List of Brick Romanesque buildings

Aula Palatina in Trier, built about 310

Ratzeburg Cathedral, since 1154–1160

Brick Romanesque (German: Backsteinromanik) is an architectural style and chronological phase of architectural history. The term described Romanesque buildings built of brick; like the subsequent Brick Gothic, it is geographically limited to Northern Germany and the Baltic region. Structures in other regions are not described as Brick Romanesque but as "Romanesque brick-built church" or similar terms.

In comparison to Brick Gothic, Brick Romanesque is a less established and less frequently used term. On the one hand, this is caused by the fact that the Baltic region was only beginning to develop its own stylistic identity during the Romanesque period, on the other by the relatively low number of surviving buildings. Many of the major Brick Gothic edifices had Brick Romanesque predecessors, remains of which are often still visible. Nearly all preserved buildings are churches. The buildings contrast with earlier stone-built churches (Fieldstone churches or Feldsteinkirchen), which were constructed of glacial erratics and rubble. Such rounded stones limit the potential size of a building; the material and technique do not permit the construction of structures larger than a village church for static reasons. Monumental constructions only became possible through the growing use and perfection of brick building.

Import of technique and style[]

Already in the antique Roman Empire huge brick buildings had been erected north of the Alps, but present-day Denmark and present-day northern Germany east of Elbe River never had been part of that empire, and west of the Elbe its rule had been too short to build more than some military camps. Even in the northern Roman provinces, the techniques of building in brick were forgotten with the decay of the empire.

• 

  Elaborated technique in the 10th c. – Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Santo Stefano compound in Bologna

• 

  Roskilde Cathedral,
  since 1170

• 

  Apse of Lehnin Abbey,
  since 1180

• 

  Jerichow Monastery,
  since 1149

But in Langobardia Major, northern Italy, there was a continuity of building in bricks from late Antiquity to early Middle Ages. In Early Lombard Romanesque style, technique and shapes, later on, typical for the Baltic Sea were already completely developed. During the 12th century, Northern Germany and Denmark, at that time the major power of North Sea and Baltic Sea, imported the techniques and many elements of style from the Padan Region.^[1]

St. John's Church (Sankt-Johannis-Kirche) in Oldenburg (Holstein) is considered to be the oldest brick church in Northern Europe. The first monumental churches were Ratzeburg cathedral and Lübeck Cathedral, both begun shortly after 1160 under Henry the Lion. Lübeck Cathedral was later converted into a Gothic hall church (1266 to 1335). Jerichow Abbey with its convent church of which construction started in 1148 played an influential role for the brick architecture in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For Scandinavia, the stylistically independent Roskilde Cathedral, started in the 1170s and used as the burial church for Danish monarchs, is of special importance. The last flourish and the transition to the Gothic style is marked by the Cistercian Lehnin Abbey in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

• 

  San Michele in Cremona, Lombardy

• 

  Sorø Abbey on Zealand, since 1161

• 

  Lehnin Abbey in Brandenburg

Denmark[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Kalundborg	Church of Our Lady	Circa 1170–1200	Central structure on Greek cross plan. Central tower and 4 side towers of nearly the same height
Ledøje	Residential church	Circa 1225
Nyborg	Nyborg Castle	about 1170	Mid 13th century to 1416 main residence of the Kings of Denmark
Ringsted	St. Benedict	Built 1163–1170	One of the earliest brick churches in Northern Europe, basilica
Roskilde	Cathedral	Mainly 1170–1280	UNESCO World Heritage Site, burial church of Danish monarchs
Sorø	Abbey	After 1161	Former Cistercian basilica

Germany[]

West of Weser River[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Bagband (Großefehn, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)
Bassum	Collegiate church (DE)		begun in Romanesque, completed in Gothic style, hall church
Bingum (incorporated to Leer, East Frisia)	St. Matthew's (DE)	1. quarter of the 13th century
Blexen (Weser estuary)	St. Hippolyte (DE)	Choir in the 11./12th century begun in cubes of granite and completed in brick, nave and tower (13th century) completely of brick
Bücken (Weser)	Collegiate church (DE)	Stone building of the 11th century enlarged in brick in the 13th century
Bunde (East Frisia)	Reformed church (DE)	about 1200	begun in Romanesque style
Canum (Krummhörn)	Village church (DE)	2. half of the 13th century
Ditzum (Rheiderland)	Village church (DE)	early or mid 13th century
Dunum (Esens, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)	1200–1220
Emden	Große Kirche (Large Church) (DE)	about 1200	Romanesque, later enlarged in Gothic style, 1943 completely destroyed by bombs, new building in 1948/49
Fedderwarden (Wilhelmshaven)	St.-Stephanus-Kirche[2]	about 1250	Romano-Gothic, tower added in 1875
Freepsum (Krummhörn)	Village church (DE)	about 1260
Golzwarden (Stadland)	St.-Bartholomäus-Kirche	1263	Northern wall mixed with fieldstone, choir newer
Hage (East Frisia)	Village church (DE)	1220
Heiligenfelde (Syke)	Michaeliskirche	Early 13th century
Hinte (East Frisia)	Bell house of the village Church (DE)	13th century	Romanesque bell house, late Gothic nave
Holtgaste (Rheiderland)	Village church (DE)	1st half of 13th century
Holtrop (Großefehn, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)
Kirchweyhe	Village church (DE)	tower about 1250	nave in 1906 replaced by a Gothic Revival one
Midlum (Rheiderland)	Village church (DE)	Early or middle 13th century	nave about 1840 very much altered
Norden (East Frisia)	Ludgeri-Kirche (DE)	1200–1220 or 1230–1250	Western part of the nave Romanesque, Gothic enlargement (transept and choir)
Pilsum (Krummhörn)	Village church (DE)	13th century
Sengwarden (Wilhelmshaven)	St.-Georgs-Kirche	about 1250	gothified in the 15th century
Strackholt (Großefehn, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)
Suurhusen (Hinte, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)	nave mid 13th century, later a bit altered, (leaning) tower built about 1450, but in Romanesque style
Victorbur (Südbrookmerland, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)	1st half of 13. Jahrhundert	Aisleless church
Wiegboldsbur (Südbrookmerland, East Frisia)	Village church (DE)	about 1250
Bad Zwischenahn	St.-John's-CHurch (DE)	in the 12th century begun in filedstone, afterwards cubes of granite, then Romanesqueer brick building, then Brick Gothic has an adjacent western tower and an isolated belfry

Between Weser and Elbe[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Anhalt Castle (near Harzgerode)		1123 and 1147	Ascan hill castle, only little relics
Arendsee	Arendsee Abbey (DE)	1184–1240, consecrated already in 1208
Beuster	Collegiate church (Stiftskirche) St. Nikolaus	12th c. (choir completed in 1172)
Bremish Blockland, Bremen	Wasserhorst parish church (DE)	Tower 13th century	Romano-Gothic, nave remodeled in 1743 to very moderate Baroque
Diesdorf	Diesdorf Abbey (DE)	1161–1220	late Romanesque
Giesenslage near Behrendorf	Village church (DE)	probably late 12th century
Königsmark[3]	Village church	probably 12th century	originally a basilica	no photo in WM-Commons
	Wolterslage village church		Tower Romanesque, nave altered to Gothic
Mandelsloh (incorporated to Neustadt am Rübenberge)	St. Osdag Church	1180	basilica of brick with a tower of boulers
Mildensee (DE) (incorporated to Dessau-Roßlau)	Pötnitz church (DE)	Consecrated 1198	Originally triple-aisled basilica. Side aisles demolished in the 17th century. Southernmost Brick Romanesque in Central Germany.
Salzwedel	St Laurence Church Lorenzkirche (DE)	13th. c.	Basilica
Verden	St. John's (DE)	Onset in the mid 12th century	Tower Romanesque, nave Gothic
Wittingen	St. Steven's Church (DE)	about 1250	nave romanesque, tower & choir Gothic

East of Elbe River[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Altenkirchen	Parish Church	Begun probably about 1185	Near previous Slavic cult place of the god Svantevit on Cape Arkona
Altenkrempe	Basilica	1190 to 1240
Bad Segeberg	St. Mary's
Bergen auf Rügen	St. Mary's
Eutin	St. Michael's	1180s to early 13th century
Gadebusch	Town Church St. Jacob and St. Dionysius	Late Romanesque, begun about 1220
Jerichow	Jerichow Monastery	1148-1172	Former Premonstratensian collegiate church, oldest brick structure East of the Elbe River
Lehnin	Lehnin Abbey	Circa 1185–1235, altered up to 1260
Lübeck	Cathedral	1163–1230	Romanesque nave, Gothic choir
Lübow	Village church	1st half 13th century	Possibly residential church of nearby Mecklenburg Castle
Melkow	Village church	Circa 1200
Mölln	St. Nicholas	Early 13th century	Basilica
Neubukow	Parish church		Double-naved hall church
Neukloster	Abbey church	before 1227
Oldenburg (Holstein)	St. John's	Mainly built 1156–1160	Oldest brick church in Northern Europe
Ratzeburg	Cathedral	Mainly 1160–1220	Oldest fully preserved brick church east of Elbe
Rehna	Abbey	Late Romanesque	Single-naved abbey church
Rieseby	Village church	Circa 1220/1230
Sagard	St. Michael's Church (DE)	1210	choir replaced at about 1400 and tower added at about 1500 in Gothic style
Schaprode	Village church	1st half 13th century
Schlagsdorf	Village church	1st half 13th century
Schleswig	Schleswig Cathedral	1134 – c. 1200	built of granite, tufa and brick; Gothic additions 1275-1300; tower 20th century
Schönhausen	Village church	Consecrated 1212
(Bad) Segeberg	St. Mary's Church (DE)
Vietlübbe (near Dragun)	Village church	Early 13th century	Latin cross plan
Wust	Village church	Circa 1200	Tower added in the 18th century

Poland[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Inowrocław	St. Mary's Church	12th and 13th century	Brick towers
Kamień Pomorski	Cathedral St. John	after 1175 to 1250
Kołbacz	Abbey	Begun shortly after 1200	Former Cistercian basilica
Lublin	Lublin Castle Donjon	12th century	Upper parts in brick, lower in limestone
Oliwa	Abbey	After 1178	Former Cistercian Monastery
Płock	Płock Cathedral	1130–1144	Rebuilt several times
Poznań	Church of St. John of Jerusalem Outside the Walls	c. 1187	It was one of the first brick-built churches in Poland[4]
Sandomierz	Church of St. Jacob	13th century
Strzelno	Church of the Holy Trinity	12th century-1216
	Rotunda of St. Prokop	Brick parts 15th or 16th century	Romanesque and brick, but no Romanesque brick: The Romanesque original parts, erected since before 1133, are of red granite.
Święta Katarzyna	St. Catherine's Church
Wąchock	Cisterian monastery	After 1179	Brick and sandstone
Wrocław	St. Giles’s (św. Idziego) Church	about 1220–1230[5]	probably before the Battle of Legnica

Sweden[]

Place	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Vinslöv	Gumlösa parish church	consecrated 1192	Oldest brick building in present-day Sweden (then Danish)
Linköping	Cathedral	1230 onwards	Took 250 years to build, so most visible parts Gothic

Bibliography[]

• Wolf Karge: Romanische Kirchen im Ostseeraum. Rostock, Hinstorff 1996. ISBN 3-356-00689-4

References[]