Form, Funktion und Bedeutung romanischer Wohnhäuser in Köln und im Rheinland

Under the title „Form, Function and Significance of Romanesque Houses in Cologne and the Rhineland“ Anita Wiedenau divides the approximately 150 Romanesque buildings known to us into three groups: pre- and early Romanesque up to the middle of the 12th century, Romanesque buildings up to 1200 and the High Romanesque after 1200. These groupings correspond to the politicalsociological developments, the houses in the first group having been borne by the urban nobility (feudal building), the second by the ministry and the third by the townsmen (bourgeois and patrician building). Decisive impulses for Romanesque houses came from feudal buildings. Three basic types of feudal buildings determined the types of houses for the classes beneath: the „curtis“, the presumably unfortified domestic courtyard with surrounding fields; the „turris“, the tower house; and the „arx“, the tower. The Salian and Staufer rulers tended to support the large tradesmen as opposed to the free tradesmen. Nevertheless, at the close of the 12th century, a group of large-scale tradesmen and dealers were able to acquire wealth and property, for example, in Frankfurt. But not until about 25 years later is a member of this group able to gain a higher political position. Only after 1230 is the historically older group of tradesmen and dealers able to penetrate the group of ministerial origin in control in the Staufer cities, though still not being able to gain any significant political say. A politically and socially similar situation was also to be found in the Bishop city of Trier. In contrast to Cologne, hostilities among the aldermen did not break out in Trier. In the Bishop cities of the Rhine, the merchant class residing since the 9th century was more successful. In Cologne, for example, the descendants of the once free merchants and tradesmen were able to surpass the older families living in the old section of the city in economic power. The rise of the bourgeoisie resulted in the break-up of feudal society and the restructuring of prevailing conditions. The feudal houses (III. 1, 1–1, 11), particularly the „turris“ and „arx“ types, lost their agricultural function as „feudal self-fortification“. Since the end of the 12th century, however, the strategically located tower houses were either torn down or redesigned to meet the new needs of an urban bourgeoisie. The earliest known urban „arces“ stem from the 12th century (i.e. in Trier, III. 1, 10, 5.2, 6.1, 8). The „arx“-tower type appears