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Worlds of Experience: Brick Gothic Architecture

Everywhere one goes in North Germany one sees red brick. Huge church towers dominate the skyline of many towns in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Gothic giants tower over the sea of houses like cliffs rising out of the breakers. The relatively short brick-Gothic period has proved to be one of the most productive and creative architectural epochs in this part of Germany, and it was a time when Mecklenburg and Pomerania made important contributions to European cultural development.
The chain of brick basilicas built in the Hanseatic towns and cities around the Baltic is unique in its density and quality.
Like almost all success stories in medieval Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the story of brick-Gothic begins with Henry the Lion (Heinrich der Löwe). In the crusades against the native Slavs – the “Christianization” of the “heathens” - the aim was to conquer the Slavic Wends. As soon as victory was assured – the Wendish prince Niklot died in 1160 – the conquering prince turned to more peaceful pursuits. He founded the town and bishopric of Schwerin and initiated a programme of settlement and development throughout the land. Predominantly Westphalian and Danish settlers streamed into the thinly populated country. At crossroads and on the sites of earlier settlements, they showed their determination by setting up countless villages, dozens of monasteries in the 13th century alone, and more than 50 towns (more than half of those existing today).
The upswing of the region was mainly the work of successful merchants. In 1161 they created the merchant Hanse, a protective body which ensured the acquisition of the necessary trading rights and the unification of weights and measures, coinage, prices and laws. Through taxes and levies, the wealth of the local rulers grew in parallel with that of the seafaring merchants. The most modern towns of the period were built here, with a grid-like pattern of streets, wide main thoroughfares, a large market place and mighty ramparts, walls and gates.
As a result of this unprecedented upswing, the citizens of Rostock were wealthy enough to establish the first university in Northern Europe in 1419. The second followed thirty-seven years later in Greifswald. Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund and Greifswald allied themselves with Lübeck and other towns to form the Hanseatic League, which met regularly from 1356.

The foundation of towns, the rapid increase in population, and the energetic Christianization efforts of the bishops led to an unprecedented upswing in building east of the Elbe. In contrast to past practice in this part of the country, the building materials were no longer just wood and loam. To meet the new building needs bricks of clay had to be fired. The firing process took place at temperatures between 800 and 1000 degrees Celsius. The resulting bricks took on their typical red colour because during the firing process yellowish iron hydroxide becomes red iron oxide. Once brick making had finally got into full swing by the middle of the 13th century, large-scale building in the now wealthy and influential towns could begin.
The architectural riches of the Hanseatic towns of Stralsund and Wismar were placed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2002.

Selected list of places with important Gothic brick buildings in our region

One-day trips to

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Go on a tour along the European brick-Gothic-Route
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