- Fieldstone church
The term fieldstone church ( _de. Feldsteinkirche) denotes a type of church, built using
fieldstone ofglacial erratic s and glacialrubble . Such churches occur mostly in areas where theice age s have deposited such rock material on the one hand, and where on the other hand there is little or no access to natural rock forquarry ing and fashioning. InEurope , the primary areas with fieldstone churches areSchleswig-Holstein ,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ,Brandenburg andBerlin in Germany, as well asPoland ,Finland , parts ofScandinavia and theBaltic states . The stones used are oftengranite ,gneiss orquartzite ; they can be used both hewn and unshaped. Since some of the churches are painted, the stones are not always visible. Especially in later examples, the fieldstones are often combined with other materials, such asbrick orhalf-timbered parts.Many fieldstone churches are of Romanesque date, some are Gothic or somewhat later. The earliest examples date to the 11th century (in some regions later, depending on the date of
Christianisation and of the German eastward expansion). Many early examples inHolstein are associated with the activities of St. Vicelinus and are thus known as "Vizellinskirchen" (Vicellinus churches); they often have round towers. Some of the earliest churches in Denmark (especiallyBornholm ) are fieldstone-builtround church es. The flourish of the development of fieldstone churches was around the end of the 12th century, after which they became less common due to the increasing popularity of brick-built architecture (seeBrick Romanesque andBrick Gothic ). Their construction mostly ceased at the end of the 16th century. In the context of architectural revival styles, especially of Neo-Romanesque, further fieldstone churches were erected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Gallery
Herzberg, Germany, 13th centuryKlein Marzehns , Germany, Late Medievalhalf-timbered combination atKranepuhl , Germany, early 13th centuryLübnitz , Germany, early 13th centuryRatekau , Germany, St. Vicellinus, 1156Allinge-Gudhjem onBornholm ,Denmark , 11th centuryDźwierzno , Poland, 15th centuryVammala , Finland, 1510References
*Ehl, Heinrich: "Norddeutsche Feldsteinkirchen". Braunschweig-Hamburg, 1926.
*Riediger/Köhler: "Feldsteinkirchen, Burgen und Herrensitze im Gebiet des Limes Saxoniae". Reinbek, 1968.
*Badstübner, Ernst: "Feldsteinkirchen des Mittelalters in Brandenburg und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern". Hinstorff, 2002.ISBN 3356009427
*Erhaltung und Instandsetzung von Feldsteinkirchen in Mecklenburg. Motive aus Großmutters Zeit. Schwerin, 2001. ISBN 3931185680
*Pfeifer, Viola: "Feldsteinkirchen im Fläming. Ein kunsthistorischer Führer". Berlin, 1997. ISBN 3930541181
*Ibbeken, Hillert: "Die mittelalterlichen Feld- und Bruchsteinkirchen des Fläming". Berlin, 1999. ISBN 3830500394
*Translation/Ref|de|Feldsteinkirche|oldid=40306024External links
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Naturpark_Hoher_Fl%C3%A4ming?uselang=de#Mediaeval_stone_churches_.2F_Mittelalterliche_Feldsteinkirchen Gallery] of fieldstone churches in
High Fläming Nature Park , Branednburg, onwikimedia commons
* [http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~engeser/potsdam-mittelmark/ Informative site about medieval village churches in Brandenburg (in German]
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