SGB+Content

**Course description**
====In this class, we will explore the history of the style known as Southern German Baroque, examine key features and examples of Southern German Baroque, and discuss the works of architects who perfected and made the style famous by creating exquisite buildings (churches, castles, and monasteries) that can be counted among the architectural masterpieces of this period.==== ====In the southern part of the Holy Roman Empire which roughly included Germany within today's boundaries south of the river Main plus the Duchy of Silesia, the Margravedom of Moravia, the Archduchy of Austria, Lombardy (northwestern Italy), Tuscany, Carinthia, Carniola, the County of Tyrol, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Styria, the Spanish Netherlands, Luxemburg, Lorraine, and Franche-Comte, the [|Baroque] style began to flourish somewhat later than in the rest of Europe.====

====Taking a closer look at the works of the Augsburg architect Elias Holl (1573–1646) and some theoretists (including Joseph Furttenbach the Elder who already practiced the Baroque style), the master-masons from southern Switzerland and northern Italy (the so-called magistri Grigioni) and the Lombard master-masons (particularly the Carlone family from Val d'Intelvi) to Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (who forged a new Imperial style by compiling architectural motifs from the entire history, most prominently seen in his church of [|St. Charles Borromeo] in Vienna) and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, we will identify and classify themes common in Baroque archtitecture and analyze key features that distinguish the Southern German Baroque from the Northern German Baroque. Among Hildebrandt's numerous works are some of the most splendid Baroque buildings, such as the [|Belvedere Castle] in Vienna, the [|Mirabell Palace] in Salzburg and the [|"Würzburg Residenz"] ).====

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//The Würzburg Residenz, seat of the Catholic bishop of the area, beautifully illustrates the fact that the distinguishing features between Southern and Northern German Baroque hint at differences between the Catholic and the Protestant Baroque (video clip courtesy of []).//

====Examples of buildings that showcase Southern German Baroque are the Jesuit church of, the , or the early neo-classical church of Rot in the Rot Abbey. The present-day Rot monastery complex is dominated by the neo-classicist monastery, rebuilt between 1777 and 1786. The architect Johann Baptist Laub finished the eastern part of the church, but the bulk of the reconstruction was completed by the priests themselves. The interior was designed by the painters Meinrad von Ow and Januarius Zick whereas the plaster was designed by [|Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer]. The construction of the [|organ] began in 1792 and was completed only a year later.==== ====A variation of the Southern German Baroque, the radical Bohemian Baroque (as represented by Christoph Dientzenhofer and his son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, an example of their excellent craftsmanship is the [|St. Nicholas Church in Prague]), was inspired by examples from northern Italy, particularly by the works of Guarino Guarini. It is characterized by the curvature of walls and intersection of oval spaces.==== ====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.====
 * //__Warm-Up Activity:__ Choose and clearly, but concisely, explain 10 features from the video that, in your opinion, highlight the Southern German Baroque style. Send your response to the course instructor (see instructor e-mail address at the top of this page). Use both examples pertaining to the building architecture as well as the design and layout of the gardens.//**

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