GERMAN RENAISSANCE. (See page 258 for German Romanesque.) (See page 393 for German Gothic.) " iMy niche is not so cramped but thence One sees the pulpit o' the epistle side. And somewhat of the choir, those silent seats, And up into the aery dome, where live The angels, and a sunbeam's sure to lurk ; And I shall fill my slab of basalt there, And 'nealh my tabernacle take my rest."— Browning. I. INFLUENCES (see page 437). i. Geographical.— Refer to pages 258 and 393. ii. Geological. — The absence of stone, in the great alluvial plains of North Germany, influenced largely the architecture of that district ; moulded and cut brickwork was used in every variety, the general scale of the detail being small, and surface ornamentation being formed in raised patterns. iii. Climate. — Refer to pages 258, 393. iv. Religion.— Martin Luther (151 7-1546) attacked the prac- tical abuses of certain doctrines of the Church, and brought about a revolution in the religious life of Germany (see below). Luther's translation of the Bible into High Dutch caused that language to become the recognised German tongue. In architecture little of great interest was produced, old churches, with all their fittings, continuing to be used, but the prominence given to preachino- brought in galleries and congregational planning. V. Social and Political.— The country consisted of a number of small kingdoms or principalities, each with its own capital and government, thus preventing any national effort as in France, which was under one united head. In the latter part of the sixteenth century, Heidelberg was the centre of " Humanism," and the chief reformed seat of learning in Germany. The Thirty Years' War, ended by the Peace of Westphalia in a.d. 1648, was of social importance. In the eighteenth century the literary works of Winckelmann, Goethe and others aroused interest in Greek architecture.
