Böhm, Dominikus

Related Category: Architecture: Biographies

(dômē´nĭks böm), 1880–1955, German architect. The widely varied styles of Catholic churches designed by Böhm have strongly influenced 20th-century ecclesiastical architecture in Europe and America. The Gothic fantasia of the War Memorial Church in Neu-Ulm (1923) and the simple parabolic vaulting of the church at Bischofsheim (1925) are examples of his expressionist period. By 1929, Böhm had achieved a rectangular simplicity in design as, e.g., in the church of Maria Königin at Marienburg outside Cologne (1954). Sankt Engelbert, Cologne-Riehl (1931–33), with its circular plan and paraboloid vaulting, is perhaps Böhm's finest work.