Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Fischer von Erlach links here . For other uses , see Fischer von Erlach ( disambiguation ) . Statue in Vienna Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach ( 20 July 1656 - 5 April 1723 ) was probably the most influential Austrian architect of the Baroque period . Architectural tastes throughout the Habsburg Empire were profoundly influenced by his ideas , as articulated in A Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture ( 1721 ) , one of the first and most popular comparative studies of world architecture . Two columns in front of the Karlskirche are scored to resemble Trajan 's Column in Rome . Early life in Italy Born near Graz , Johann Fischer was trained in the workshop of his father , a provincial artisan , before departing for Rome at the precocious age of 16 . He spent the following sixteen years in Italy . In Rome he joined the workshop of his fellow Austrian Johann Paul Schor and of the great Bernini , who gave him ample opportunities to study both ancient and modern sculpture and architecture . He then moved to Naples , where he was reported to have amassed a considerable fortune serving the Spanish viceroy . Back in Austria in 1687 , Fischer von Erlach was installed as a fashionable and sought-after architect . Commissions were plentiful , as royalty and highest echelons of aristocracy sought to repair damage inflicted on their country residences by the Ottoman Turks in the course of their 1683 campaign . Fischer 's understanding of an urbane Baroque idiom appeared superior to that prevalent in Central Europe , and in 1687 he secured the key position of court architect , which he would retain in the service of three emperors . A page from Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture . Karlskirche design in Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture . Service under Joseph I During the 1690s , which have been described as the most fruitful period of Fischer 's career , he adapted the Italian Baroque to local needs and traditions . In 1690 , he won great acclaim for two temporary triumphal arches constructed in Vienna to celebrate Joseph I 's coronation . He later personally instructed Joseph in architectural arts , so successfully that in 1696 the monarch elevated Johann Fischer to the nobility , as Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach . In his 17th-century designs and commissions , Fischer von Erlach embraced Berniniesque powerful curving lines , seeking to convey a sense of movement . His other inspirations included Mansart 's country residences and the Palladian classical villas , which he would study during his journeys to Prussia , the Netherlands , England in 1704 and Venice in 1707 . Thus Fischer presided over the genesis and early evolution of a distinctive brand of Baroque architecture , which would shape architectural tastes of the Austrian aristocracy for decades to come . His emblematic design from the 1690s was the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy , commenced in 1695 in Vienna . As Hans Aurenhammer put it , this edifice represented `` a new type of town palace characterized by impressive form , structural clarity , and the dynamic tension of its decoration '' . Salzburg and late works Fischer 's expertise in town planning made itself felt in designs he executed for the Archbishop of Salzburg . Particularly accomplished are two churches , the Dreifaltigkeitskirche ( 1694-1702 ) and the Kollegienkirche ( 1696-1707 ) , whose highly pitched domes and towers , convex facades , and dynamic forms irrevocably changed the outline of Salzburg . They say that masses of stone were designed by Fischer so as to give the appearance of billows of cloud and smoke . The archbishop 's country seat , Schloss Kleßheim ( 1700-09 ) , was also designed by him . Fischer 's design for Clam-Gallas Palace , 1713 . After Joseph I 's death in 1711 , Fischer von Erlach was rarely entrusted with new commissions , as the more pleasing and less demanding designs of his rival Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt proved more popular with the young monarch Charles VI , Holy Roman Emperor and his court . He found an opportunity to draw some of the finest architectural reconstructions of the buildings of Antiquity , which were published in his ground breaking Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture in 1721 . He was also made responsible for various administrative tasks , which would take a large portion of his energy and time . Clam-Gallas Palace in Prague , commenced in 1713 , was one of his last designs for a stately town residence . The structure , much imitated by later architects , highlights Fischer 's enthusiasm for Palladian facades , which became ever more pronounced during the last period of his work . But it is Karlskirche in Vienna , started in 1715 , that most fully illustrates his late synthetic style . In this structure , completed by his son Joseph Emanuel , Fischer 's ambition was to harmonize the principal elements and ideas that underlie the most significant churches in the history of Western architecture : the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem , Hagia Sophia in Constantinople , the Pantheon and Saint Peter 's Basilica in Rome , the Dome des Invalides in Paris and Saint Paul 's Cathedral in London . Schönbrunn Palace is the imperial residence designed by Fischer von Erlach for his patron , Joseph I . Selected works Schönbrunn Palace , Vienna Karlskirche , Vienna ( 1715— ) Mausoleum of Ferdinand II , Graz Parnas Fountain , Brno Church of the Trinity , Salzburg University Church , Salzburg Clam-Gallas Palace , Prague References Hans Aurenhammer , J.B. Fischer von Erlach , 1973 . External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Austria.org Information Categories : 1656 births | 1723 deaths | Austrian architects | Austrian nobility | Baroque architects | Austrian architecture writers In other languages : Deutsch | Français | Македонски | Polski Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach 