This page is about the German architect; George Baehr is also the name of an American physician.

George Bähr (15 March 1666 – 16 March 1738) was a German architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

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Life

George Bähr was born into a poor family of in Fürstenwalde (now a part of Geising

Geising

Geising is a municipal subdivision of Altenberg in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, close to the border with the Czech Republic, 13 km north of Teplice, and 32 km south of Dresden. Since 1 January...

, Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

), the son of a weaver. The village priest, however, helped pay for his education, and Bähr was able to become a carpenter’s apprentice in Lauenstein, Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

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In 1690, Bähr went to Dresden to start work as a carpenter. His dream was to go to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and see the famous buildings there, so in his spare time he studied mechanics

Mechanics

Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....

, calling himself both an artist and a mechanic, and designing not only castles and palaces but also sketches of organs

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

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In 1705, aged 39, Bahr was named Dresden’s City Master Carpenter, although he did not even have a master carpenter’s certificate. One of Bähr’s main goals was to modernise the city’s churches. He believed that the existing buildings did no justice to Protestant church services in particular.

His first building was the parish church in the Loschwitz area of Dresden, a building in the shape of a stretched-out octagon, completed in 1708.

The Dresden Waisenhauskirche (Orphanage Church) was built around 1710, followed by the Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Trinity Church) in Schmiedeberg, in the Ore Mountains, 1713-1716. Between 1719 and 1726 the church in Forchheim was built, as well as more in Königstein, Hohnstein and Kesselsdorf

Kesselsdorf

Kesselsdorf is a village in Saxony, Germany, part of the city Wilsdruff. It is located close to the Saxon capital city of Dresden.The village is known for the decisive Battle of Kesseldorf between Austrians and Prussians on December 15 1745 in the War of Austrian Succession.- Personalities :* Paul...

 (all in Saxony) and a considerable amount of housing in Dresden.

But Bähr is most famous for designing the Frauenkirche

Dresden Frauenkirche

The Dresden Frauenkirche is a Lutheran church in Dresden, eastern Germany.Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. It has been reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies...

 in Dresden. He was given the task in 1722; in 1726, the design was approved and work began. From 1730, Bähr became the first in Germany to go by the title of “Architect”.

Whilst working on the Frauenkirche, Bähr also oversaw the building of the Dreikönigskirche (Church of the Three Kings) in Dresden’s Neustadt area – the church had however been designed by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann was a German master builder who helped to rebuild Dresden after the fire of 1685, and designed Dresden Castle and the Pillnitz church.Pöppelmann was born in Herford...

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George Bähr did not live to see the Frauenkirche completed – he died in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, aged 72, and was buried in the church’s vaults. In 2004, a memorial was built to him in the castle at Lauenstein, where he learned his trade.