GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN GERMANY The Gothic in Germany was largely an imported style. Little transitional work occurred, and in most of the 13th century Gothic buildings, such as Cologne and Strasbourg cathedrals, the French touch is obvious. It was not long, however, before na tional taste exerted a change in the direction of increased pic turesqueness and the emphasis on vertical lines, as in the west front of Strasbourg cathedral (1298), by Erwin of Steinbach, with its lacy free-standing mullions and tracery and its exquisite sculpture. The Cathedral of Regensburg (1275-1309, façade 1500) is equally impressive, and in its choir illustrates another German characteristic, the omission of ambulatory and chapels around the apse, so that continuous windows from floor to vault on the same plane are possible. Here these are divided into two storeys, but in the western apse of St. Sebald's church, Nurem berg (1361-77), and in the magnificent choir of Erfurt cathedral the logical step has been taken and the windows are continuous slim openings, of enormous height, producing an impression of incredible lightness.
The same love for high windows is perhaps responsible for an other German peculiarity, the popularity of the so-called hall type church, in which nave and aisles are of the same height. Ex amples occurred throughout Germany and Austria during the 14th century and its frequency would indicate an independent invention. The monastic church at Zwetl (1343) and St. Ste phen's cathedral at Vienna (134o-1433), that of the Holy Cross at Gmiind in Swabia (1351-1414) and the Frauenkirche at Nur emberg (1355-61) show, both outside and inside, the impression of slim height that long windows and high, narrow supports pro duce. In the Nuremberg example another German peculiarity is present, for the west front has a porch with stepped, traceried gable, and turret above, distinguished by the combination of rich carving and fantastic shapes. This fantastic quality ran riot in the German Gothic of the 15th and 16th centuries. The vaults of the double side aisles of Ulm cathedral (1478) have an intri cacy of vault ribbing unknown outside Germany. Similar com plex patterns occur at St. George in Dinkelsbuhl and in the throne room of the castle at Prague in Czechoslovakia (1502). But it is in tracery, and other decorative details that this quality is most evident. Both geometric and flamboyant or curvilinear types are used, composed with an unbridled imagination and a great com plexity of cusping and intersecting lines, particularly in some of the later secular work. The most bizarre forms are found in balconies, corbels, etc. At times tracery bars are carved like tree branches with twigs and knots and bark.
In north Germany, especially in the Hanseatic towns, an in teresting Gothic of entirely different type, based upon the use of brick instead of stone, was developed. The Marienkirche at Lii beck (127o-131o) and St. Mary's at Wismar, slightly later, have a simple nave and lower side aisles, but it is the hall church which is most characteristic. The Marienkirche at Danzig (begun 1403) is especially interesting in its elaborate and frank brick treatment. Even more remarkable use of brick and terra-cotta appears in some of the secular work of this locality, as for in stance, city gates in Neu-Brandenburg (i4th century) and Stendal (c. 130o) and in the monumental town hall at Tangermunde (c. 1460), remarkable for its great screen facade.
Typical of the German fondness for picturesqueness and height are the numerous rich stone spires, almost all of them dating from the 15th century. That of Strasbourg is notable for the daring slimness of the stone supports which form the receding stages of the pinnacles of the spire top. In Regensburg (spires late 15th century) and Cologne, built in the 19th century from original Gothic drawings, a different treatment appears; the spires are pyramidal, with crockets up the edges, and the sides are filled with open work tracery. At Ulm, also, as in Cologne, the spire was built in modern times from I 5th century drawings. It is the culmination of the type and rises with a remarkable air of lift and power for more than Soo feet.
