Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/459

 GERMAN GOTHIC. 4OI west end. They sometimes have towers over them, and take the place of transepts (No. 173). Towers with spires were much used, but the junction of the spire was often insufficiently marked, the outline, though orna- mented, being weak. Open-work tracery spires indicate the same liking for this fea'ture which is seen in the Rhenish Romanesque churches. The typical examples are Strasburg (1429) (No. 154 e), Freiburg (1300), Ratisbon (No. 171), Cologne (No. no c), and Vienna (No. 173) Cathedrals. B. Walls. — The apsidal galleries of the Romanesque style were simply copied, without reference to their origin and meaning. Tracery was employed on the outer and inner wall surfaces, the mullions being often cut across the openings behind. Lubeck in the north is the centre of a brick district, and churches of this material abound, as also in Bavaria and at Munich. c. Openings (No. 174 e, f). — Tracery was elaborated, double tracery windows being used in later examples. Excessive height is a characteristic, and the use of two tiers of windows was due to the lofty aisles (No. 172). In the north the clerestories are excessive in size, starting as low down as possible, to provide a great expanse of stained glass. D. Roofs. — Churches were nearly always vaulted, but were sometimes covered only with a wooden roof. Great attention was paid to the vaulting, both as regards its size and excellence of construction. Square vaulting bays to the nave were often adhered to, corresponding with two aisle bays, but vaulting in oblong bays afterwards became general, as at Freiburg, Ratisbon, Cologne, Oppenheim, and elsewhere. The special German feature is the immense roof, covering nave and aisle in one span (No. 172), which was due to the side aisle being made nearly as high as the nave, and when the aisles are equal in height to the nave it is the recognized German type known as the " Hall Church " (No. 172 f). Tower roofs of the Romanesque form were still used. E. Columns. — Piers usual in naves (Nos. 170 and 172) and not the columns found in early French Gothic, the tendency being to make them lofty posts carrying the roof, owing to the height of the aisles. F. Mouldings. — Complexity rather than simplicity was striven after ; thus interpeuetyation of mouldings (fifteenth century) was a very characteristic treatment, consisting of two different sets of mouldings, appearing and disappearing in and out of the same stone, each bemg provided with its own base and capital. The resulting complicated intersections required great skill in the geometrical setting out and execution. F.A, D D