he German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which originated with the ;\" title=\"Italian Renaissance\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Renaissance\">Italian Renaissance in Italy. This was a result of German artists who had traveled to Italy to learn more and become inspired by the Renaissance movement.

Many areas of the arts and sciences were influenced, notably by the spread of humanism to the various German states and principalities. There were many advances made in the development of new techniques in the fields of architecture, the arts, and the sciences. This also marked the time within Germany of a rise of power, independent city states, and spread of Franciscan humanism.

Emperor Maximilian I (Ruling:1493-1519) The first Renaissance monarch of the Holy Roman Empire. Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1519