Sondergotik

Sondergotik (German: [ˈzɔndɐˌɡoːtɪk] ⓘ; Special Gothic) is the style of Late Gothic architecture prevalent in Austria, Bavaria, Swabia, Saxony, Alsace, Rhineland, Switzerland, Bohemia and Silesia between 1350 and 1550.

The term was invented by art historian Kurt Gerstenberg in his 1913 work Deutsche Sondergotik, in which he argued that the Late Gothic had a special expression in Germany (especially the South and the Rhineland) marked by the use of the hall church or Hallenkirche.

The style was contemporaneous with several unique local styles of Gothic: the Flamboyant in France and Belgium, the Isabelline in Spain, the Manueline in Portugal and the Perpendicular in England.

In many Sondergotik buildings, fluidity and a wood-like quality were stressed in carving and decoration, particularly on vaults.

Among the most famous Sondergotik constructions is Saint Barbara Church in Kutná Hora (modern Czech Republic), built by the Parlers, a family of masons.