The greatest church architect
you’ve never heard of

Ludwig Becker and His Churches

For such a prolific church architect of such high quality, not much is known about Ludwig Becker and, alas, he seems to be little studied. Born the son of the master craftsman and inspector of Cologne Cathedral, Becker had church building in his blood. He studied at the Technische Hochschule in Aachen from 1873 and trained as a stone mason as well.

In 1884 Becker moved to Mainz where he became a church architect and in 1909 he was appointed the head of works at Mainz Cathedral, a position he held until his death in 1940. His son Hugo followed him into the profession of church architecture.

That’s about all I can find out about Becker. But here are a selection of some of his churches, to get a sense of his agility in a wide variety of styles.

St Joseph, Speyer, is my favourite of Becker’s churches for the beautiful organic fluidity of its style. Here Art Nouveau, Gothic, and Baroque are mixed somehow without affectation. Rather enjoyably, it was built as a riposte to a nearby monumental Protestant church commemorating the Protestant Revolt. These two rival churches are the largest in the city after its famous cathedral.

St Jakobuskirche, Ockstadt (Protestant)

St Elisabeth, Bonn

St Theresia, Rhens

St Bonifatius, Bad Nauheim

St Elisabeth, Darmstadt

St Fridolin, Mulhouse/Mülhausen

St Peter, Heppenheim and below

St Hubertus, Nonnweiler and its high altar below

St Michael, Unter-Hambach

St Rochus, Hohenecken

St Mauritius, Straßburg / St Maurice, Strasbourg and its high altar below

St Matthäus, Bad Sobernheim

Sacred Heart of Jeuss, Emsdetten

St Marien, Schmelz