DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0296
276
POINTED STYLE 1N GERMANY.
Part II.
tiful is that of Thann in Alsace, in which the octagonal part is so
light that anything xnore solid than the tracery that forrus the spires
would seern to crush it.
Besides these, there is a pleasing example at Esslingen ; another
attached to the cathedral at Meissen, in favour of which nothing can
be said ; and those adorning the two towers of the façade of the
cathedral of Berne, which, because they are so small relatively to the
towers they surmount, and are in fact mere ornaments, are pleasing
and graceful termina-
tions to the front.
Next in rank to
Cologne among Ger-
man cathedrals is
that at Strasburg.
It is, however, so
much smaller as
hardly to admit of
a fair comparison,
covering, even with
its subsidiary ad-
juncts, little more
than 60,000 square
ft. The whole of
the eastexm part of
this church belongs
to an older basilica,
built in the llth and
12th centuries, and is
by no rueans remark-
able either for its
beauty or its size,
besides being so over-
powered by the nave,
which has been added
to it, as to render its appearance somewhat insignificant. The nave
and the western front are the glory and the boast of Alsace, and
possess in a remarkable degree all the beauties and defects of the
German style.
It is not known when the nave was commenced, but probably in
the early half of the 13th century, and it seems to have been finished
about the year 1275, a clate which, if authentic, is in itself quite
sufficient to settle the controversy as to whether any part of Cologne
is of an earlier age, evexything we see in Strasburg being of an older
style than anything in that church.
Plan of Strasburg Cathedral. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
POINTED STYLE 1N GERMANY.
Part II.
tiful is that of Thann in Alsace, in which the octagonal part is so
light that anything xnore solid than the tracery that forrus the spires
would seern to crush it.
Besides these, there is a pleasing example at Esslingen ; another
attached to the cathedral at Meissen, in favour of which nothing can
be said ; and those adorning the two towers of the façade of the
cathedral of Berne, which, because they are so small relatively to the
towers they surmount, and are in fact mere ornaments, are pleasing
and graceful termina-
tions to the front.
Next in rank to
Cologne among Ger-
man cathedrals is
that at Strasburg.
It is, however, so
much smaller as
hardly to admit of
a fair comparison,
covering, even with
its subsidiary ad-
juncts, little more
than 60,000 square
ft. The whole of
the eastexm part of
this church belongs
to an older basilica,
built in the llth and
12th centuries, and is
by no rueans remark-
able either for its
beauty or its size,
besides being so over-
powered by the nave,
which has been added
to it, as to render its appearance somewhat insignificant. The nave
and the western front are the glory and the boast of Alsace, and
possess in a remarkable degree all the beauties and defects of the
German style.
It is not known when the nave was commenced, but probably in
the early half of the 13th century, and it seems to have been finished
about the year 1275, a clate which, if authentic, is in itself quite
sufficient to settle the controversy as to whether any part of Cologne
is of an earlier age, evexything we see in Strasburg being of an older
style than anything in that church.
Plan of Strasburg Cathedral. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.