Martin Weber (architect)

Martin Weber (9 December 1890, in Frankfurt am Main – 27 February 1941) was a German architect who designed Catholic churches.

Martin Weber
Born	9 December 1890
Died	27 February 1941 (aged 50)
Nationality	German
Occupation	architect

Life and work

After training in construction, he went to the building and art school in Offenbach am Main. In 1914-1915 he worked for Friedrich Pützer in Darmstadt, 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. 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, Bornheim (today seat of the Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality of the Diocese of Limburg)
• 1930: emergency church of Christ (Praunheim)
• 1930-1931: Church of the Holy Spirit (Riederwald)
• 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 (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 (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
• 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, ISBN 978-3-7954-6808-8.
• 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 (ISBN 3-929135-25-6)
• 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 (ISBN 3-7954-1180-7), S. 33-40
• Seib, Adrian (1992). "Der Kirchenbaumeister Martin Weber". Architektur-Jahrbuch (in German). 1: 84, 188–191. ISBN 3-7913-1152-2. ISSN 0942-7481.