Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/182

 170 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE number, however, which have survived is so great that we have no hesitation in saying that at no other period of history were so many buildings erected for the worship of God as in that extending from the be- ginning of the fifteenth century to the Eeformation. This zeal pervaded the whole of Germany, and was found in small as well as in large towns ; even in the villages there sprang up churches which in artistic beauty were equal to the great cathedrals, and in proportionate expenditure of labour and money were not outdone by the minster edifices of Freiburg and Ulm. 1 Even in the remote northern parts of Germany, where culture was slow in penetrating, many churches were erected or remodelled between 1450 and 1515 ; 2 of such there are specimens in Berlin, Brandenburg, Breslau, Dantzic, Fiirstenwald, Gardelegen, Gleiwitz, Giistrow, Havelberg, Heiligengrabe, Jiiterbog, Liibeck, Neu-ruppin, Neustadt-Eberswald, Pelplin, Pritzwalk, Eostock, Salzwedel, Seehausen, Stendal, Stettin, Stral- sund, Tangermiind, Thorn, Werben, Wilsnack, Wismar, Wittstock, Wolmirstadt, Wursthausen, and Ziesar. In many of these places the building of several churches was carried on at the same time. In Dantzic, for in- stance, besides the magnificent ' St. Mary's ' (1502), the noble St. John's (1460-1465), the Holy Trinity Church and the chapel of St. Anna, the choir of the Carmelite Church, the Church of St. Bartholomew, and others, were built or completed (1481-1495). In these districts, where they were reduced to working with bricks, the 1 The names of most of the architects of those buildings are unknown ; but between 1450 and 1520 nearly two hundred architects are known, amongst whom may be mentioned Burkhard Engelberger in Augsburg, and the Moritzes in Ratisbon. See Sighart, pp. 418-495. 3 In this list are mentioned only those buildings whose dates are authentic. Otte, pp. 489-623.