German and Eastern European Baroque
The Baroque movement in Germany and Eastern Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was fought primarily in and around the Holey Roman Empire, which then encompassed much of central and eastern Europe. This delayed the spread of Baroque in these areas. Building almost ceased entirely while the war was waged, and recovered only in the second half of the seventeenth century. Religious differences – essentially those between Roman Catholics and Protestants – had precipitated the war and would do much to shape the take-up of the Baroque. (Hopkins, 2014)
Defining characteristics include: Italian influence, Palace architecture, Gothic influence, synthesis of classical and sacred architecture, spatial complexity, and onion dome. (Hopkins, 2014)
Leading Examples
- Egid Quirin Asam and Cosmas Damian Asam, Weltenburg, Bavaria, abbey church, 1717-21
- Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Upper Belvedere, Vienna, 1717-23
- Jan-Santini-Aichel, Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk, Czech Republic, 1719-27
- Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Karlskirche, Vienna, Austria, completed 1737
- Johann Balthasar Neumann, staircase of the Episcopal Palace, Braschal, Germany, 1721-32
- Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, St. Andrew’s Church, Kiev, Ukraine, 1747-54