Martin Weber (9 December 1890, in
Frankfurt am Main – 27 February 1941) was a
German architect who designed
Catholic churches.
Life and work
After training in construction, he went to the building and art school in
Offenbach am Main
Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...
. In 1914-1915 he worked for
Friedrich Pützer in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, who built the Evangelical Church in Hesse, and then for
Dominic Bohm in Offenbach am Main. During 1919-1921 he lived as an Oblate (Brother Maurus, OSB) in the
Benedictine Abbey of
Maria Laach
Maria Laach Abbey (in German: ''Abtei Maria Laach'', in Latin: ''Abbatia Maria Lacensis'' or ''Abbatia Maria ad Lacum'') is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel ...
. From 1921 to 1923 he ran a "studio for church architecture" with Bohm. In 1924 he established himself as an independent architect in
Frankfurt. In 1935 he founded a "Study Circle of Sacred Art" with
Rudolf Schwarz.
He built mainly many Catholic churches, and became one of the leading church architects of the time.
Style
In Weber churches the altar is the centre and focus of the
Mass. He conceived the church as an integral whole, without separate bays. The
altar is emphasized according to its role, highlighted by the lighting.
Work
Frankfurt
*1924-1925: Capuchin monastery (downtown)
*1925-1927: Parish Church of St. Boniface (
Sachsenhausen)
*1928-1929:
Holy Cross
Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to:
* the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus
* Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity
* True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified
* Feast ...
,
Bornheim (today seat of the
Holy Cross - Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg)
*1930: emergency church of Christ (
Praunheim)
*1930-1931: Church of the Holy Spirit (
Riederwald
Riederwald is a quarter of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the ''Ortsbezirk
A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It ...
)
*1931: Chapel of St. Boniface (
Bonames)
*1932: Parish Church of St. Bartholomew (
Zeilsheim)
*1932-1933: Parish Church of St. Albert (
Dornbusch)
*1934-1935: ''Sancta Familia'' Parish Church (The Holy Family) (
Ginnheim)
Elsewhere
*1927/1929: Extension of Ursuline convent and school of St. Angela in
Königstein im Taunus (Taunus Hochtaunuskreis)
*1930-1931: parish "St. George's Court" in Limburg (
Lahn)
*1932: Enlargement of the parish church of St. Margaret in
Dorndorf
Dorndorf is a village and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 31 December 2013, it is part of the municipality Krayenberggemeinde
Krayenberggemeinde is a municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of ...
(Limburg-Weilburg)
*1932/1933: Extension of the parish church of St. Catherine in
Nievern (Rhein-Lahn-Kreis)
*1935-1937: Parish Church of St. Kilian in
Wiesbaden
*1936: The parish church of Holy Trinity (Trinity Church),
Großholbach
Großholbach (or Grossholbach) is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
The community lies in the Westerwald between Koblenz and Gießen on ...
(Westerwaldkreis)
*1936-1937: Parish Church of St. Bruno in
Gizycko (East Prussia)
*1937-1939: Parish Church of St. Barbara in
Lahnstein-Niederlahnstein (Rhein-Lahn-Kreis)
*1922-1923: Benedictine Abbey of St. Benediktusberg in
Vaals (Netherlands)
*1922-1923: Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul in
Dettingen (Kreis Aschaffenburg)
*1922-1923: Parish Church of St. Paul in
Offenbach am Main
Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...
*1922-1923: Parish Church of St. Mary's Assumption and St. Peter and Paul in
Großwallstadt (Kreis Miltenberg)
References
* Gille, Hermann; P.
Helmut Schlegel: ''Katholische Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche Frankfurt-Bornheim.'' Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2009, .
* Seib, Adrian: ''Der Kirchenbaumeister Martin Weber (1890-1941), Leben und Werk eines Architekten für die liturgische Erneuerung.'' Quellen und Abhandlungen zur Mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte Bd. 91, Selbstverlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, Mainz 1999 ()
* Seib, Adrian: ''Martin Weber. Seine Anfänge als Kirchenbaumeister.'' In: Michael Pfeifer (Hrsg.): Sehnsucht des Raumes. St. Peter und Paul in Dettingen und die Anfänge des modernen Kirchenbaus in Deutschland. Verlag Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 1998 (), S. 33-40
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Martin
1941 deaths
1890 births
20th-century German architects
German ecclesiastical architects
German Benedictines
Benedictine oblates
Architects from Frankfurt
20th-century German Roman Catholic priests