Fritz Metzger

Fritz Metzger (1898–1973) was a Swiss architect known for his Catholic church architecture. He was regarded as one of Europe’s leading church architects of the 20th century, and more than twenty churches were built to his designs between 1928 and 1968. His postwar churches St. Franziskus in Riehen and St. Felix and Regula in Zurich attracted international attention and were praised by architectural critics across Europe.

Biography Fritz Metzger was born on 3 July 1898 in Winterthur. He studied architecture at ETH Zurich, where Karl Moser was among his teachers, and graduated in 1922. During his student years, he also spent extended periods in Paris between 1918 and 1922.

St. Karl in Lucerne represented a significant break with earlier Swiss church architecture, combining a modern architectural concept with principles associated with the Liturgical Movement. St. Karl is regarded as a key work of Neues Bauen in Swiss church architecture.

His architectural work was interrupted during the Second World War, and in 1945 he began designing St. Franziskus in Riehen. When the church opened in 1950, its 1.6-metre rise was reported to make it the flattest vault then constructed in Switzerland and probably anywhere in the world. Bruder Klaus in Liestal, inaugurated in 1961, occupies an important place within his body of work. The congregation was arranged on three sides of the altar beneath a cylindrical skylight. Together, the two projects established an urban composition that influenced the buildings that followed.

Metzger's practice also included secular architecture. His works included a residential building and a school in Zurich dating from 1946–1947, as well as an ETH institute building in Zurich completed in 1948. In 1954, he initiated an exhibition devoted to Christian art in Switzerland at the Kunsthaus Zurich.

Selected works St. Karl, Lucerne (1931–1934) St. Theresia, Zurich-Friesenberg (1933) St. Gallus, Oberuzwil (1935) Maria Lourdes, Zurich-Seebach (1936) Guthirt Church, Zug (1937) Maria Himmelfahrt, Schönenwerd (1938) ETH institute building, Zurich (1948) St. Franziskus, Riehen (1945–1950) St. Felix and Regula, Zurich (1949–1950) St. Antonius, Obbürgen (1954) Maria Krönung, Gossau (1959) Bruder Klaus, Liestal (1961) St. Mauritius Church, Oberengstringen (1962–1963) St. Pankratius, Oberkirch (1967) St. Peter and Paul, Allschwil (1966–1967) SS. Trinità, Milan (1964–1968)

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