Leonhard Dientzenhofer

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Leonhard Dientzenhofer (also: Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer ; born February 20, 1660 in St. Margarethen near Brannenburg , Electorate of Bavaria ; † November 26, 1707 in Bamberg ) was a German builder and architect from the Dientzenhofer family of artists .

Origin and family

According to the baptism certificate, his name was Leonhard and later he took the middle name Johann. This led to his younger brother Johann being mistaken for him and some of his works are still ascribed to Leonhard today.

Leonhard was born as the seventh child of Georg Dientzenhofer and Anna, née. Thanner, born. Little is known about his schooling and crafts. In any case, he was not yet an adult when he was present in Prague in 1678 at the wedding of his older sister Anna to Wolfgang Leuthner, a relative of the builder Abraham Leuthner . It is assumed that he further educated himself in the theoretical area by studying architectural works by Abraham Leuthner, in whose construction company he was active. His four brothers ( Georg , Wolfgang , Christoph and Johann ) were also well-known builders.

On January 30, 1685, he married Maria Anna Hager in Waldsassen , a sister of his brother Georg's wife, with whom he had three sons and four daughters. A few weeks after her death, he married Anna Margaretha Sünder from Staffelstein on July 6, 1699 in Bamberg . There are two daughters from this marriage.

In 1688 he bought a plot of land at Langen Strasse 18 in Bamberg and built a house on it for himself and his family.

Profession and Success

From 1685 Leonhard's life and activity is documented in many documents and building plans. In that year he worked as a foreman in the construction of the monastery in Waldsassen , whose construction management was his brother Georg. A year later he worked as a master bricklayer in Amberg and at the same time master builder of the new facility of the Premonstratensian monastery Speinshart , which had been planned by his brother Johann. His first known plans of his own are for the Trautmannshofen pilgrimage church , which Elector Ferdinand Maria had built out of gratitude for the restoration of the Catholic faith in the Upper Palatinate and for ending the Thirty Years' War .

From 1687 he was in Bamberg, where he became court builder under Prince-Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn and worked as an architect, builder and site manager for twenty years until his early death. With the approval of the prince-bishop, he was elected councilor of the city of Bamberg on May 5, 1699. Shortly afterwards he became an assessor at the city court and was given the office of guardianship of a foundation.

In addition, the Bayreuth Margrave Christian Ernst appointed him in 1696 - as the successor to the late master builder Charles Philippe Dieussart - as his court and land architect.

Besides Abraham Leuthner, his role models also included Jean Baptiste Mathey , Carlo Lurago and Giovanni Domenico Orsi de Orsini , whose architectural style he had transferred to Franconia and the Upper Palatinate .

Works

Front view of the St. Michael monastery church in Bamberg

Leonhard Dientzenhofer's own significant buildings include:

literature

Web links

Commons : Leonhard Dientzenhofer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Dientzenhofer, Leonhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dientzenhofer, Johann Leonhard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German builder and architect
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Margarethen near Brannenburg , Electorate of Bavaria
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1707
Place of death Bamberg