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Book Series
Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History
The Lutheran Middle Ages
The Survival of Medieval Art in Protestant Churches in Germany
Justin Kroesen
- Pages: approx. 420 p.
- Size:220 x 280 mm
- Illustrations:500 col.
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2026
- € 100,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-1-912554-33-1
- Hardback
- Forthcoming (Feb/26)
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This book offers the first visual account of the wealth of medieval art works surviving in Lutheran churches in Germany by means of c. 500 colour photographs. Surviving church furnishings are presented and discussed both as elements in the medieval church interior and in view of their preservation though Protestantism.
BIO
Justin Kroesen is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Bergen, Norway, specializing in the material culture of Christianity. He researches the relationship between architecture, art, and liturgy, particularly during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Publications include Staging the Liturgy. The Medieval Altarpiece in the Iberian Peninsula (2009), The Altar and its Environment 1150-1400 (with Victor Schmidt, as ed., 2009), and The Interior of the Medieval Village Church (with Regnerus Steensma, 2012).
Summary
Lutheran churches in Germany possess an unparalleled wealth of medieval art works. Other than is generally believed, Lutherans treated medieval church interiors relatively mildly, maintaining or altering the use of many elements or simply by tolerating them as ‘middle things’ (‘Mitteldinge’). This effect, that has only recently begun to gain wider recognition, has been termed the “preserving power of Lutheranism”. As a consequence, it is the interiors of Lutheran churches in Germany that offer us the best possible insights into what churches looked like before the Reformation. This book, illustrated with c. 500 colour photographs, provides the first visual account of Germany’s best medieval church interiors. Examples are spread over the entire country and include the full spectrum from monumental cathedrals and abbey churches down to modest parishes in the countryside. The book has a double focus since it both addresses medieval church interiors in their own right and their subsequent treatment in Lutheranism. Recurring questions are: What art works were preserved during the transition from the medieval church to Protestantism after the Reformation? How were these elements used originally, and how, and why, did they survive? An introductory chapter about the defining factors in the survival of medieval art under Lutheranism is followed by a short presentation of twenty-five outstanding interior ensembles. The following chapters describe a tour through a fictive medieval church building and focuses on elements such as altars and altarpieces, tabernacles, choir stalls, partitions, sculptures, pulpits, benches and baptismal fonts.
