Brick Romanesque Totally Explained

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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's 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. One 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 comtrast 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 materail and technique don't 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.
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). For Scandinavia, the stylistically independent Roskilde Cathedral, started in the 1170s and used as the burial church for Danish monarchs, is of special importance. A last flourish and the transition to the Gothic style is marked by the Cistercian Lehnin Abbey in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

List of Brick Romanesque churches

Denmark

Town/city	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Kalundborg	St. Mary's	Circa 1170-1200	Central structure on Greek cross plan. Central tower and 4 side towers of nearly of nearly same height
	Residential church	Circa 1225
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

Town/city	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
Dessau-Roßlau	Pötnitz church	Consecrated 1198	Originally triple-aisled basilica. Side aisles demolished in 17th century. Southernmost Brick Romanesque in Central Germany.
Eutin	St. Michael's	1180s to early 13th century
Gadebusch	Town Church St. Jacob and St. Dionysius	Late Romanesque, begun around 1220
Near Greifswald	Eldena Abbey	South transept and choir are Romanesque, pre-1249	Ruin
Jerichow	Jerichow Abbey	1149-1172	Former Premonstratensian abbey church, oldest brick structure East of the Elbe
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
Schaprode	Village church	1st half 13th century
Schlagsdorf	Village church	1st half 13th century
Schleswig	Schleswig Cathedral	1134 to circa 1200, built of granite, tufa and brick, Gothic additions 1275-1300
Schönhausen	Village church	Consecrated 1212
Vietlübbe (near Dragun)	Village church	Early 13th century	Latin cross plan
Wust	Village church	Circa 1200	Tower added in 18th century

Poland

Town/city	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Kamień Pomorski (Cammin)	Cathedral St. John	after 1175 to 1250
Kołbacz (Kolbatz)	Abbey	Begun shortly after 1200	Former Cistercian basilica
Oliwa (Oliva)	Abbey	After 1178	Former Cistercian Monastery

Sweden

Town/city	Building	Main period of construction	Special features	Image
Vinslöv	Gumlösa parish church	consecrated 1192	Oldest brick building in Southern 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

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