Title in English: The Real Middle Ages? Arts & Ideology in the 19th Century
Our ideas about the Middle Ages are often based on the form of the most famous landmarks of European cities, such as St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Notre-Dame in Paris, or the Votive Church in Vienna. But is this the "real Middle Ages"? This book shows that the authenticity of medieval buildings is often very complex: their appearance is more than anything else determined by the radical re-building of the 19th century. Thus, what is generally regarded as 'medieval' is in fact more a mirror of romantic idealisations, nationalist disputes, and economic interests of the 19th century.
