The Saxon Renaissance (in German: Sächsische Renaissance) is a regional type of architecture from the Renaissance particularly in the area of the Electorate of Saxony on the middle Elbe. Influences that formed the style came primarily from Bohemia, Italy and Poland. There were Italian artist families involved by wandering around and roaming the Saxon cultural area in search of commissions. Thus ensured a mixture of styles as well as the own Saxon style development.
History
The most important forerunner of the Renaissance in Saxony was the Electoral Saxon master builder Arnold von Westfalen (ca. 1425-1481), who created the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen in the transition from late Gothic to Renaissance. Transitional forms of building décor can also be found at Hartenfels Castle in Torgau, Wurzen Castle, Hinterglauchau Castle in Glauchau and Heynitz Castle.
Decisive for the spread of the new architectural style, which originated in Italy and spread throughout Germany at the same time, was the Saxon ruling family of the Wettins, who had their own large buildings commissioned and, under Elector Maurice, also called Italian artists to Saxony. Well-known artists and builders who worked in Saxony were: Giovanni Maria Nosseni from Lugano, Hans von Dehn-Rothfelser, Benedetto Tola (* 1525 in Brescia/Italy; † 1572), Gabriel de Tola, Caspar Vogt von Wierandt, Hans Irmisch, Rochus zu Lynar, Carlo di Cesare del Palagio. Franz Maidburg erected the main altar of the town church of Annaberg in 1519 and initiated the Renaissance in Saxony. The Saxon master builders used the Renaissance style from about 1530 and exported it to northern Germany (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg).
After the Wettin possessions were divided into an Ernestine and an Albertine line in 1485, Torgau developed next to Wittenberg into the preferred residence of the Ernestine electors. The Torgau Castle Hartenfels with its famous Wendelstein, which was significantly rebuilt by the middle of the 16th century, is one of the most important buildings of the early Renaissance in Germany. After the Wittenberg capitulation and the transition of Torgau to the Albertines, Elector Maurice initially continued the work on the castle. The permanent relocation of the residence to Dresden until the end of the 16th century largely saved Hartenfels Castle from later stylistic transformations, such as those experienced by the Dresden Residence Castle, which was considerably enlarged from 1548 until 1556. The facades of the Dresden Palace were richly decorated with sgraffiti and Maurice's brother and successor, Elector Augustus, who reigned from 1553 until 1586, completed the construction, which became a major work of the Saxon Renaissance. Later, however, the interior was rebuilt in baroque style after a fire and the outer facades were reworked in the neo-Renaissance style in the 19th century.
The territory of Saxony did not yet include the margravates of Upper and Lower Lusatia, which belonged to the Lands of the Bohemian crown and only fell to Saxony in 1635. Saxony also reached further north into the Fläming. At the beginning of the early Renaissance, the Wettin lands were fragmented. The Lutheran Reformation emanated from the Saxon Electorate, which was under Ernestine rule and had its centers of power in Wittenberg and Torgau, while the Reformation was not introduced until 1539 in the Albertine dominions adjoining to the south (mainly the Margravate of Meissen). After the end of the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, the Upper Saxon Meissen area formed a politically consolidated area.
The artistic and structural development was particularly encouraged by Elector Augustus, who ruled from 1553 until his death in 1586. His great interest in questions of construction and architecture is documented. His library contained many architectural pamphlets and model books of building elements. His main work is the enormous Augustusburg, built between 1568 and 1572. Nowhere else in Europe was an ideal geometric plan implemented so uniformly. The design of the original model could go back to August himself. He also completed the extensive conversion of the Dresden Residential Palace (1553-1556), which his brother Maurice had started. He let build Jägerhof (Dresden) and converted numerous older castles into hunting lodges, including Nossen, Grillenburg, Schwarzenberg and the new Gommern Castle. He had Annaburg Castle and Lichtenburg Castle built for his wife, and Dippoldiswalde and Freudenstein as official castles. His successor Christian I (1586–1591) continued his father's building activities. Above all, Nosseni's work caused the architectural style to spread in Saxony.