Brick Gothic is characterised on the one hand by the lack of figural architectural sculpture, widespread in other styles of Gothic architecture, but impossible to achieve on the basis of brick, and on the other by its creative subdivision and structuring of walls, using built ornaments and the colour contrast between red bricks, glazed bricks and white lime plaster.
Many of the old town centres dominated by Brick Gothic, as well as some individual structures, have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.