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.
Centuries of fragmentation of Germany into principalities and kingdoms caused a great regional diversity and favoured vernacular architecture. This made for a heterogeneous and diverse architectural style, with architecture differing from town to town. While this diversity may still be witnessed in small towns, the devastation of architectural heritage in the larger cities centres during World War II resulted partly in extensive rebuilding characterized by simple modernist architecture. In this context, however, it must be emphasized that many German cities had already changed their face in the course of industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries with towns like Munich or Berlin developing from very small municipalities to major cities. Overall around 7 out of 10 buildings before World War II are still standing today, with even 40 % of Berlin´s buildings dating from before 1950.
German urban culture is therefore not only urban but is also shaped by medium-sized cities, rural small towns and large villages. From an architectural point of view, it is a generally recognized fact that the main centers are not representative of the whole country.
The Brandenburg Gate, Cologne Cathedral, St. Paul's Church (Frankfurt am Main), Neuschwanstein Castle, Hambach Castle, Wartburg and the Reichstag building are some of the most symbolic constructions of Germany.
Prehistoric architecture
One of the oldest buildings in the world was found in Bilzingsleben, dating to around 400.000 BP.Homo erectus husemann.net
Starting with the Linear Pottery culture circular enclosures and long houses, the biggest buildings of their time, were erected in Germany, from around 5.000 BC.
The Unetice culture erected large burial mounds like the Leubingen tumulus and the graves in Helmsdorf and Bornhöck.
Urnfield/Celtic architecture By the late Bronze Age, the Urnfield culture () had replaced the Bell Beaker, Unetice and Tumulus cultures in central Europe, whilst the Nordic Bronze Age had developed in Scandinavia and northern Germany. The Hallstatt culture, which had developed from the Urnfield culture, was the predominant Western and Central European culture from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and during the early Iron Age (8th to 6th centuries BC). It was followed by the La Tène culture (5th to 1st centuries BC).
The people who had adopted these cultural characteristics in central and southern Germany are regarded as Celts. How and if the Celts are related to the Urnfield culture remains disputed. However, Celtic cultural centres developed in central Europe during the late Bronze Age ( until 700 BC). Some, like the Heuneburg, the oldest city north of the Alps, grew to become important cultural centres of the Iron Age in Central Europe, that maintained trade routes to the Mediterranean.
The Italic peoples, including the Latins, from which the Romans emerged, come from the Urnfield culture of central Europe. Later the Romans would return to Germany to erect buildings of the Roman architecture. "The results suggest that the Steppe-related ancestry component could have first arrived through Late N/Bell Beaker groups from Central Europe."
Ancient Roman architecture
The Roman Empire once extended over much of today's Federal Republic of Germany, and there are still remains from around 100–150AD at the limes, the border defence system of Ancient Rome marking the boundaries of the Roman Empire. In addition to border fortifications such as forts and military camps, the Romans also built thermae, bridges, and amphitheatres.
An important metropolis of that time was Trier, where the Porta Nigra, the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps is located, together with the remains of various thermal spas, a Roman bridge, and the (largely reconstructed) Aula Palatina.
With the departure of the Romans, their urban culture and advances in architecture (e.g., underfloor heating, glass windows) vanished from Germany.
Pre-Romanesque
The Pre-Romanesque period in Western European architecture is usually dated from either the emergence of the Merovingian kingdom in about 500 or from the Carolingian Renaissance in the late 8th century, to the beginning of the 11th century Romanesque period. German buildings from this period include Lorsch Abbey. This combines elements of the Roman triumphal arch (arch-shaped passageways, half-columns) with the vernacular Teutonic heritage (baseless triangles of the blind arcade, polychromatic masonry).
One of the most important churches in this style is the Abbey Church of St. Michael's, constructed between 1001 and 1031 under the direction of Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (993–1022) as the chapel of his Benedictine monastery. It is built in the so-called Ottonian (Early-Romanesque) style. The Ottonian Renaissance was a renaissance that accompanied the reigns of the first three emperors of the Saxon Dynasty, all named Otto: Otto I (936–973), Otto II (973–983), and Otto III (983–1002).
Romanesque
The Romanesque period, from the 10th to the early 13th century, is characterised by semi-circular arches, robust appearance, small paired windows, and groin vaults. Many churches in Germany date from this time, including the twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne. The most significant building of this period in Germany is the Speyer Cathedral. It was built in stages from about 1030, and was in the 11th century the largest building in the Christian world and an architectural symbol of the power of the Salian dynasty, a dynasty of four German Kings (1024–1125).
The cathedrals of Worms and Mainz are other important examples of Romanesque style. Many churches and monasteries were founded in this era, particularly in Saxony-Anhalt. The Rhenish Romanesque, for example at Limburg Cathedral, produced works that used coloured surrounds. Of particular importance are also the church of St. Servatius in Quedlinburg, and also Luebeck Cathedral, Brunswick Cathedral, St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael in Hildesheim, Trier Cathedral, Naumburg Cathedral and Bamberg Cathedral, whose last phase of construction falls in the Gothic period.
Maulbronn Abbey is considered a significant example of Cistercian architecture. It was built between the 12th and 15th centuries, and therefore includes Gothic elements. In the 11th century there also began construction of numerous castles, including the famous castle of Wartburg, which was later expanded in the Gothic style.
Gothic
Gothic architecture flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture. The first Gothic buildings in Germany were built from about 1230, for example the Liebfrauenkirche (German for Church of Our dear Lady) ca. 1233–1283 in Trier, which is one of the most important early Gothic cathedrals in Germany and falls into the architectural tradition of the French Gothic.
Freiburg Cathedral was built in three stages, the first beginning in 1120 under the dukes of Zähringen, the second beginning in 1210, and the third in 1230. Of the original building, only the foundations still exist. It is noted for its 116-metre tower, which Jacob Burckhardt reputedly claimed is the most beautiful in Christian architecture. The tower is nearly square at the base, and at its centre is the dodecagonal star gallery. Above this gallery, the tower is octagonal and tapered, with the spire above. It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany that was completed in the Middle Ages (1330), and survived the bombing raids of November 1944, which destroyed all of the houses on the west and north side of the market.
Cologne Cathedral is after Milan Cathedral the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Construction began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete – a period of over 600 years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also has the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir of the cathedral, measured between the piers, also holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1, exceeding even Beauvais Cathedral which has a slightly higher vault.Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method
Brick Gothic () is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea without natural rock resources. The buildings are built more or less using only bricks. Stralsund City Hall and St. Nicholas Church are good examples of this style. Cities such as Lübeck, Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Greifswald, and Szczecin (Stettin), Kołobrzeg (Kolberg), Gdańsk (Danzig) in present-day northern and western Poland, regions that had been German-settled since the Middle Ages, are shaped by this regional style. A model for many North German churches was St. Mary's in Lübeck, built between 1200 and 1350.
The building of Gothic churches was accompanied by the construction of the guild houses and the construction of town halls by the rising bourgeoisie. A good example is the Gothic Town Hall (13th century) at Stralsund. There is also Bremen Town Hall (1410) and the (reconstructed) city hall of Münster (originally from 1350).
The dwellings of this period were mainly timber-framed buildings, as can still be seen in Goslar and Quedlinburg. Quedlinburg has one of the oldest half-timbered houses in Germany. The method of construction, used extensively for town houses of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, (see Dornstetten, illustrated above) lasted into the 20th century for rural buildings. There are around 2.4 million timber framed buildings in Germany.
Renaissance
Renaissance architecture belongs to the period between the early 14th and early 16th centuries in different parts of Europe, when there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and culture. The earliest example of Renaissance architecture in Germany is the Fugger chapel in St. Anne's Church, Augsburg. At that time, Germany was fragmented into numerous principalities, the citizens generally had few rights and armed conflict, especially the religious conflicts of the Protestant Reformation, ensured that large tracts of land remained virtually undeveloped.
Some princes, however, promoted modern art, for example in Torgau, Aschaffenburg, and Landshut, where the Renaissance era originated. Examples include the decorated inner courtyard of Trausnitz Castle and the ducal Landshut Residence in the inner city, built by Italian Renaissance master craftsmen.
The St. Michael's Church in Munich, (begun around 1581), is an important Renaissance building. There is also Heidelberg Castle with its typical Renaissance façades, and the Augsburg City Hall, built from 1614 to 1620 by the Augsburg architect Elias Holl.
In the area of the Weser there are numerous castles and manor houses in Weser Renaissance style. In Wolfenbüttel, the castle of the Guelphs and the Evangelical town church Beatae-Maria-Virginis are worth mentioning as special examples of the Renaissance. In Thuringia and Saxony, many churches and palaces in the Renaissance style were built, for example, William Castle with castle in Schmalkalden, the church of Rudolstadt, the Castle of Gotha, the Old Town Hall in Leipzig, the interior of the presbytery, the Freiberg Cathedral, the Castle in Dresden or the Schönhof in Gorlitz. In northern Germany there is Güstrower Castle and the rich interior of Stralsund's Nikolai Church.
Baroque