Franz Beer

Franz Beer (3 July 1659 – 19 January 1726), also known as Franz Beer von Blaichten, was an Austrian architect during the Baroque period, mainly working on church buildings at monasteries in southern Germany, chiefly in Upper Swabia, and Switzerland.

Born in Au im Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg, Beer was apprenticed to Michael Thumb.

He also had the churches at Rheinau Abbey and the monastery of Saint Urban, both in Switzerland, built.

Together with Michael Thumb, Christian Thumb and Kaspar Moosbrugger, he was one of the main representatives of the so-called Vorarlberg school of architecture, which continued the Roman Baroque ideal of long edifices with galleries and mainly two bell towers.

In 1722, he was ennobled and took the name Franz Beer, Edler von Blaichten.