page_title: Architecture of Germany
section_title: Historicism
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of Germany / Historicism
caption_attribution_description: Semperoper in Dresden
context_page_description: The architecture of Germany has a long, rich and diverse history. Every major European style from Roman to Postmodern is represented, including renowned examples of Carolingian, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Modern and International Style architecture.
  Centuries of fragmentation of Germany into principalities and kingdoms caused a great regional diversity and favoured vernacular architecture. This made for a heterogeneous and diverse architectural style, with architecture differing from town to town. While this diversity may still be witnessed in small towns, the devastation of architectural heritage in the larger cities during World War II resulted in extensive rebuilding characterized by simple modernist architecture.
context_section_description: Historicism, sometimes known as eclecticism, is an architectural style that draws inspiration from historic styles or craftsmanship.  After the neoclassical period (which could itself be considered a historicist movement), a new historicist phase emerged in the middle of the 19th century, marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in architecture and in the genre of history painting.
  An important architect of this period was Gottfried Semper, who built the gallery (1855) at the Zwinger Palace and the Semperoper (1878) in Dresden, and was involved with the first design of the Schwerin Palace. Semper's buildings have features derived from the early Renaissance style, Baroque and even features Corinthian order pillars typical of ancient Greek architecture.
  There were regional variants of the historicist styles in Germany. Examples are the resort architecture (especially in MV on the German Baltic coast), the Hanover School of Architecture and the Nuremberg style.
  The predilection for medieval buildings has its most famous exemplar in the Neuschwanstein Castle, which Ludwig II commissioned in 1869. Neuschwanstein was designed by Christian Jank, a theatrical set designer, which possibly explains the fantastical nature of the resulting building. The architectural expertise, vital to a building in such a perilous site, was provided first by the Munich court architect Eduard Riedel and later by Georg von Dollmann, son-in-law of Leo von Klenze.
  There is also, at the end of the period, the Reichstag building (1894) by Paul Wallot.
caption: The Semperoper in Dresden
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