Le débat sur les styles dans l’architecture religieuse au XIXe siècle le cas de l’Allemagne

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Jean Nayrolles : The Debate on Styles of Religious Architecture in the Nineteenth Century : the example of Germany. The eclecticism that dominated European architecture from ca. 1830 until the beginning of the 20th century derived from a true aesthetic philosophy, arising from the necessity to maintain an association between the art of the present and that of the past, and not from a sudden expression of creative inspiration. Thanks to a strong philosophical tradition dating from Hegel that privileged historical retrospection, it was in Germany, more than in any other country, that debates concerning the style that new constructions should be given took place. And it was, predominantly, within the domain of religious architecture, where the importance of the past appeared to be a particularly determinant factor, that different points of view came into conflict. In 1828, the architect Heinrich Hiibsch asked the decisive question : « What style shall we build in ? ». According to different authors, the responses to this question depended on the nature of the arguments that were put forth : technical ; historical ; religious ; etc.