Franz Beer (3 July 1659 – 19 January 1726), also known as Franz Beer von Blaichten, was an Austrian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

during the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period, mainly working on

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

buildings at

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, chiefly in

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia (german: Oberschwaben or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Sw ...

, and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His son Johann Michael Beer also was an architect. Born in

Au im Bregenzerwald Au is a town in the Bregenz Forest in Vorarlberg (Austria). Geography The town belongs to the Bregenz Forest, is part of the district of Bregenz, and lies in the '' Upper Bregenz Forst.'' 40 percent of its 45 km² area is covered with ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

, Beer was apprenticed to Michael Thumb. His first major project was the monastery church at

Marchtal Abbey Marchtal Abbey (german: Kloster Marchtal or ') is a former Premonstratensian monastery in Obermarchtal in the Alb-Donau-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The minster church of Saints Peter and Paul, the former abbey church, located on a prominent ...

near

Obermarchtal Obermarchtal is a town in the district of Alb-Donau (district), Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. References

Alb-Donau-Kreis Württemberg {{AlbDonau-geo-stub ...

which he completed after the death of Thumb in 1690, together with the latter's son, Christian Thumb, also an architect. He also had the churches at

Rheinau Abbey Rheinau Abbey (Kloster Rheinau) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Rheinau, Switzerland, Rheinau in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778 and suppressed in 1862. It is located on an island in the Rhine. Histor ...

and the monastery of

Saint Urban Pope Urban I (175?–230) ( la, Urbanus I) was the bishop of Rome from 222 to 23 May 230.Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope Urban I" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. He was born in Rome and succeeded ...

, both in Switzerland, built. Amongst other projects, he was involved in the construction of the churches at

Weingarten Abbey Weingarten Abbey or St. Martin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei Weingarten until 1803, then merely ) is a Benedictine monastery on the Martinsberg (''St. Martin's Mount'') in Weingarten near Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). First founda ...

, which started in 1717, and

Weissenau Abbey Weissenau Abbey (German: ''Kloster Weißenau'', ''Reichsstift Weißenau'') was an Imperial abbey (''Reichsabtei'') of the Holy Roman Empire located near Ravensburg in the Swabian Circle. The abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery, was an Imperial E ...

from 1717 until 1724. Together with Michael Thumb, Christian Thumb and

Kaspar Moosbrugger Kaspar is a given name and surname which may refer to: Given name: * Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (1459 – c. 1527) * Kaspar Albrecht (1889–1970), Austrian architect and sculptor * Kaspar Amort (1612–1675), German painter * Casp ...

, he was one of the main representatives of the so-called Vorarlberg school of architecture, which continued the Roman Baroque ideal of long edifices with galleries and mainly two bell towers. In 1722, he was ennobled and took the name Franz Beer, Edler von Blaichten. He died in the Austrian town of

Bezau Bezau is a town in the Bregenz Forest region, in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is part of the district of Bregenz. Bezau is a popular tourist destination around the year, due to its vicinity to ski resorts and hiking trails. Its pi ...

Works

*Marchtal Abbey, abbey church. *Rheinau Abbey, abbey church. *Saint Urban, abbey church. *Weingarten Abbey, abbey church. *

Salem Abbey Salem Abbey (german: Kloster Salem) was a very prominent Cistercian monastery in Salem in the district of Bodensee about ten miles from Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The buildings are now owned by the State of Baden-Württemberg and a ...

, reconstruction of the monastery 1697-1710, including a chapel in nearby Stefansfeld. * Hauterive Abbey, from 1715 *

Kaisheim Abbey The Imperial Abbey of Kaisersheim (German:''Reichsstift Kaisersheim'' or ''Kloster Kaisersheim''), was a Cistercian monastery in Kaisersheim (now Kaisheim), Bavaria, Germany. As one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Emp ...

, from 1716 *

Gengenbach Abbey Gengenbach Abbey (german: Kloster Gengenbach) was a Benedictine monastery in Gengenbach in the district of Ortenau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was an Imperial Abbey from the late Carolingian period to 1803. History It was founded by Saint Pi ...

, reconstruction of the monastery and

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

1690-1722.

External links

*
Biography (''in German'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Franz 1659 births 1726 deaths Austrian Baroque architects Edlers of Austria

Works

Further reading

External links