ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the theoretical approach of art historians to the study of the topography of medieval towns, and explores the primary formation of town plans. From an art-historical point of view the medieval town has been studied in its changing form as it developed over the centuries. In fact, the art historian was interested in the historical development of towns as they had come to be before the destruction of the Second world war. Medieval town plans are historical documents—as was the title of the earliest study on this topic published in 1909 by the archaeologist and art historian Paul Jonas Meier. From an art-historical perspective, therefore, it was unsatisfactory to believe that the wide streets, despite the fact that they were used for religious processions, owed their width solely to the practical demand of the market. The development of several market settlements into agglomerations can mainly be found in northern Germany and in east-central Europe.
