Registration

South German Late Gothic Design and Building Praxis
8.10
Heilig-Kreuz-
Münster
Schwäbisch
Gmünd
61
Begun in 1320
Choir (1351) and perhaps nave by Heinrich Parler
The parish church of Schwäbisch Gmünd is the oldest hall
church in Swabia. The church, and particularly its choir
(1351) by Heinrich Parler, are widely associated with the
advent of the German Late Gothic. It established the
Parler dynasty, that family of masons who would later
be known as the Junkers of Prague. Particularly intricate
stellar net vaults stand over the choir (vaulted in 1491–
1504) and ambulatory.
71 (p59) Choir and ambulatory vaults
72 (Previous page) Nave and aisle vaults
Frankl writes:
The west front at Schwäbisch Gmünd has no towers,
since the Romanesque towers which flanked the
west end of the choir were then still standing. The
composition is very simple. The decisive factor is a
relaxation of strict regularity. The central oculus is
slightly smaller than the two flanking ones, and the
gable over the porch pushes the string course above
it slightly higher in the central bay than in those on
either side. The portal seems to stand loosely in its
bay. Accoding to Schmitt, the work of construction
progressed from west to east, and the façade cannot
therefore have been built later than 1320. Because
of this relaxation of the principles of regularity
in the façade, the nave at Gmünd can be called the
first Late Gothic building in Germany. 68
Scope of survey: Keystone levels, VR panoramas.
See drawings and measurements on pages 98–100.