building material of the Middle Ages

The brick

Brick is the building material that has significantly shaped the appearance of our region. Because traditional materials like granite and clay were no longer sufficient for monumental construction projects, millions of bright red, baked bricks had to be produced instead.

From these bricks grew, among other things, our three Gothic giants – the great city churches – to God's glory and honor in heaven.

Even for religious orders, brick became indispensable: Dominicans and Franciscans used it to create their quiet refuges for pastoral care and charitable work. And the wealthiest of the wealthy placed gabled crowns on their private homes, as if they were kings.

But brick was not only used for representation and piety. It was also used for protection: it was used to build city walls, shaped into City gates, battlements and towers.

popular for thousands of years

The Romans had already built with brick in ancient times, for example the Praetorian Barracks in Rome. However, the Romans increasingly preferred buildings made of marble and neglected the distinctive building material.

It was not until the early Middle Ages that brick construction became increasingly popular in Europe and was increasingly promoted in the High Middle Ages. In rapidly growing cities and trading centers, the traditional style of building was rediscovered. But buildings were also constructed using brick, particularly in places where there was a lack of other suitable stone materials for houses.

The construction boom at the beginning of the 17th century of baroque palaces and monasteries led to a great demand for building materials. Not only did the production of brick increase, but the manufacturing process was also further developed and eventually led to mass production at the time of industrialization. What was special about this era was the artistic use of brick construction in factory architecture. From around the middle of the 19th century, the building material was also used in residential architecture with a visible form. Brick, with its aesthetic quality, ultimately became en vogue.

Brick is still one of the most popular building materials for house construction because, in addition to looking good, it is also robust, weatherproof and energy-saving. Red brick facades still dominate the image of many cities, especially in the north and west of Germany. Over the past 20 years, the building material, with its almost endless possibilities for expression, has finally conquered a top position in contemporary architecture - and also in avant-garde architecture.

production of bricks

Clay is the basic element of the brick. During the production process, it is carefully prepared, shaped and then fired. Generally, three different types of clay are produced, each of which differs in color and composition:

Calcareous clay: produces a yellow brick color
iron-containing clay: leads to red to reddish brown bricks
natural color: produces different colors - white, gray or black

Depending on the deposit, the clay has its own characteristics in terms of mineral composition and the length of time it takes to weather. In order to produce bricks and to be able to work with them easily, the clay is usually mixed with water. It is then poured into molds and pressed using a so-called brick press. The blanks are then stored in a drying chamber. The last step is to fire the bricks.

The blanks are preheated to around 180 degrees before being heated to up to 1080 degrees. The temperature during the firing process varies from around 900 to 1080 degrees, depending on the desired color of the brick. After the firing process, the bricks are cooled down quickly to around 600 degrees. Their temperature is then slowly reduced to 40 degrees before they can finally be used as building material.

brick gallery

a small collection of the bricks used in Stralsund