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05 · Victorian & Eclectic

Gründerzeit

c. 1870–1914

Four- to six-story stucco apartment blocks with shops below, pedimented windows and heavy cornices, built around courtyards.

Look for

Cornice Pediment Belt course Stucco wall
Palais Ephrussi, Vienna, Austria: an example of Gründerzeit architecture
Palais Ephrussi, Vienna, Austria. Photo: Gryffindor, CC BY 2.5
Äußere Neustadt, Dresden, Germany
Äußere Neustadt Dresden, Germany · X-Weinzar, CC BY-SA 2.5
Andrássy Avenue, Budapest, Hungary
Andrássy Avenue Budapest, Hungary · Elekes Andor, CC BY-SA 4.0
Waldstraßenviertel, Leipzig, Germany
Waldstraßenviertel Leipzig, Germany · GFreihalter, CC BY-SA 4.0
Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany
Prenzlauer Berg Berlin, Germany · Abaris at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

what it is

Gründerzeit buildings are city apartment blocks and mansions built in German-speaking Europe and neighboring countries from about 1870 to 1914. Most have four to six stories, line the street without gaps and enclose a courtyard behind. The ground floor usually holds shops. Facades are stucco (molded plaster) in historicist styles, mainly Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque, with window frames topped by small pediments and a heavy cornice under the roof.

Large areas survive in Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, the Äußere Neustadt in Dresden and the Waldstraßenviertel in Leipzig. Theophil Hansen's Neo-Renaissance Palais Ephrussi stands on Vienna's Ringstrasse, and Budapest's Andrássy Avenue was lined with Neo-Renaissance townhouses. Haussmannian blocks in Paris also have uniform height and shops at street level, but they are faced in cream limestone with continuous iron balconies and zinc roofs. Gründerzeit facades are plastered, and each building carries its own ornament.

how to spot one

Cornice A deep, overhanging ledge that caps the top of a facade. It is often supported by brackets and marks where the building ends. Pediment A low triangle over columns, a door or a window, framed by a projecting ledge called a cornice. It comes from Greek temple roof ends and is common on Neoclassical and Greek Revival buildings. Belt course A flat horizontal band of stone or brick running across a facade between floors, also called a stringcourse. It often marks where the base of a building ends and the upper floors begin. Stucco wall A wall coated with stucco, a plaster of cement or lime, sand and water, finished smooth or textured. It is common on Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival and Mediterranean Revival buildings.

Also look for

CourtyardBay windowBalustradeRustication

history

The name means "founders' period." It comes from the many companies incorporated in Germany between the Franco-Prussian War and the stock market crash of 1873, a boom fed by five billion gold francs of French war reparations. In 1857 Emperor Franz Joseph ordered Vienna's city walls demolished, and the Ringstrasse built on the cleared ground was lined with historicist mansions and apartment houses. In Berlin, James Hobrecht's 1862 plan set a 20-meter height limit and required courtyards of at least 5.34 by 5.34 meters, large enough for a fire engine to turn. The result was the dense blocks known as Mietskasernen (rental barracks).

Budapest's Andrássy Avenue was begun in 1872 and opened in 1876, with most of its palaces finished by 1884. The Ringstrasse was completed in 1913, by which time Jugendstil, the German-language Art Nouveau, had replaced historicism; Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank in Vienna dates from 1906. Many Berlin courtyards were overbuilt with rear wings housing two to three people per room. Dresden's Äußere Neustadt came through the World War II bombing of the city with little damage, and Leipzig's Waldstraßenviertel was renovated after German reunification.

where to find it

Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, the Äußere Neustadt in Dresden, the Waldstraßenviertel in Leipzig and Vienna's Ringstrasse (Palais Ephrussi), plus Budapest's Andrássy Avenue.

easy to confuse with

Boulevard Haussmann, an example of Haussmannian Haussmannian The Paris streetscape: cream limestone blocks of uniform height, continuous iron balconies, and steep zinc roofs. Boston Public Library, McKim Building, an example of Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival The Italian palazzo reborn as banks, clubs, and brownstones: rough stone bases, orderly window rows, and a heavy top cornice. Palais Garnier, an example of Baroque Revival Baroque Revival The 1800s turning the volume up: domes, paired columns, sculpture crowding the roofline, and staircases built for grand entrances.