Some of the larger houses—those of the patriciate in the imperial towns, for example—had several courtyards, and the buildings which sur rounded them decreased in importance according to their distance from the street. The family apartments, but especially those intended to serve on festive occasions, such as dining- and banqueting-rooms, were trans ferred to the anterior part of the house; if the latter required the entire width, the private apartments of the family were removed to the wings, iu preference to giving up the rooms most favorably situated for important domestic occurrences, such as betrothals, marriages, baptisms, etc.
The gallery behind these rooms overlooking the court was widened into a vestibule, which was reached by stairs, and in later times was par titioned off with windows toward the court. Plate 41 (fig. 3) gives a fine example of this construction, which was not confined to Germany. For the sake of convenience, the kitchen had also been removed to the tipper story. Many houses of the nobility possessed, in addition to the ordinary working kitchen, which was often narrow and dark, another more splendid one, in which the fine majolica and faience dishes and the copper and tin vessels occupied long rows of white shelves, the gold and silver ware and the costly Venetian glasses, etc. being reserved to ornament the buffets in the banquet-hall.
The sleeping-rooms of the family usually occupied another story, in which were also store-rooms, while the servants were lodged either down stairs or in the rear buildings. The latter buildings also contained the stables, wood-sheds, etc. Apartments were rented to strangers only when wealth began to decrease, and when the pride of living and doing business in one's own house gave place to vanity and outward show, regardless of real independence.
The invention of windows effected a great improvement in the dwell ings. The Roman practice of admitting air and light through an opening in the ceiling (which, as we have noted (p. 252), was employed in the abbey of St. Gall) was not adapted to a northern climate. But it may have given the impetus to discover some other means, which finally led to the invention of a special arrangement to serve this purpose. At first the "peepholes" (as the windows were called in the Middle Ages) were small, without shutters, and located under the projecting roof in order to keep out the rain. If protection were necessary, nothing was at hand except wooden shutters, curtains, oiled paper, thin plates of horn, etc.
Although glass was manufactured as early as the ninth century in a convent at Constance, and though glass windows were frequent in churches of the eleventh century, this material was not used for win dows in private houses until the fifteenth century, and the use did not become general until the seventeenth century. At first the windows con sisted of small, round, rough panes, through which nothing could be distinguished; the lozenge-shaped panes, which were somewhat larger, smooth, and set in lead, were a step forward. The square panes set in wooden frames were of comparatively late introduction. By the sixteenth century the windows had been constructed lower down, so as to give light to persons working near them, but up to the following century only the principal rooms had windows.
The openings in the first story were guarded by iron gratings and were closed at night by heavy wooden shutters. The principal apartments in the second story possessed a row of windows set in a wooden framework which projected from the wall, and in which the windows could be made to slide one by the other, so that a better outlook could be obtained. The other rooms were but poorly lighted (pl. 40, fig. 8). But it is especially this characteristic arrangement that gives to ancient houses their unique, artistic appearance. The subsequent development of the city dwelling became henceforth the province of the architect. It was to the owner's interest to utilize the interior space to the utmost extent, especially after the custom of renting part of the house had been introduced; while the architect on his part sought to make as imposing a façade as possible.
Although all this belongs to the province of Architecture, yet before leaving this part of our subject we shall say something of the public buildings by the magnificence of which the imperial cities strove to dis play their power and importance. In this connection the churches them selves are to be considered, for it was a point of honor to have the highest steeple, the most splendid bridal-door. The city-halls, which especially represented the dignity of the city, were constructed with that solidity and splendor which are the peculiar characteristics of the most flourish ing period of the German bows-coisie. Not a few of them are valuable architectural monuments.