DIENTZENHOFER, Johann
(b. 1663, Sankt Margarethen, d. 1726, Bamberg)

Biography

German architect, part of the Dientzenhofer family of architects. Johann was responsible for the cathedral and palace in Fulda, and the imposing palace at Pommersfelden; he was appointed Bamberg court architect after his brother Leonhard's death, and built the church at Banz.

Johann, the only brother to receive a formal architectural education, later traveled to Rome for further study. At Banz, he employed transverse ovals, curved entablatures and vault ribs, and narrow and wide bays arranged in counterpoint to the vaults, to develop a range of spatial possibilities. The distinctive feature of the great palace at Pommersfelden is its dominant, projecting centre, which contains a grand staircase and imperial hall above. This architectonic assertion of ritual and prestige would resonate in Middle European palace architecture, as at Neumann's Würzburg Residenz.