Fritz Metzger
Fritz Metzger | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 July 1898 Winterthur, Switzerland |
| Died | 13 August 1973 (aged 75) Zurich, Switzerland |
| Education | ETH Zurich |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Known for | Catholic church architecture |
Fritz Metzger (1898–1973) was a Swiss architect known for his Catholic church architecture. He was regarded as one of Europe’s leading church architects of the 20th century, and more than twenty churches were built to his designs between 1928 and 1968. His postwar churches St. Franziskus in Riehen and St. Felix and Regula in Zurich attracted international attention and were praised by architectural critics across Europe.
Biography
Fritz Metzger was born on 3 July 1898 in Winterthur.[1] He studied architecture at ETH Zurich, where Karl Moser was among his teachers, and graduated in 1922.[1][2] During his student years, he also spent extended periods in Paris between 1918 and 1922.[1] He established an architectural practice in Zurich in the mid-1920s.[1][2] Metzger married Ida Emmy Oberhänsli in 1940.[1]
Metzger belonged to several Swiss professional and cultural organisations, including the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects, the Federation of Swiss Architects, the Federal Art Commission and the St. Luke Society.[1][2] He died in Zurich on 13 August 1973.[1]
Architecture
More than twenty Catholic churches based on Metzger's designs were completed between 1928 and 1968.[1] He was regarded as one of Europe's leading church architects of the 20th century.[3]
St. Karl in Lucerne represented a significant break with earlier Swiss church architecture, combining a modern architectural concept with principles associated with the Liturgical Movement.[2] In early churches such as St. Karl and St. Katharina in Zurich, Metzger brought ideas from Neues Bauen into religious architecture and explored new ways of accommodating contemporary liturgical thinking.[4] St. Karl is regarded as a key work of Neues Bauen in Swiss church architecture.[5]
His architectural work was interrupted during the Second World War, and in 1945 he began designing St. Franziskus in Riehen.[4] St. Franziskus and St. Felix and Regula attracted international attention and were praised by architectural critics across Europe as advances in Catholic church design.[4] A prominent feature of St. Felix and Regula is its large oval concrete dome.[6] When the church opened in 1950, its 1.6-metre rise was reported to make it the flattest vault then constructed in Switzerland and probably anywhere in the world.[6] Both churches moved away from the conventional longitudinal plan in favour of freer layouts focused on the altar.[4] Metzger was influenced by the German architect Rudolf Schwarz, whose ideas emphasised arranging church space around the gathered congregation.[4]
For Maria Krönung in Gossau, completed in 1959, Metzger modelled the church plan on the shape of a fish.[7] Bruder Klaus in Liestal, inaugurated in 1961, occupies an important place within his body of work.[3] At St. Pankratius in Oberkirch, built from 1965 to 1967, Metzger adopted a centralised plan that departed from hierarchically organised church interiors.[8] The congregation was arranged on three sides of the altar beneath a cylindrical skylight.[8] Later in the decade, he designed the first section of a new school complex in Oberkirch in 1967 and the Catholic church completed the following year.[9] Together, the two projects established an urban composition that influenced the buildings that followed.[9]
Metzger's practice also included secular architecture.[1] His works included a residential building and a school in Zurich dating from 1946–1947,[1] as well as an ETH institute building in Zurich completed in 1948.[2] In 1954, he initiated an exhibition devoted to Christian art in Switzerland at the Kunsthaus Zurich.[1]
Selected works
- St. Karl, Lucerne (1931–1934)[1]
- St. Theresia, Zurich-Friesenberg (1933)[2]
- St. Gallus, Oberuzwil (1935)[2]
- Maria Lourdes, Zurich-Seebach (1936)[7]
- Guthirt Church, Zug (1937)[2]
- Maria Himmelfahrt, Schönenwerd (1938)[2]
- ETH institute building, Zurich (1948)[2]
- St. Franziskus, Riehen (1945–1950)[1]
- St. Felix and Regula, Zurich (1949–1950)[1]
- St. Antonius, Obbürgen (1954)[2]
- Maria Krönung, Gossau (1959)[7]
- Bruder Klaus, Liestal (1961)[2][3]
- St. Mauritius Church, Oberengstringen (1962–1963)[7]
- St. Pankratius, Oberkirch (1967)[2][9]
- St. Peter and Paul, Allschwil (1966–1967)[1]
- SS. Trinità, Milan (1964–1968)[1]
Gallery
St. Karl Church, Lucerne (1931–1934).JPG)
Maria Lourdes Church, Zurich-Seebach (1936)
St. Gallus Church, Oberuzwil (1934–1935)
Bruder Klaus Church, Liestal (1961)
Maria Krönung Church, Gossau (1959)
St. Mauritius Church, Oberengstringen (1962–1963)
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Böcker, Dagmar (5 July 2007). "Fritz Metzger". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Fritz Metzger 1898 – 1973". Architekturbibliothek (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Röm.-kath. Kirche Bruder Klaus, Rheinstrasse 18". Kantonales Inventar der geschützten Kulturdenkmäler (in German). Kanton Basel-Landschaft. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Steininger, Felix (1 December 2025). "St. Franziskus-Kirche". Lexikon Riehen (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ Horat, Heinz (3 May 2017). "Kirchenbau". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 Gindely, Georg (13 September 2013). "Ein Schmuckstück aus Beton und Asphal". Der Bund (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Unsere Pfarrkirche Maria Krönung". Katholische Pfarrei Gossau ZH (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- 1 2 Despotovic, Sanja (2017). "Pfarrkirche St. Pankratius". Architekturbibliothek (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Gervasi, Andreas. "9.3 Architekt Fritz Metzger baut eine neue Kirche mit Pfarrei- und Schulzentrum". Gemeinde Oberkirch (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2026.