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1995
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95-3-403
The "classical inventories" of architectural landmarks were a development of the late nineteenth century. They aimed to be comprehensive, if not exhaustive. At the turn of the century Georg Dehio perceived the need for a more concise and portable kind of architectural guide, resulting in the publication of his five- volume Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler (1905- 1912). Under the editorship of Ernst Gall, "Dehio" underwent a major revision in 1935, when the first volumes of "Dehio-Gall" began to appear. The final, eleventh volume was published in 1956.
1965 saw the beginning of yet another revision, called the Dehio-Handbuch, addressing the changed architectural and political landscape of postwar Germany and deriving from a much more inclusive conception of architectural landmarks (greater consideration of domestic architecture and other utilitarian structures, groupings of buildings, etc.). The "Dehio" volumes include no photos. This gap is filled by the Bildhandbuch series (RREO 94-1-070 - 074.)
Reclams Kunstführer are more inclusive and modern than "Dehio" and tend to be more focussed on the present state of buildings, whereas "Dehio" has a more historical emphasis.
Finally, the series Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland, begun in the early 1980s and still far from complete, is an attempt to document exhaustively Germany's architectural landmarks in order to serve as an official inventory for the purposes of landmark preservation. Again, there is a great deal of variation among the volumes for the different federal states.
For libraries, the Denkmaltopographie is necessary, though limited (incomplete, very sketchy in parts, etc.). For scholarly purposes, handbooks such a "Dehio" and the Reclam volumes also need to be acquired. And for historical questions, older guides remain important. Indeed, it is often valuable for scholars to have different editions of the same title at hand. Further, inventories of images, such as the Marburger Index (RREO 94-1-060 - 061) are also necessary to supplement deficiencies in both the older and newer guides.
95-3-404
95-3-405
95-3-406
1. Die Regierungsbezirke Stuttgart und Karlsruhe / ed. by Dagmar Zimdars, et al. - 1993. - VIII, 908 p. : ill., plans - ISBN 3-422- 03024-7 : DM 75.00
95-3-407
95-3-408
With the exception of the Potsdam volume, these are greatly expanded and partly updated editions of previously published volumes. The individual volumes, especially those pertaining to the "old" states of the Federal Republic, vary considerably. The Bremen, Niedersachsen volume, for example, contains a 26- page description of rural building types, but lacks any kind of overview. The Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein volume, on the other hand, successfully integrates the broadened conception of architectural landmarks into the "Dehio" structure, including bridges, railways, department stores, etc. The Baden-Württemberg volume is greatly expanded over the previous edition (1964) and is much more detailed and up-to-date. The Berlin volume recognizes the significance for that city of its mass housing, villas and industrial buildings. A building index would have been a highly desirable addition to the existing architect/artist and place indexes. The Potsdam volume is a spin-off from the 1988 Berlin/Potsdam "Dehio," published to commemorate its millenial anniversary. Although current "Dehio" practice is not to subdivide governmental regions in this way, it does, in fact, make for a handier publication, more useful for the traveller, and a possible consideration for the future if "Dehio" seeks an expanded market. [sh/sl]
II. bis IX. und XX. Bezirk / ed. Wolfgang Czerny . . . - 1993. - XXIV, 487 p. - ISBN 3-7031-0680-8 : ÖS 490.00, DM 70.00
This exemplary manual in the Dehio series of Austrian architectural monuments covers, by Bezirk (city district), buildings and sites of the inner city--with the exception of the very center, the 1st Bezirk, which will be treated in a forthcoming volume. (The outer districts will also be covered in a separate volume, making the Vienna set complete in three parts.) Descriptions tend to be shorter than in Dehio volumes on Germany, but access is greatly facilitated through more copious indexes: artists, other personal names, iconographic subjects, individual buildings as well as building types (e.g. Bäder, "baths"), streetnames--all are separately indexed. [ak/jg]
95-3-410
This volume, representative of other Dehio manuals on Austrian Bundesländer, begins with introductory articles on the early and pre-history of the region and on patterns of peasant settlement. These are followed by descriptions of localities in alphabetical order, each beginning with a presentation of geographical setting and plan followed by the descriptions of notable sites, subdivided into ecclesiastical and secular categories. [ak/jg]
95-3-411
Chevalley's exhaustive treatment of the Augsburg Dom has adhered so carefully to the principles of classic German art inventories that the result far exceeds the norm. Every aspect and feature of this monument has been described in painstaking detail, its history presented, results of archaeological study and other existing research incorporated and original source material reproduced. The meticulous descriptions are further enhanced by extensive use of visual material, e.g. sketches, architectural plans, and photographs. Indeed, the depth of treatment and analysis makes this work more than an "inventory" in the traditional sense. While easily meeting the expectations placed in it as a reference work, the volume also has the character of a research monograph by taking the factual material collected and offering its own astute analysis and interpretation. There is nothing comparable in the existing literature on Augsburg's art and architecture. [ak/jg]
95-3-412
This work is typical of the evolving practice of topographically organized monument inventories in Bavaria, which is gradually coming more into line with inventorying practices in the rest of Germany. It opens with introductory articles on city history and development, individual building types (e.g. the Bürgerhaus), and current policies and practices of monument preservation. The main section concentrates on the description of architectural ensembles and individual monuments, going beyond what a simple list of monuments would offer. Overall, the present volume is significantly more extensive in its treatment than Tilmann Breuer's short inventory of 1958, Die Stadt Augsburg (Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag), while still not striving for the comprehensive coverage one would expect from a classical Großinventar. It is instead selective and supplementary.
Even though there are grounds to question the modern-day relevance and usefulness of the traditional "grand inventory" (as Richard Strobel does in "Das Große Inventar: cui bono?", Deutsche Kunst und Denkmalpflege 47 [1987]), the present volume must be taken together with the new work by Chevalley (IFBA95-3-411 above) to come near to offering a complete treatment of its topic. [ak/jg]
95-3-414
In 1991, reacting to market trends, Reclam began a complete overhaul of its well-known and respected series of art guides for the traveler, Reclams Kunstführer. From a cosmetic standpoint, many of the innovations seem trivial, impractical, or even unaesthetic. The glossier paper stock used to accommodate color illustrations and the larger format offsetting the greater use of "user-friendly" white space have led to a bigger, heavier product--hardly an irrelevant side-effect for travelers who once could carry the old Reclam guides in their jacket pocket. Granted, the bigger format and greater typographic variety have improved readability, but the background "piggy pink" color used for floor plans and other diagrams is nothing other than ugly.
These two revisions replace volumes 3, part 1 (Florenz und Fiesole, 1975), and 5 (Rom und Latium, 4th rev. ed., 1981), respectively, of the older Reclam Italy series. The revisions vary in degree, but it is apparent that everything has been re-examined, brought up to date, and often augmented by the addition of new material and, above all, treatment of surrounding towns and cities. Art objects that have been transfered from church to museum (or vice versa) are noted in their new locations. Although it is regrettable that the division of articles into "outside" (Äußeres) and "inside" (Inneres) sections has been dropped--a special accommodation for the Italian traveler who must often walk around locked buildings--many other changes improve usefulness: city maps, for example, are now distributed over a number of pages, rather than placed on awkward foldouts, and they are much more sensibly keyed to narrative passages. The glossary of technical terms and the historical surveys have been preserved from earlier editions, while the Rome volume contains very useful new itineraries for 3-, 5-, and 8-day tours of the main sites.
The more serious problem is the fact that Reclam appears to be neglecting the continuation of their Kunstführer series as guides to all regions, not just the artistic and architectural centers such as Berlin, Rome, and Florence. The new German Länder, for example, seem to be left out completely from Reclam's future publishing plans. For Italy, Spain, France, and even Austria and Switzerland, it appears that the publication of new regional guides has low priority. For Austria and Germany, at least there are the Dehio guides, but one can only lament the irreplaceable loss of Reclams Kunstführer for other artistically important parts of Europe. [sh/jg]
95-3-415
The author of this imposing volume is a Slavicist at the University of Bamberg who has spent ten years translating his prodigious wealth of knowledge concerning the city, national, social, ecclesiastical, and architectural history of Moscow into a unique resource for historically and culturally interested travelers. It was his ambition to document--for the first time since 1917--"which Moscow churches and monasteries still exist as structures, regardless of their current state" (--Introduction). 249 objects are presented here in their geographical and historical contexts, with extensive references to the existing literature. This literature is then brought together in a 100-page bibliography at the end of the volume which the author refers to in his foreword with reason as "certainly the most extensive of its kind." The entries, which include address information and a description of the location, are also amply illustrated.
This is an extraordinary work of cultural historiography and will be of great interest to an interdisciplinary, international audience. [hro/jg]
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