Brick Gothic Architecture of the Hanseatic League
The cities of the Hanseatic League are, above all, brick cities. The great churches, the town halls, the merchant houses, the warehouses, and the fortifications of the Hanseatic world were all built of brick, and the brick of the Hanseatic cities is the most distinctive architectural legacy of the League. The style in which the brick buildings were built is known as Backsteingotik in German, baksteengotiek in Dutch, and murarchitecture gotycka in Polish. In English, the style is usually called Brick Gothic, and it is one of the most distinctive regional styles of European architecture.
This article describes the brick Gothic style of the Hanseatic cities, beginning with the origins of the style in the twelfth century, continuing with the technical achievements of the bricklayers, the great churches and town halls of the League, and the influence of the style on the architecture of the Baltic region.
The origins of brick Gothic
The origins of brick Gothic are, in many ways, a response to the geography of the Baltic region. The region lacked good building stone: the limestone of the south German region did not extend to the Baltic, and the granite of Scandinavia was difficult to work and was poorly suited to the elaborate forms of Gothic architecture. The region did, however, have an abundance of clay, and the clay could be fired into brick, which was a durable, workable, and relatively cheap building material.
The technique of brick-making was brought to the Baltic by the Flemish and Dutch settlers who founded or rebuilt the cities of the region in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The settlers brought with them the techniques of brick-making that had been developed in the Low Countries, and the settlers applied the techniques to the new cities. The result was a style of architecture that combined the techniques of brick-making with the forms of Gothic architecture, and the result was the brick Gothic style.
The earliest brick buildings of the Baltic were relatively simple, and they were built using techniques that were similar to those of the stone buildings of the south. The bricks were laid in thick walls, the windows were small, and the decoration was relatively simple. As the technique developed, the buildings became more elaborate, and the bricklayers developed a sophisticated vocabulary of forms, including stepped gables, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and tracery windows.
A useful background: brick-making is one of the world’s oldest industries, and the technology of firing clay bricks was well established in the Roman world. What was specific to the Baltic was the combination of brick with the Gothic structural vocabulary, which was developed in northern France in the 12th century and was then adapted to brick by the Flemish and Dutch settlers. The combination was, in a sense, inevitable: the settlers brought the Gothic forms, and the Baltic environment provided the brick.
The technical achievements of the bricklayers
The bricklayers of the Baltic developed, in the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a sophisticated technique of construction that was both economical and beautiful. The technique combined the use of large bricks, which were easier to lay and which were more durable than small bricks, with the use of thin mortar joints, which gave the buildings a clean and refined appearance. The technique also used glazed bricks, which were used to decorate the façades of the most important buildings.
The bricklayers of the Baltic also developed a sophisticated technique of vaulting. The vaults of the great churches of the Baltic were built of brick, and the bricklayers developed a technique of building ribbed vaults that was similar to the technique used in the stone buildings of the south. The technique allowed the bricklayers to build large, complex vaults that were both strong and beautiful.
The bricklayers of the Baltic also developed a sophisticated technique of decoration. The decoration of the great buildings of the Baltic was based on the use of glazed bricks, which were used to create patterns, figures, and inscriptions. The technique of glazing bricks was brought to the Baltic from the Rhineland, and the technique was refined by the bricklayers of Lübeck, Stralsund, and other Hanseatic cities.
The great churches
The great churches of the Hanseatic cities are the masterpieces of brick Gothic architecture. The churches were built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the brick Gothic style reached its mature development, and the churches are among the largest and most elaborate brick buildings in the world.
The most important of the great churches is the Marienkirche in Lübeck, which was built in 1277–1351 and which is one of the most influential brick Gothic churches in the Baltic. The church’s twin towers, which are roughly 125 metres high, are a landmark of the city. The church’s interior, with its ribbed vaults, its tall windows, and its rich decoration, is one of the finest examples of the brick Gothic style. The church was badly damaged in the bombing of 1942, but it has been carefully restored.
The Marienkirche in Stralsund, built in 1278–1340s, is another masterpiece of the brick Gothic style. The church’s tower, which is roughly 104 metres high, is the tallest building in the city. The Marienkirche in Danzig (Gdańsk), built in 1343–1502, is the largest brick church in the world by interior volume. The Petrikirche in Riga, built in the early 13th century, is the oldest brick church in the Baltic.
A specific note on St. Peter’s in Riga: the current 123 m tower is a 20th-century reconstruction. The medieval tower was significantly shorter, and the original church was destroyed in 1941 during the German occupation. The current structure was built in the Soviet period, and the tower was topped out in 1973. The claim that the medieval St Peter’s tower was, for several centuries, “the tallest building in the world” is a popular tourist claim that is hard to verify against the surviving sources; what is certain is that the current tower is the tallest medieval-styled tower in the Baltic.
Other important brick Gothic churches include the Nikolaikirche in Stralsund, the Marienkirche in Rostock, the Petrikirche in Hamburg, and the Marienkirche in Bremen.
The great town halls
The great town halls of the Hanseatic cities are another important category of brick Gothic buildings. The town halls were the seats of the city councils, and they were the principal symbols of the cities’ independence. The town halls were built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and they are among the finest examples of the brick Gothic style.
The most important of the great town halls is the Rathaus in Lübeck, which was built in the 13th century, with later additions. The Rathaus’s façade, with its tall windows, its rich decoration, and its arcaded gallery, is one of the finest examples of the brick Gothic style. The Rathaus’s interior, with its grand staircase, its great hall, and its council chamber, is one of the finest examples of the brick Gothic style.
The Rathaus in Stralsund, built in the 1310s, is another masterpiece of the brick Gothic style. The Rathaus’s façade, with its tall windows, its rich decoration, and its stepped gables, is one of the finest examples of the brick Gothic style.
The Rathaus in Bremen, built in the early fifteenth century, is a remarkable example of the Weser Renaissance style that developed in northern Germany in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Rathaus’s façade, with its reliefs and inscriptions, is one of the finest examples of the Weser Renaissance style.
The merchant houses
The merchant houses of the Hanseatic cities are the most characteristic buildings of the League. The merchant houses were built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and they are among the finest examples of the brick Gothic style.
The merchant houses were built of brick, in the Gothic style, with stepped gables facing the street and vaulted cellars beneath. The ground floor was often a warehouse or a shop, with a wide door that could be opened to display the goods. The upper floors contained the living quarters, with a great hall on the first floor used for entertaining and a series of smaller rooms above used for sleeping and storage. The attic, often used as a workroom, was where the apprentices lived.
A specific note: the interior decoration of merchant houses is less well preserved than the exterior, but the surviving examples (notably the Füchtingshof in Lübeck and a few houses in Stralsund) show that the interiors were painted in bright colours, with geometric and floral patterns on the wooden beams. The painted interiors are one of the most distinctive features of the Hanseatic merchant house, and the interiors give a vivid impression of the appearance of the medieval city.
The merchant houses of Lübeck are particularly well preserved, and they are an important part of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The houses on the Engelsgrube, on the Alfstrasse, and on the Königstrasse are among the finest examples of the style, and the houses give a vivid impression of the appearance of the medieval city.
The legacy of brick Gothic
The brick Gothic style left a substantial legacy in the architecture of northern Europe. The style was adopted, with local variations, by all the cities of the Baltic, and the style remained the dominant style of architecture in the region until the seventeenth century. The style was also influential in the architecture of the Low Countries, of northern Germany, and of Poland.
A useful note: the brick Gothic style’s principal area of influence was the southern Baltic coast, but the style was also important in the architecture of northern France, the Netherlands, and northern England. The style is, in this sense, one of the principal regional styles of late-medieval European architecture, alongside the French gothique rayonnant, the English Decorated Gothic, and the German Backsteingotik.
The brick Gothic style is also an important part of the modern cultural identity of the Hanseatic cities. The old town of Lübeck, the old town of Stralsund, the old town of Wismar, and the old town of Tallinn are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the old towns of many other Hanseatic cities are important tourist destinations. The brick Gothic style is, in this sense, one of the most visible legacies of the Hanseatic League.