| In the years around 1600, a change was noted in architecture towards a return to Gothic elements in Europe. The Gothic, in contrast to the Classical or Ancient, became a "new manner", a modern style. The residence churches at Wolfenbuttel and Buckeburg, which were erected around 1600 by Lower Saxon territorial princes, are Late Renaissance constructions that were made to look partly Gothic. This was neither a lingering on of Late Gothic design nor a misunderstanding of Renaissance architecture: it was rather a conscious evocation of the past and its merger with contemporary architecture. The forms of the churches recreated thus the sociopolitical reality of both Roman antiquity and the Middle Ages. This architecture was also emblematic in that it used the concrete objects of the churches as a means to convey an abstract content. Indeed, the aim was to provide a powerful political message, the confirmation of princely rule. In the rising absolutism of the beginnings of the 17th century, the builders of the Wolfenbuttel Marienkirche and the Buckeburg Stadtkirche used court architecture to construct their princely image and house mythology. |
