and student dormitories in the new purely functional modernist style that he was encouraging. The school brought together modernists in all fields; the faculty included the modernist painters Vasily Kandinsky, Joseph Albers and Paul Klee, and designer Marcel Breuer.

Postwar period

SED General Secretary Walter Ulbricht, who can be described as an opponent of modern architecture and who, through his position of power, had more influence on the architectural style than the architects of his time, marked post-war architecture. One of the models of the first buildings was the sometimes 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.

Prussian architecture also inspired the first major building project of the GDR, the project chosen to give prestige to socialist classicism: the Stalinallee, today Karl-Marx-Allee. It was a massive reconstruction project, with which the party leaders also wanted to demonstrate the strength of socialism, in which workers had to live in palatial architecture. Hermann Henselmann") was one of the main architects of the first construction phase (1951-1958), such as Egon Hartmann, Richard Paulick&action=edit&redlink=1 "Richard Paulick (Architekt) (not yet drafted")", Kurt Leucht"), Hanns Hopp") and Karl Souradny"). There was a strike by Stalinallee construction workers, which led to the uprising of June 17, 1953") with a protest march the day before, which ended with 125 dead.

Other important projects of the time in this style were the Russian Embassy in Berlin"), the founding of the city and construction of Eisenhüttenstadt (then Stalinstadt 1951-1961), parts of the center of Magdeburg (especially Ernst-Reuter-Allee), the Ring-Café&action=edit&redlink=1 "Ring-Café (Leipzig) (not yet drafted)") and the Sportforum") in Leipzig and the Transport School") in Dresden. A special feature are some projects based on specific regional styles, such as the Baltic Gothic inspired Lange Straße&action=edit&redlink=1 "Lange Straße (Rostock) (not yet drafted)") in Rostock, the buildings on the Dresdner Altmarkt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Altmarkt (Dresden) (not yet drafted)") in the style of Local baroque as well as Mecklenburg pre-war architecture in Neubrandenburg, the new development of the local inner city (market square).

However, from 1955 onwards, socialist classicism and regionalism fell out of favor with the SED party leaders (in a later architectural guide to the GDR, the first section of the former Stalin Allee is not mentioned), and the era of uniform industrialized construction, with prefabricated buildings, began. This design system, with massively simple, prefabricated components, was to allow for more efficient and less costly construction, so that the need for housing could be met more quickly. The second section of Karl-Marx-Allee (from Strausberger Platz to Alexanderplatz) has already been built based on the use of prefabricated panels.

Among the well-known official buildings of the GDR are the palace of the Republic "Republic Palace (Berlin)") (1973-1976), now demolished (work by Heinz Graffunder") and Karl-Ernst Swora), as well as the State Council building") (1964) with an integrated portal modified from the Royal Palace in Berlin, which was demolished in 1950 under the command of the SED.

Postmodernism

The architectural style of "postmodernism" began around the mid-1970s in the US and continued until the late 1980s, its spread in Germany being limited to the Western part. Postmodernism is considered a counter-movement against the International style "International Style (architecture)") and has the same theoretical foundations of philosophical or literary theory. Postmodern language normally operates with quotes from the history of architecture, which are used by some architects as a caricature and also claims that architecture is not limited to function, but also to "say" or mediate content.

An example of postmodernism in Germany is the German Museum of Architecture (renovated in 1984) in Frankfurt am Main. Oswald Mathias Ungers (1926-2007) has gutted an existing century villa and installed "a house within a house" inside. The built-in house embodies the legendary primitive cabin, signifying the beginning of architecture.

As one of the most significant works of postmodern architecture is the work of the British James Stirling "James Stirling (architect)") (1926-1992), planned since 1977 and completed in 1984, the New State Gallery of Stuttgart (1979-1984), which seeks monumentality by playing with historical quotes and color.

Also postmodern in style are two works by the Austrian Hans Hollein (1934-2014): the Museum Abteiberg" (1972-1982), in Mönchengladbach, and the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt am Main" (1987-1991).

At 256 meters, the postmodern crown of the Frankfurt Messeturm office skyscraper, the work of Helmut Jahn, was the tallest skyscraper in Europe since 1991, being replaced in 1997 by Norman Foster's Commerzbank Tower, which is still the tallest building in Germany.

Deconstructivism

Deconstructivism began in the late 1980s and received impulses from certain lines of contemporary thought. A precursor to this development was Gottfried Böhm, who became known for his "concrete rocks", such as the Neviges pilgrimage cathedral, which was designed in 1968. Böhm received the renowned Pritzker Prize for Architecture 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 global renewal movement in architecture.

Another example is the Nazi Party Concentration Camp Documentation Center in Nuremberg. Unlike the monumental architecture of the Nazi Party Concentration Camps designed by the National Socialists, Günther Domenig designed the installation of the Documentation Center (2001) in the unfinished Congress Palace in a decidedly deconstructivist manner. The UFA Palast in Dresden is also often cited as an 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 of the new European Central Bank Headquarters building in Frankfurt developed by Coop Himmelb(l)auau "Coop Himmelb(l)au").

Contenido

La arquitectura contemporánea en Alemania está conformada, especialmente a los ojos del público, por una serie de arquitectos reconocidos internacionalmente ("arquitectos estrella"). Estas firmas reciben muchos pedidos para grandes proyectos más grandes y edificios representativos.

En la actualidad a menudo es imposible distinguir la arquitectura en Alemania de la del resto del mundo, y el desarrollo arquitectónico con frecuencia solo puede entenderse en un contexto global. Esta intercambiabilidad global y uniformidad de la arquitectura contemporánea también suele ser objeto de críticas.[41]​ Las oficinas de arquitectura alemanas lideran grandes proyectos urbanos (por ejemplo, Albert Speer & Partner en la República Popular China, Ingenhoven Architekten en Irlanda). Por otro lado, las oficinas del extranjero implementan proyectos en Alemania, a menudo en cooperación con las oficinas locales. Por ejemplo, los arquitectos suizos Herzog & de Meuron diseñaron el Allianz Arena en Múnich y la Filarmónica del Elba en Hamburgo o Zaha Hadid el museo de ciencias Phaeno en Wolfsburgo (2005).

En la actualidad se pueden observar diversas tendencias globalizadas en arquitectura. Una de ellas es una forma de neoexpresionismo desarrollado a partir del deconstructivismo mediante el uso intensivo de computadoras, incluso en la fase de diseño. De esta manera, se crean estructuras escultóricas de forma individual que pretenden dar una expresión artística a su contenido y, en algunos casos, solo al edificio en sí mismo. Algunos ejemplos son la ampliación del Museo Judío de Berlín de Daniel Libeskind o los edificios de Frank O. Gehry en el llamado Medienhafen de Düsseldorf.

El minimalismo es el movimiento inverso a la tendencia deconstructivista, con sus edificios diseñados deliberadamente en un lenguaje de formas escueto y reducido, como se puede ver en los edificios de Tadao Andō en el centro de conferencias de Vitra en Weil am Rhein y el edificio de arte y exposiciones de la Fundación Langen cerca de Neuss.

La corriente del nuevo funcionalismo "Funcionalismo (arquitectura)") orientado a la tecnología está representada, por ejemplo, por Norman Foster, con diseños como la cúpula del edificio del Reichstag en Berlín o en la Torre Commerzbank en Frankfurt am Main. Este último en particular es un edificio que está planeado con el espíritu de "edificio ecológico" y diseñado para ser amigable con los recursos, desde el proyecto hasta el equipamiento técnico. Este tipo de construcción y "edificio sostenible" (por ejemplo, Anna Heringer) se encuentra entre los desarrollos que marcan tendencia, —si no definen estilo—, en la escena arquitectónica alemana. Alemania es considerada pionera en lo que respecta a la arquitectura "ecológica" no solo por los altos estándares técnicos en la industria de la construcción. Con la ayuda de nuevas técnicas y materiales, se están desarrollando edificios que ahorran energía, como las llamadas casas pasivas o "casas solares" (ver Tecnología solar pasiva). El uso de materiales de construcción regionales y naturales, —como arenisca pintura a la cal#Pintura_a_la_cal "Pintura (material)"), arcilla o marga, ladrillo, pizarra, paja y madera—, se está volviendo cada vez más importante en este contexto.

El creciente debate público actual en torno a la arquitectura y la planificación urbana tiene como consecuencia que los ciudadanos comprometidos y las partes interesadas destacadas influyen en la toma de decisiones. Por ejemplo, mediante la participación de asociaciones sin fines de lucro y el aporte de diversas personalidades, (incluido el presentador de televisión Günther Jauch y el fundador de SAP, Hasso Plattner), fue posible impulsar la reconstrucción del histórico Palacio de la Ciudad de Potsdam, en lugar de construir un edificio nuevo y moderno como sede del Parlamento Regional de Brandeburgo. El castillo fue reconstruido en un volumen ligeramente diferente y con sus fachadas barrocas en la ubicación original.

La reconstrucción de edificios destruidos durante la guerra o demolidos posteriormente es otra tendencia actual con incidencia creciente en toda la República Federal. Las reconstrucciones más destacadas de los últimos años fueron la desarrollada en el edificio de la Casa Gremial de los Carniceros de Hildesheim (1989) en la plaza del mercado de Hildesheim y la reconstrucción de la Frauenkirche "Frauenkirche (Dresde)") en Dresde (2005) con la zona histórica del Neumarkt "Neumarkt (Dresde)") circundante. Otros ejemplos actuales son el Palacio de la Ciudad de Berlín, la Iglesia de la Guarnición en Postdam, así como parte del casco antiguo de Frankfurt (proyecto Dom-Römer). Se están considerando o planificando otros proyectos de reconstrucción crítica de ciudades en todo el país para reparar las huellas dejadas por la guerra y las demoliciones siguientes, de modo de recuperar paisajes urbanos históricos.[42]​.

En este contexto de revalorización de los estilos arquitectónicos del pasado, también se produce una tendencia general hacia la recuperación de escalas, proporciones y detalles arquitectónicos clásicos, lo que también se conoce como arquitectura neoclásica. Esta tendencia se debe a que parte de la población experimentó un creciente rechazo por los estilos arquitectónicos modernistas, ya que este tipo de arquitectura contemporánea suele ser percibida como fría, impersonal, irrelevante o fuera de escala humana. Las personas anhelan estándares "más humanos", de menor escala, de base regional y con fachadas de diseño y estructura clásicas (por ejemplo, a través de ornamentos, cornisas y pilastras).[43]​ Este desarrollo se puede ver, por ejemplo en el Nuevo urbanismo, que se está imponiendo cada vez más en la República Federal y que promueve la construcción de edificios urbanos diseñados para ocupar el perímetro del espacio edificable,[Nota 3]​ en lugar del desarrollo de construcciones en forma de filas.

Algunos arquitectos que se han dedicado a este tema durante algún tiempo son, por ejemplo Hans Kollhoff, Sergei Tchoban o el urbanista berlinés Hans Stimmann. Se caracterizan por emplear elementos arquitectónicos, materiales y disposiciones constructivas clásicos y probados, combinándolos o no de formas novedosas.

Social importance

The Federal Foundation for Building Culture was founded in 2007 with the aim of "promoting the quality of the built environment" and, among other things, promoting the perception of Germany's planning and construction work, both at home and abroad.