Old German Architecture

[Marius]

Hello all,


Can you tell me whether the style of architecture presented in the following photos may still be find in Germany, Austria or in any other Germanic country or region nowadays and which is that one. Or if you find there is a non-Germanic influence, which one is that?

The photos are from old Saxon villages and cities in Transylvania, Romania.


Thank you.

[Nordgau]

That's mostly Medieval Gothic style what excels on that pictures. Can be found all over Germany and Austria. There's no foreign influence, but the architectural phenomenon of church-castles (Kirchenburgen) is a speciality of the Germans in Transylvania.

Wonderful photos, by the way.

[Marius]

That's mostly Medieval Gothic style what excels on that pictures. Can be found all over Germany and Austria. There's no foreign influence, but the architectural phenomenon of church-castles (Kirchenburgen) is a speciality of the Germans in Transylvania.

Wonderful photos, by the way.

I know the fortress-churches are the speciality of Germans in Transylvania and it is logical to have been so, taking into account the degree of exposure to attacks the region had at those times.

But still, my oppinion is that the region has rather Austrian style of influence than German. And perhaps Bavarian also. In the other parts of Germany I think the "fachwerkhäuser" are highly predominant and you do not see that in Transylvania almost nowhere. Perhaps is this due to the fact many of the cities in Transylvania were "modernised" during the Baroque or the Rennaissance era, either due to incidental flames, either due to the will of the municipalities?

The photos are nice, the places are also nice, but not so well emphasized or repaired like in Germany or Austria...

[Nordgau]

It might be true that they strike generally more as South German. How a certain style is realizes, also depends of the regional dispositions, e.g. in north Germany brick architecture is a wide-spreaded traditional way of building. Also later modernizations in Transylvania indeed show a special form of south German Baroque.
On the other side Medieval Gothic village churches e.g. in Brandenburg again are somehow in their Gothic looking and character not too different from these here.

(It makes historically-culturally no sense to exclude Austria from Germany, as the political pushing-out of Austria from Germany happened with the Prusso-Austrian war of 1866 the foundation of the Bismarck Reich, and the phenomenon that noticeable parts of the Austrians define themselves in respect of national feeling as something different from Germans not before the period after World War II. )

In the other parts of Germany I think the "fachwerkhäuser" are highly predominant and you do not see that in Transylvania almost nowhere.

I guess that is right. I couldn't say any certain about this in the moment, but I also think that the "gravity point" of Fachwerkhäuser is generally more in some Middle German areas, like Franconia, Hesse, Thuringia, in Rhenanian parts, also Westphalia and southern parts of Lower Saxony; maybe also rather in the south west.

Ha, look at this air perspective of a fortress-church I found:

[Nordgau]

Birthälm:



Wurmloch:

[Marius]

Ok, then for a closer look of the fortress-church in Prejmer, which I visited this Spring. And also a few images from the village.

[Nordgau]

Here's a very interesting text about early Romanic-style churches of Transylvanian Saxons, and such which in their face later transformed in Gothic style. According to that text the churches show their origin first from south-eastern German regions, where allegedly first German workers originated from, and then from Rhenanian church architecture (as the "Saxons" were from the Rhine-Mosel area):

http://www.karpatenwilli.com/komi7921.htm

[Marius]

In fact this is another question. There are many suppositions about the origins of Germans in Transylvania. The real truth is quite unknown and that's what I tried to establish when asking you about the places where such architecture may be found in the Germanic countries.

But there are also many fachwerkhäuser in Bavaria. Just take the example of Nürnberg or Rothenburg ob der Tauber. But I also said Bavaria because the buildings are covered with red tile, which is not at all common as you go to the North or to the Western Germany.

[Nordgau]

I remember having seen somewhere in the Net half a year ago or so an American page with a whole huge collection of old postcards with old Saxon-Transylvanian motives: towns, villages, landscape. Gave a very nice impression and had nostalgic atmosphere, but I can't find that page anymore...

[Agrippa]

I remember having seen somewhere in the Net half a year ago or so an American page with a whole huge collection of old postcards with old Saxon-Transylvanian motives: towns, villages, landscape. Gave a very nice impression and had nostalgic atmosphere, but I can't find that page anymore...

I know what you mean, probably you looked at the page I posted, or found it by chance.

When I wrote about my grandparents and my Siebenbuerger heritage I brought some pictures and pages.

http://www.siebenbuerger-sachsen-bw....hang/postkart/

BTW great pictures of Transylvania.