Matthias Knox

Stonemason's mark Matthias Knox

Matthias Knox (* 1645 in Kühnring near Eggenburg , Lower Austria ; † June 1688 in Vienna ) was an Austrian master stonemason and baroque sculptor , from 1683 master builder of St. Stephan and 1674/1686 head director of the Viennese building works .

The Eggenburg quarter drawer of the stonemasonry and bricklaying trade was incorporated into the ancient Viennese main drawer.

Life

On October 18, 1666, he had asked for his masterpiece, which was also given to him by the trade on January 17, 1667. It was presented on March 11, 1667. The defects found prompted the trade to impose a fine of eight Reichstalers on him . On March 9, 1671, he submitted this amount of money as well as the payment for the master's meal.

Teutonic order house with church

Matthias Knox was a tenant , first in the Stubenviertel , later in the Kärntnerviertel. From his tax payments one can conclude that although he was a master builder at St. Stephen's, he was an average-income master.

On December 9, 1667, a contract was signed between him and his co-master Urban Illmayr on the one hand and the Teutonic Knight Order on the other hand with regard to the establishment of the new order house , located in the immediate vicinity of St. According to the report of December 12th, 1666 by Landkomtur Georg Gottfried Freiherr von Lamberg to Grand Master Johann Caspar von Ampringen , work on the new building of the very dilapidated Teutonic Knight House in Vienna began under the supervision of Carlo Canevale .

On November 6, 1674 Matthias Knox was first named as "Oberzechmeister". On December 30, 1686, the masters of the Viennese building works elected him again as Oberzechmeister.

Matthias Knox as a teacher

On October 10, 1671, he assumed the main guarantee for his younger brother Simon Knox, who was also born in Kühnring. He took his brother Philipp Knox on as an apprentice on March 20, 1678, who was acquitted on March 20, 1683.

He took his son Anton Knox into an apprenticeship on April 11, 1683 and cleared him as a journeyman in front of an open drawer on April 24, 1688. His eldest son Johann Carl Knox, who was previously a sculptor, was made a stainmezen on December 26th, 1686 and had to give 25  fl.

On March 23, 1687 he acquitted his apprentice Mathias Grob from Sommerein am Leithaberg as journeyman. The summer stonemasonry was attached to the quarter drawer in the imperial quarry .

In the last year of his life he took on the apprentice Caspar Koch von Reichenhall in Bavaria as an apprentice. This was on March 28, 1688, on November 7, 1688, master Veith Steinböck appointed the craft as the new master. Also apprentice Thomas Haresleben , who was accepted on April 24, 1688 and assigned to master Johann Georg Prunner on June 25, 1690 .

Matthias Knox received Viennese citizenship on September 25, 1684.

Master builder for St. Stephan

His predecessor in office was Master Adam Haresleben . The entry in the guild book is documented ... on November 1, 1683 Mathias Knox is a master builder at St. Stephan .

Death and testament

Matthias Knox drew up his will on April 12, 1688, and it was published on June 15, 1688. Master stonemasons Veith Steinböck and Johann Georg Prunner were his will witnesses.

In his will, the master left his six children a total of 3,000  florins . He lived with his family as a tenant, but in 1689 the widow of a deceased master stonemason, Elisabetha Knoxin, appeared in the land register as the owner of a valuable house in the Stubenviertel. Three weeks after his death, on July 7, 1688, she had bought a house with the money he left for his children. Your taxes suggest a wealthy household. In the death records there is the entry ... on May 14, 1696 Elisabetha Knoxin, bourgeois stainmezin wittib in her house near St. Ruprecht with hot gall fever and the following frais different, aged 49 years .

Archival material

• Vienna City and State Archives : Steinmetzakten .
• Heiligenkreuz Abbey Archive: Church books, registers .

literature

• Alois Kieslinger : Stone handicraft in Eggenburg and Zogelsdorf . In: Unser Heimat, monthly newspaper of the Association for Regional Studies and Homeland Protection of Lower Austria and Vienna 8, 1935, Issue 5, ISSN  1017-2696 , pp. 141–161 and Issue 6–7, pp. 177–193.
• Otto E. Plettenbacher: History of the stonecutters of Vienna in the 17th century. An economic and cultural historical as well as sociological investigation. Price list 1688, set order of the stone carvings . Dissertation, University of Vienna 1960.
• Burghard Gaspar: The "White Stone of Eggenburg". The Zogelsdorf sand-lime brick and its masters . In: The Waldviertel . 44, 1995, No. 4, ISSN  0259-8957 , pp. 331-367.