Architecture of the Teutonic Order
The architecture of the Teutonic Order is, a regional variant of the German Gothic, and one of the most distinctive regional styles in European architecture. The Order’s architects worked in a vocabulary that combined the structural and decorative forms of the contemporary French Gothic with the building traditions of the northern German plain, and they used, as their principal building material, the fired brick that was the standard material of the northern German building tradition. The result was a building programme of extraordinary scope and extraordinary coherence, and one that has left a permanent mark on the architectural landscape of north-eastern Europe. The Order’s architectural language is examined in the article on brick Gothic architecture, and the Order’s defensive vocabulary is examined in the article on defensive walls and moats.
The Order’s Architectural Patronage
The Teutonic Order was, by the standards of the medieval west, an unusually prolific builder. The Order’s architectural patronage began in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, in the chain of hospitals and small castles that it built or acquired in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and continued, with progressively greater ambition, in the course of the Order’s expansion into the Baltic. The Order’s architectural patronage in the Baltic began in 1231, with the foundation of the Order’s first Prussian convent at Thorn, and continued, with few interruptions, for the next three centuries. By the end of the fourteenth century, the Order’s architectural patronage had produced, in Prussia, Livonia, and the Holy Land, one of the most substantial building programmes of any medieval military-religious order.
The Order’s architectural patronage was, in constitutional terms, a corporate undertaking. The Order’s building programme was, in the Prussian and Livonian branches, administered by a network of conventual officers — the Baumeister of each convent, the Landmeister of each branch, and the Grand Maître of the Order as a whole. The Order’s architects were, in many cases, brethren of the Order, and the most senior of them — the Baumeister of Marienburg, the Baumeister of Königsberg, the Baumeister of Riga — were among the most respected craftsmen of their day. The Order’s building programme was, in consequence, an unusually coherent undertaking, and the Order’s architectural language was, in the mature form of the early fourteenth century, a relatively uniform vocabulary.
The Sources of the Architectural Language
The architectural language of the Teutonic Order was assembled, in the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, from several distinct sources. The most important of these sources was the contemporary building tradition of the northern German plain, with its characteristic use of fired brick as the principal building material, its sophisticated handling of the structural problems of vaulted brick construction, and its distinctive ornamental vocabulary of glazed brick, moulded brick, and figure sculpture. The northern German building tradition was, in the early fourteenth century, one of the most sophisticated regional building traditions in Europe, and the Order’s architects were in close contact with the principal workshops of the Hanseatic cities and the lower Saxon bishoprics.
A second important source of the Order’s architectural language was the contemporary French Gothic, with its characteristic use of the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the flying buttress, and the elaborate window tracery. The Order’s architects were, the heirs of the great building campaign of the French High Gothic, and the principal structural and decorative forms of the Order’s architecture — the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the elaborate tracery, the figure sculpture — were inherited from the French tradition. The transmission of the French tradition to the Baltic was, an indirect transmission, through the medium of the German Cistercian and Dominican monasteries that had been built in the French tradition in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
A third important source of the Order’s architectural language was the building tradition of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with its characteristic use of thick stone walls, narrow arrow slits, and a relatively modest use of decoration. The Order’s Levantine buildings were the architectural ancestors of the Order’s later Baltic buildings, and the defensive vocabulary of the convent castle — the curtain wall, the gatehouse, the keep, the moat — was inherited from the Levantine tradition.
The Structural Systems
The structural systems of the Order’s architecture were, in the mature form of the early fourteenth century, a distinctive regional variant of the German Gothic. The Order’s architects used, as their principal structural material, fired brick, bonded in lime mortar, and they developed, in the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a sophisticated regional vocabulary of brick construction. The principal structural systems of the Order’s architecture were the load-bearing brick wall, typically built in two or more wythes of brick with a rubble core; the brick vault, typically a ribbed cross vault or a ribbed barrel vault, with the ribs built in moulded brick and the cells built in plain brick; the brick pier, typically a rectangular or octagonal cluster of brick shafts; and the brick arch, typically a pointed arch of two or more orders of brick.
The most impressive surviving example of the Order’s structural systems is the great hall of the Middle Castle of Marienburg, which is one of the largest medieval brick interiors in Europe, and which was, in its original form, a building of extraordinary structural ambition. The great hall is roofed with a series of brick ribbed cross vaults, supported on a regular grid of brick piers, and the walls of the great hall are built of a fine red brick, bonded in a regular pattern, and decorated with a series of glazed brick diapers and blind arcading. The most impressive surviving example of the Order’s vaulting is the vault of the chapel of the High Castle of Marienburg, which is one of the largest medieval brick vaults in Europe, and which was, in its original form, painted with a programme of monumental wall paintings of which substantial fragments survive.
The Ornamental Vocabulary
The ornamental vocabulary of the Order’s architecture was, in the mature form of the early fourteenth century, a distinctive regional variant of the German Gothic, and one of the most sophisticated ornamental vocabularies in northern Europe. The principal elements of the Order’s ornamental vocabulary were the glazed brick diaper, a pattern of glazed bricks set into a plain brick wall, typically in a geometric or figurative pattern; the blind arcading, a series of pointed arches set into a plain wall, typically with a moulded brick archivolt and a moulded brick impost; the figure sculpture, a programme of figural representations of saints, princes, and grotesques, typically executed in moulded brick and set into the principal portals, window surrounds, and parapets; and the monumental wall painting, a programme of painted decorations executed in fresco or secco, typically in the principal interiors.
The glazed brick diaper is, the most distinctive element of the Order’s ornamental vocabulary, and is one of the most distinctive elements of the German Gothic in general. The Order’s architects used glazed brick, typically in a deep green or brown glaze, to create patterns of extraordinary complexity and sophistication, and the surviving examples of the Order’s glazed brick diapers — in the chapel of the High Castle of Marienburg, in the great hall of the Middle Castle of Marienburg, in the chapter house of the High Castle of Marienburg, and in a number of the principal churches of the Order’s Prussian state — are among the most impressive surviving examples of the medieval European ornamental tradition.
The figure sculpture of the Order’s architecture is, a distinctive regional variant of the German Gothic, and the Order’s principal workshops produced, in the course of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, a broad programme of figure sculpture of considerable sophistication. The Order’s figure sculpture is concentrated in the principal portals, window surrounds, and parapets of the principal convent castles and churches, and the surviving examples — in the portal of the High Castle of Marienburg, in the parapet of the Middle Castle of Marienburg, in the portal of the cathedral of Königsberg, and in a number of the principal churches of the Order’s Prussian state — are among the most impressive surviving examples of the medieval European sculptural tradition.
The Principal Workshops
The Order’s architectural programme was, in the mature form of the early fourteenth century, administered by a network of conventual workshops, each of which was responsible for the design and execution of the buildings of a particular convent or Komturei. The principal workshops of the Order’s Prussian branch were the workshop of Marienburg, which was responsible for the design and execution of the principal buildings of the Order’s headquarters; the workshop of Königsberg, which was responsible for the design and execution of the principal buildings of the Order’s eastern frontier; the workshop of Elbing, which was responsible for the design and execution of the principal buildings of the Order’s western Komturei; and the workshop of Danzig, which was responsible for the design and execution of the principal buildings of the Order’s Pomerelian Komturei.
The workshop of Marienburg was, in the early fourteenth century, the largest and most productive of the Order’s workshops, and the principal architects of the Order — Master Wilhelm von Homburg, Master Nikolaus Fellenstein, Master Heinrich Parlier, Master Michael of Münster, and others — were associated with the workshop of Marienburg. The workshop of Marienburg was, in the early fifteenth century, the principal architectural workshop of the Order, and the principal buildings of the Order’s Prussian state — the High Castle of Marienburg, the cathedral of Königsberg, the cathedral of Kulm — were, products of the workshop of Marienburg.
The Decline of the Architectural Language
The architectural language of the Teutonic Order entered a slow decline in the course of the late fifteenth century, in part because the Order’s revenues were reduced, in part because the strategic situation of the Order was less favourable, and in part because the architectural fashions of the late Gothic and the early Renaissance were less well suited to the Order’s institutional requirements. The Order continued to build, but the buildings of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries are, more conventional than the great buildings of the golden age of the early fourteenth century. The architectural language of the Order was, in the early sixteenth century, increasingly influenced by the architectural fashions of the contemporary German secular tradition, and the late Gothic hall churches of the Order’s Prussian state are, regional variants of the late Gothic hall churches of the contemporary German secular tradition.
The architectural legacy of the Teutonic Order has, however, survived in a remarkable state of preservation. The convent castles of the Order are still standing in more than a hundred sites in modern Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Kaliningrad oblast, and the great complex of Marienburg is, in its restored form, one of the most impressive medieval buildings in Europe. The Order’s brick Gothic churches are still in use as parish churches in hundreds of villages and towns, and the Order’s architectural legacy is, in short, one of the most substantial of any medieval military-religious order.
Sources
- Binding, Günther. Architektonische Formenlehre. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1980.
- Boockmann, Hartmut. Der Deutsche Orden: Zwölf Kapitel aus seiner Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1981.
- Rohde, Hans. Macht und Pracht der Marienburg. Königstein: Langewiesche, 1952.
Related Reading
The Order’s principal building material is examined in the article on brick Gothic architecture, and the Order’s defensive vocabulary is treated in the article on defensive walls and moats. The architectural character of the Order’s principal buildings is treated in the article on the convent castles of the Teutonic Order, and the architectural climax of the Order’s building programme is examined in the article on the major castles of the Teutonic Order. The wider context of the Order’s architectural patronage is examined in the parent chapter on the castles and built legacy of the Teutonic Order, and the modern heritage of the Order’s buildings is treated in the chapter on the heritage of the castles today.