Franz Dischinger (8 October 1887 - 9 January 1953) was a pioneering German civil and structural engineer, responsible for the development of the modern cable-stayed bridge.

After getting his degree in 1913, he then started working for Dyckerhoff & Widmann A.G., an engineering firm in Germany.

[2] In 1922, he designed the Zeiss Planetarium[3] in Jena with Walther Bauersfeld, using a thin-shell concrete roof in the shape of a hemisphere.

Their system was subsequently patented, and Dischinger published a paper on the relevant mathematics in 1928.

This employed a steel deck and cables, with large spacings between the stays typical of the early designs.