Brick Romanesque is an architectural style and chronological phase of architectural history. The term described Romanesque buildings built of brick; like the subsequent Brick Gothic, it is geographically limited to Central Europe. Structures in other regions are not described as Brick Romanesque but as "Romanesque brick-built church" or similar terms.
In comparison to Brick Gothic, Brick Romanesque is a less established and less frequently used term. On the one hand, this is caused by the fact that the Baltic region was only beginning to develop its own stylistic identity during the Romanesque period, on the other by the relatively low number of surviving buildings. Many of the major Brick Gothic edifices had Brick Romanesque predecessors, remains of which are often still visible. Nearly all preserved buildings are churches. The buildings contrast with earlier stone-built churches (Fieldstone church), which were constructed of glacial erratics and rubble. Such rounded stones limit the potential size of a building; the material and technique do not permit the construction of structures larger than a village church for static reasons. Monumental constructions only became possible through the growing use and perfection of brick building.
Already in the antique Roman Empire huge brick buildings had been erected north of the Alps, but present-day Denmark and present-day northern Germany east of Elbe River never had been part of that empire, and west of the Elbe its rule had been too short to build more than some military camps. Even in the northern Roman provinces, the techniques of building in brick were forgotten with the decay of the empire.
But in Langobardia Major, northern Italy, there was a continuity of building in bricks from late Antiquity to early Middle Ages. In Early Lombard Romanesque style, technique and shapes, later on, typical for the Baltic Sea were already completely developed. During the 12th century, Northern Germany and Denmark, at that time the major power of North Sea and Baltic Sea, imported the techniques and many elements of style from the Padan Region. [1]
St. John's Church (Sankt-Johannis-Kirche) in Oldenburg (Holstein) is considered to be the oldest brick church in Northern Europe. The first monumental churches were Ratzeburg cathedral and Lübeck Cathedral, both begun shortly after 1160 under Henry the Lion. Lübeck Cathedral was later converted into a Gothic hall church (1266 to 1335). Jerichow Abbey with its convent church of which construction started in 1148 played an influential role for the brick architecture in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For Scandinavia, the stylistically independent Roskilde Cathedral, started in the 1170s and used as the burial church for Danish monarchs, is of special importance. The last flourish and the transition to the Gothic style is marked by the Cistercian Lehnin Abbey in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Kalundborg | Church of Our Lady | Circa 1170–1200 | Central structure on Greek cross plan. Central tower and 4 side towers of nearly the same height | |
Ledøje | Residential church | Circa 1225 | ||
Nyborg | Nyborg Castle | about 1170 | Mid 13th century to 1416 main residence of the Kings of Denmark | |
Ringsted | St. Benedict | Built 1163–1170 | One of the earliest brick churches in Northern Europe, basilica | |
Roskilde | Cathedral | Mainly 1170–1280 | UNESCO World Heritage Site, burial church of Danish monarchs | |
Sorø | Abbey | After 1161 | Former Cistercian basilica | |
Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Bagband (Großefehn, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | |||
Bassum | Collegiate church (DE) | begun in Romanesque, completed in Gothic style, hall church | ||
Bingum (incorporated to Leer, East Frisia) | St. Matthew's (DE) | 1. quarter of the 13th century | ||
Blexen (Weser estuary) | St. Hippolyte (DE) | Choir in the 11./12th century begun in cubes of granite and completed in brick, nave and tower (13th century) completely of brick | ||
Bücken (Weser) | Collegiate church (DE) | Stone building of the 11th century enlarged in brick in the 13th century | ||
Bunde (East Frisia) | Reformed church (DE) | about 1200 | begun in Romanesque style | |
Canum (Krummhörn) | Village church (DE) | 2. half of the 13th century | ||
Ditzum (Rheiderland) | Village church (DE) | early or mid 13th century | ||
Dunum (Esens, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | 1200–1220 | ||
Emden | Große Kirche (Large Church) (DE) | about 1200 | Romanesque, later enlarged in Gothic style, 1943 completely destroyed by bombs, new building in 1948/49 | |
Fedderwarden (Wilhelmshaven) | St.-Stephanus-Kirche [2] | about 1250 | Romano-Gothic, tower added in 1875 | |
Freepsum (Krummhörn) | Village church (DE) | about 1260 | ||
Golzwarden (Stadland) | St.-Bartholomäus-Kirche | 1263 | Northern wall mixed with fieldstone, choir newer | |
Hage (East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | 1220 | ||
Heiligenfelde (Syke) | Michaeliskirche | Early 13th century | ||
Hinte (East Frisia) | Bell house of the village Church (DE) | 13th century | Romanesque bell house, late Gothic nave | |
Holtgaste (Rheiderland) | Village church (DE) | 1st half of 13th century | ||
Holtrop (Großefehn, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | |||
Kirchweyhe | Village church (DE) | tower about 1250 | nave in 1906 replaced by a Gothic Revival one | |
Midlum (Rheiderland) | Village church (DE) | Early or middle 13th century | nave about 1840 very much altered | |
Norden (East Frisia) | Ludgeri-Kirche (DE) | 1200–1220 or 1230–1250 | Western part of the nave Romanesque, Gothic enlargement (transept and choir) | |
Pilsum (Krummhörn) | Village church (DE) | 13th century | ||
Sengwarden (Wilhelmshaven) | St.-Georgs-Kirche | about 1250 | gothified in the 15th century | |
Strackholt (Großefehn, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | |||
Suurhusen (Hinte, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | nave mid 13th century, later a bit altered, (leaning) tower built about 1450, but in Romanesque style | ||
Victorbur (Südbrookmerland, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | 1st half of 13. Jahrhundert | Aisleless church | |
Wiegboldsbur (Südbrookmerland, East Frisia) | Village church (DE) | about 1250 | ||
Bad Zwischenahn | St.-John's-CHurch (DE) |
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Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Anhalt Castle (near Harzgerode) | 1123 and 1147 | Ascan hill castle, only little relics | ||
Arendsee | Arendsee Abbey (DE) | 1184–1240, consecrated already in 1208 | ||
Beuster | Collegiate church (Stiftskirche) St. Nikolaus | 12th c. (choir completed in 1172) | ||
Bremish Blockland, Bremen | Wasserhorst parish church (DE) | Tower 13th century | Romano-Gothic, nave remodeled in 1743 to very moderate Baroque | |
Diesdorf | Diesdorf Abbey (DE) | 1161–1220 | late Romanesque | |
Giesenslage near Behrendorf | Village church (DE) | probably late 12th century | ||
Königsmark [3] | Village church | probably 12th century | originally a basilica | |
Wolterslage village church | Tower Romanesque, nave altered to Gothic | |||
Mandelsloh (incorporated to Neustadt am Rübenberge) | St. Osdag Church | 1180 | basilica of brick with a tower of boulers | |
Mildensee (DE) (incorporated to Dessau-Roßlau) | Pötnitz church (DE) | Consecrated 1198 | Originally triple-aisled basilica. Side aisles demolished in the 17th century. Southernmost Brick Romanesque in Central Germany. | |
Osterholz-Scharmbeck | Monastic church of St Mary | 1185–1197 | later converted to a Gothic hall church, altered in C18 | |
Salzwedel | St Laurence Church Lorenzkirche (DE) | 13th. c. | Basilica | |
Verden | Tower of Verden Cathedral | Since c. 1160 | Gothic nave of Sandstone, else Brick Gothic | |
St. John's (DE) | Onset in the mid 12th century | Tower and chancel Romanesque, nave Gothic | ||
Wittingen | St. Steven's Church (DE) | about 1250 | nave romanesque, tower & choir Gothic |
Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Altenkirchen | Parish Church | Begun probably about 1185 | Near previous Slavic cult place of the god Svantevit on Cape Arkona | |
Altenkrempe | Basilica | 1190 to 1240 | ||
Bad Segeberg | St. Mary's | |||
Bergen auf Rügen | St. Mary's | |||
Eutin | St. Michael's | 1180s to early 13th century | ||
Gadebusch | Town Church St. Jacob and St. Dionysius | Late Romanesque, begun about 1220 | ||
Jerichow | Jerichow Monastery | 1148-1172 | Former Premonstratensian collegiate church, oldest brick structure East of the Elbe River | |
Lehnin | Lehnin Abbey | Circa 1185–1235, altered up to 1260 | ||
Lübeck | Cathedral | 1163–1230 | Romanesque nave, Gothic choir | |
Lübow | Village church | 1st half 13th century | Possibly residential church of nearby Mecklenburg Castle | |
Melkow | Village church | Circa 1200 | ||
Mölln | St. Nicholas | Early 13th century | Basilica | |
Neubukow | Parish church | Double-naved hall church | ||
Neukloster | Abbey church | before 1227 | ||
Oldenburg (Holstein) | St. John's | Mainly built 1156–1160 | Oldest brick church in Northern Europe | |
Ratzeburg | Cathedral | Mainly 1160–1220 | Oldest fully preserved brick church east of Elbe | |
Rehna | Abbey | Late Romanesque | Single-naved abbey church | |
Rieseby | Village church | Circa 1220/1230 | ||
Sagard | St. Michael's Church (DE) | 1210 | choir replaced at about 1400 and tower added at about 1500 in Gothic style | |
Schaprode | Village church | 1st half 13th century | ||
Schlagsdorf | Village church | 1st half 13th century | ||
Schleswig | Schleswig Cathedral | 1134 – c. 1200 | built of granite, tufa and brick; Gothic additions 1275-1300; tower 20th century | |
Schönhausen | Village church | Consecrated 1212 | ||
(Bad) Segeberg | St. Mary's Church (DE) | |||
Vietlübbe (near Dragun) | Village church | Early 13th century | Latin cross plan | |
Wust | Village church | Circa 1200 | Tower added in the 18th century | |
Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Inowrocław | St. Mary's Church | 12th and 13th century | Brick towers | |
Kamień Pomorski | Cathedral St. John | after 1175 to 1250 | ||
Kołbacz | Abbey | Begun shortly after 1200 | Former Cistercian basilica | |
Lublin | Lublin Castle Donjon | 12th century | Upper parts in brick, lower in limestone | |
Oliwa | Abbey | After 1178 | Former Cistercian Monastery | |
Płock | Płock Cathedral | 1130–1144 | Rebuilt several times | |
Poznań | Church of St. John of Jerusalem Outside the Walls | c. 1187 | It was one of the first brick-built churches in Poland [4] | |
Sandomierz | Church of St. Jacob | 13th century | ||
Strzelno | Church of the Holy Trinity | 12th century-1216 | ||
Rotunda of St. Prokop | Brick parts 15th or 16th century | Romanesque and brick, but no Romanesque brick: The Romanesque original parts, erected since before 1133, are of red granite. | ||
Święta Katarzyna | St. Catherine's Church | |||
Wąchock | Cistercian monastery | After 1179 | Brick and sandstone | |
Wrocław | St. Giles’s (św. Idziego) Church | about 1220–1230 [5] | probably before the Battle of Legnica | |
Place | Building | Main period of construction | Special features | Image |
Vinslöv | Gumlösa parish church | consecrated 1192 | Oldest brick building in present-day Sweden (then Danish) | |
Linköping | Cathedral | 1230 onwards | Took 250 years to build, so most visible parts Gothic | |
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Romanesque is characterized by semicircular arches, while the Gothic is marked by the pointed arches. The Romanesque emerged nearly simultaneously in multiple countries ; its examples can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture. Similarly to Gothic, the name of the style was transferred onto the contemporary Romanesque art.
Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417.
Tangermünde is a historic town on the Elbe River in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The town has land area of around 89.87 sq.km and a population of 10,283 people as of 2022.
Roskilde Cathedral, in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Denmark.
Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock. The buildings are essentially built using bricks. Buildings classified as Brick Gothic are found in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Kaliningrad, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, who believed that churches should avoid superfluous ornamentation so as not to distract from prayer. Cistercian architecture was simple and utilitarian. Although a few images of religious subjects were allowed, such as the crucifix, elaborate figures common in medieval churches were prohibited. Bernard noted their capacity for distracting monks in a famous letter. Early Cistercian architecture shows a transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Later abbeys were constructed in Renaissance and Baroque styles, which were more ornate by nature.
Kloster Lehnin, or just Lehnin, is a municipality in the German state of Brandenburg. It lies about 24 km (15 mi) west-south-west of Potsdam.
Lehnin Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Lehnin in Brandenburg, Germany. Founded in 1180 and secularized during the Protestant Reformation in 1542, it has accommodated the Luise-Henrietten-Stift, a Protestant deaconesses' house since 1911. The foundation of the monastery in the newly established Margraviate of Brandenburg was an important step in the high medieval German Ostsiedlung; today the extended Romanesque and Gothic brickstone buildings, largely restored in the 1870s, are a significant part of Brandenburg's cultural heritage.
Jerichow is a town on the east side of the river Elbe, in the District of Jerichower Land, of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. With about 270 square kilometres (100 sq mi), the municipality of Jerichow is one of the largest municipalities in area size in Germany.
Werben (Elbe) is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
The architecture of Germany has a long, rich and diverse history. Every major European style from Roman to Postmodern is represented, including renowned examples of Carolingian, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Modern and International Style architecture.
Brick Renaissance is the Northern European continuation of brick architecture after Brick Romanesque and Brick Gothic. Although the term Brick Gothic is often used generally for all of this architecture, especially in regard to the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic, the stylistic changes that led to the end of Gothic architecture did reach Northern Germany and northern Europe with delay, leading to the adoption of Renaissance elements into brick building. Nonetheless, it is very difficult for non-experts to distinguish transitional phases or early Brick Renaissance, as the style maintained many typical features of Brick Gothic, such as stepped gables. A clearer distinction only developed at the transition to Baroque architecture. In Lübeck, for example, Brick Renaissance is clearly recognisable in buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs by the artist Statius von Düren, who was also active at Schwerin and Wismar (Fürstenhof).
Romano-Gothic is a term, rarely used in writing in English, for an architectural style, part of Early Gothic architecture, which evolved in Europe in the 12th century from the Romanesque style, and was an early style in Gothic architecture. In England "Early English Gothic" remains the usual term. The style is characterized by rounded and pointed arches on a vertical plane. Flying buttresses were used, but are mainly undecorated. Romanesque buttresses were also used. Romano-Gothic began to use the decorative elements of Gothic architecture, but not the constructional principles of more fully Gothic buildings. However, the walls did start to become thinner by using some pointed arches and ribbed vaults to distribute weight more evenly.
Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century, most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture.
The Jerichow Monastery is a former Premonstratensian monastery located in the northern outskirts of Jerichow, near the shores of the Elbe River, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt of Germany.
The Gothic style of architecture was strongly influenced by the Romanesque architecture which preceded it. Why the Gothic style emerged from Romanesque, and what the key influences on its development were, is a difficult problem for which there is a lack of concrete evidence because medieval Gothic architecture was not accompanied by contemporary written theory, in contrast to the 'Renaissance' and its treatises. A number of contrasting theories on the origins of Gothic have been advanced: for example, that Gothic emerged organically as a 'rationalist' answer to structural challenges; that Gothic was informed by the methods of medieval Scholastic philosophy; that Gothic was an attempt to imitate heaven and the light referred to in various Biblical passages such as Revelation; that Gothic was 'medieval modernism' deliberately rejecting the 'historicist' forms of classical architecture. Beyond specific theories, the style was also shaped by the specific geographical, political, religious and cultural context of Europe in the 12th century onwards.
The St. Peter and Paul cathedral is the largest medieval church in Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg, Germany. Construction began in 1165 as a Romanesque Saalkirche. It was expanded several times to a three-aisled Brick Gothic basilica. The cathedral is commonly designated “the cradle of the Mark Brandenburg” for its historic significance. The patron saints are Peter and Paul.