Baroque (Part Eight).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: Interior of the Imperial Abbey of Rot an der Rot.

Deutsch: Reichsabtei Rot an der Rot.

Photo: 20 November 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Richard Mayer.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Rot an der Rot Abbey (also referred to as Roth, Münchroth, Münchenroth, Mönchroth or Mönchsroth) was a Premonstratensian Monastery in Rot an der Rot in Upper Swabia, 

Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was the first Premonstratensian Monastery 

in the whole of Swabia. The imposing structure of the former Monastery is situated 

on a hill between the valleys of the rivers Rot and Haslach. 

The Monastery Church, dedicated to Saint Verena, and the Convent buildings 

are an important part of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. 

Apart from the actual Monastic buildings, a number of other structures 

have been preserved, among which are the gates and the economy building.

Frequently, the Southern German Baroque is distinguished from the Northern German Baroque, which is more properly the distinction between the Catholic Baroque and the Protestant Baroque. In the Catholic South, the Jesuit Church of Saint Michael, in Munich, was the first to bring Italian-style across the Alps.

However, its influence on the further development of Church architecture was rather limited. A much more practical and more adaptable model of Church architecture was provided by the Jesuit Church in Dillingen: The wall-pillar Church, a Barrel-Vaulted Nave, accompanied by large open Chapels separated by wall-pillars. As opposed to Saint Michael's in Munich, the Chapels almost reach the height of the Nave in the wall-pillar Church, and their Vault (usually transverse Barrel-Vaults) springs from the same level as the main Vault of the Nave. 

The Chapels provide ample lighting; seen from the entrance of the Church, the wall-pillars form a theatrical setting for the Side Altars. The wall-pillar Church was further developed by the Vorarlberg School, as well as the Master-Masons of Bavaria. This new Church also integrated well with the Hall Church model of the German Late-Gothic age. The wall-pillar Church continued to be used throughout the 18th-Century (e.g. even in the early Neo-Classical Church of Rot an der Rot Abbey), and early wall-pillar Churches could easily be refurbished by re-decoration without any structural changes, such as the Church at Dillingen.

Deutsch: Langhaus der Roter Klosterkirche St. Verena, Rot an der Rot.

English: Nave of Rot Monastery Church St. Verena, Rot an der Rot.

Photo: 11 October 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Zairon.

(Wikimedia Commons)

However, the Catholic South also received influences from other sources, such as the so-called radical Baroque of Bohemia. The radical Baroque of Christoph Dientzenhofer and his son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, both residing at Prague, was inspired by examples from Northern Italy, particularly by the works of Guarino Guarini. It is characterised by the curvature of walls and intersection of oval spaces. While some Bohemian influence is visible in Bavaria's most prominent architect of the period, Johann Michael Fischer (the curved balconies of some of his earlier wall-pillar Churches), the works of Balthasar Neumann, in particular the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen, are generally considered to be the final synthesis of Bohemian and German traditions.

Deutsche: Die Dresdner Frauenkirche in der Blauen Stunde aufgenommen.

English: The Frauenkirche, Dresden, during the "Blue Hour".

Photo: 12 September 2009.

Source: The Church of Our Lady.

Uploaded by X-Weinzar.

Author: Christian Prade.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Original image description from the Deutsche Fotothek

Deutsch: Ruine der Frauenkirche gegen Rathausturm.

English: Ruins of the Frauenkirche, Dresden, Germany.

Photo: Circa 1965.

Photographer: Richard Peter (1895–1977).

Institution: Deutsche Fotothek.

Accession Number: df_ps_0000348.

Source: Deutsche Fotothek.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Protestant sacred architecture was of lesser importance during the Baroque, and produced only a few works of prime importance, particularly the Frauenkirche, in Dresden. Architectural theory was more lively in the North than in the South of Germany, with Leonhard Christoph Sturm's edition of Nikolaus Goldmann, but Sturm's theoretical considerations (e.g. on Protestant Church architecture) never really made it to practical application. In the South, theory essentially reduced to the use of buildings and elements from illustrated books and engravings as a prototype.

Palace architecture was equally important both in the Catholic South and the Protestant North. After an initial phase, when Italian architects and influences dominated (Vienna, Rastatt), French influence prevailed from the second decade of the 18th-Century, onwards. The French model is characterised by the horseshoe-like layout enclosing a cour d'honneur (courtyard) on the town side (chateau entre cour et jardin), whereas the Italian (and also Austrian) scheme presents a block-like villa. 

The principal achievements of German Palace architecture, often worked out in close collaboration of several architects, provide a synthesis of Austro-Italian and French models. The most outstanding Palace, which blends Austro-Italian and French influences into a completely new type of building, is the Würzburg Residence. While its general layout is the horseshoe-like French plan, it encloses interior courtyards. Its façades combine Lucas von Hildebrandt's love of decoration with French-style classical orders in two superimposed Storeys; its interior features the famous Austrian "Imperial Staircase", but also a French-type enfilade of rooms, on the garden side, inspired by the "apartement semi-double" layout of French castles.

English: Interior of Vierzehnheiligen Basilica in Bavaria, Germany.

Deutsch: Innenansicht Basilika Vierzehnheiligen.

Photo: 5 September 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Asio otus.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Baroque Church in the Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth was the Corpus Christi Church in Niasvizh, Belarus (1586–1593). It also holds the distinction of being the first Domed Basilica, with Baroque façade, in the Commonwealth and the first Baroque piece of art in Eastern Europe.

In the early 17th-Century, the Baroque style spread over the Commonwealth. Important Baroque Churches include: Saints Peter and Paul (1597–1619), constructed in the Early-Baroque style, following the pattern of Vignola's il Gesù; the Vasa Chapel (1644–1676) of the Wawel Cathedral, Baroque equivalent to neighbouring Renaissance Sigismund's Chapel, St. Anne (1689–1703) and the Visitation Church (1692–1695) in Kraków.

Other significant examples include the profusely-decorated Jesuit Church in Poznań (1651–1701), with almost theatrical decoration inside, the Xavier Cathedral in Hrodna (1678–1705), the Royal Chapel (1678–1681) in Gdańsk, a mixture of Dutch and Polish patterns and Święta Lipka in Masuria (1681–1693), the Northernmost Tyrolean Baroque building.

PART NINE FOLLOWS.