Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer
Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer (1 September 1689 – 18 December 1751) was a German-Bohemian architect of the Baroque era. He is one of the most famous architects in Bohemia and a leading figure of the High Baroque.
He was born in Prague, the second son of the architect Christoph Dientzenhofer and Maria Anna Aichbauer. He studied at a Jesuit school in Prague and, around 1709–1710, went abroad to learn architecture in Germany, France, and Italy. He worked as an apprentice in Vienna with Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, then returned to Bohemia in 1716.
Dientzenhofer married twice. With Anna Cecília Popelová he had six children; with Anna Terezia Hendrychová he had eleven.
During his life he designed more than 200 buildings. He worked with his father and helped finish projects by Jan Santini Aichel. In Prague his notable works include the Church of Saint Nicholas in Malá Strana and the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, along with Vila Amerika and the Kinský Palace. He built many churches and other buildings across Bohemia, and one project in Lower Silesia (Wahlstatt).
Many later projects were carried out by his pupil and son-in-law Anselmo Martino Lurago.
His rural churches around Broumov in northeastern Bohemia, known as the Broumov group of Baroque churches, were designed to be beautiful and spacious but not too expensive. These churches, plus a pilgrim chapel, are protected as national cultural monuments since 2022. He also rebuilt the Benedictine monastery in Broumov, another national monument.
Kilian Ignaz is regarded as the most talented and productive member of the Dientzenhofer family.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:19 (CET).