Cajetan J. B. Baumann

Brother Cajetan J. B. Baumann (3 August 1899 – 9 May 1969) was a Franciscan friar and a noted American architect. Baumann’s designs were incredibly progressive, providing modern interpretations of Gothic architecture.

Life Baumann was born 3 August 1899 in Grünkraut, a town in the Ravensburg district of the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire. He spent two years in military service during World War I, mostly with the engineering corps of the German Imperial Army. In 1922 he entered the novitiate of the Fulda Province of the Order of Friars Minor in Sigmaringen, where, upon completion, he was given the religious habit and the name by which he is now known on 16 July 1923. He remained a member of this Province throughout his life.

In 1925 Baumann was sent to the United States to help with his skills as a cabinetmaker and wood carver. It was there that he made his final profession at St. Bonaventure Friary in Paterson, New Jersey on 16 July 1926. He served that community for the next ten years. He then went on to earn a bachelor's degree from St. Bonaventure University in 1941 and a Master of Science from Columbia University, where he later served on the Board of Governors of the School of Architecture. He was also active in the National Committee on Religious Buildings, the Architectural League of New York, the National Sculpture Society, the New York Building Congress and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Baumann was the American representative of the International Commission for the Restoration of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. 1955: Order of St Basil the Great Nurses School, a five-story school with penthouse convent, 215 East 6th Street, Manhattan, New York, for $1,500,000. 1966: St. John's Atonement Seminary, Montour Falls, New York, a new annex St. Bonaventure University, Saint Bonaventure, New York: Plassman Hall Friary (now Doyle Hall) Christ the King Seminary (now Francis Hall) University Administration Building (now Hopkins Hall) St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, MA Daemen College, Amherst, New York Marian Library (now Haberman Gacioch Center for Visual & Performing Arts) Daemen Hall (now MusicalFare Theatre) Duns Scouts Hall