Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/62

46 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. Part IF. as far as we can ever now expect it to be completed, our knowledge of the subject. Besides these a considei'able number of ecclesiastical cloistered edifices still remain, and some ini])ortant dwelling-houses in Cologne and elsewhere ; but on the whole our knowledge is somewhat meagre, — a circumstance that is much to be lamented, as, from what we do find, we cannot fail to form a high idea of the state of the domestic building arts at that period. What remains of the once splendid palace of Barbarossa at Geln- hausen consists first of a chapel very similar to those described in the last chapter ; it is architecturally a double chapel, except that the lower story was used as the hall of entrance to the palace, and not for divine service. To the left of this were the ])rincipal apartments of the palace, pre- senting a fa9ade of about 112 ft. in length, and probably half as high. Along the front ran a corridor about 10 ft. deep, a precaution apparently necessary to keep out rain before glass came to be generally used. Behind this there seem to have been three rooms on each fioor ; the largest, or throne-room, being about 50 ft. square. The principal arclii- tectural features of what remains are the ojien arcades of the fa9ade, one of Avhich is represented in the last woodcut (No. 497). For elegance of pro- ])ortion and beauty of detail they are unsurpassed by anything of the age, and certainly give a very liigh idea of the degree of excellence to which architecture and the decorative arts had then been carried, and, as will be observed, they are purely Gothic in detail, without any trace of the classicality of Lorsch. The castle on the Wartburg is historically the most important edifice of its class in Germany, and its size and state of preservation render it remarkable in an artistic point of view. It was in one of its halls that the celebrated contest was held between the six most eminent poets of Germany in the year 1206, which, though it nearly ended fatally to one of them at least, shows how much importance was attached to the profession of literature at even that early period. Here the sainted Elizabeth of Hungary lived with her cruel brother- in-law ; here she practised those virtues and endured those misfor- tunes that render her name so dear and so familiar to all the races of Germany ; and it was in tliis castle that Luther found shelter after leaving the Diet at Worms, and where he resided under the name of Eit- ter George, till happier times enabled him to resume his labors abroad. The principal building in the castle where these events took place 498. Capital, (Jelnhauseii. (From Moller, " Deiikiiiiiler.")