Germany | Fine And Applied Arts
The so-called Moorish style recalls the Islamic art of Spain and North Africa between the 12th and 15th centuries, which it is said reached its zenith in the Alhambra. The style became fashionable in the 19th century for several reasons, but not least that technical progress and 19th-century industrialisation made a change in architectural styles both desirable and possible. As communications became easier and faster and people were exposed to other cultures, different styles and their functions were fused together in architecture, often to display their patron’s affluence as travel and education were still expensive. For example, the Dampfmaschinenhaus (the Steam Pump House) in Potsdam (1841–3) was designed by Ludwig Persius to resemble a mosque and the Moorish Villa (Wilhelma Park) in Stuttgart (1846) was probably built by Karl Ludwig van Zanth in the Moorish style for King Wilhelm I.