L’architecture castrale en Allemagne du XIIIe au début du XVIe siècle

Abstract

Castle architecture in Germany from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, by Thomas Biller, Christofer Herrmann Any attempt at a synthetic analysis of German castle architecture in the Gothic period presupposes the understanding that Germany in the late Middle Ages is not a political entity in the modern sense, but rather a “ patchwork” united essentially by a common language. This state of cultural affairs almost necessarily created a strong tendency to preserve local practices, even when new trends, like the Gothic style, were introduced from the outside and reworked regionally. German castle architecture can therefore only be treated region by region. Furthermore, because of the uneven state of research, the authors have chosen to concentrate on select regions that seem exemplary for their architectural forms and developments. Alsace, which is part of France today, but which was German speaking in the Middle Ages and an integral part of the Empire, is particularly interesting, having already embraced Gothic forms by the mid thirteenth century. In the Rhineland, Gothic art flourished in the fourteenth century. Most of the castles in Prussia and Livonia also date from this century, but they form a case apart, because of the mastery achieved by the Teutonic Order, whose structures are of remarkable quality. Finally, recent research has shown that the castles of Saxony are early castles for pleasure (Schlösser). They represent the end of the phenomenon in the fifteenth century, and mark the transition to the new programmes of the modern era.