Puchspaum auch Puchsbaum, Hanns

Puchspaum (also Puchsbaum), Hanns, b. before 1390, d. after 1454, late Gothic architect. Around 1418 worked for the Ulm stonemason's lodge, documented in Vienna between 1432 and 1454; 1440 (according to other records not until 1446) was master builder at St. Stephen´s Cathedral in Vienna, directed there the construction of the vestibule of the "Singertor" (1440-1445), the vaulting of the nave (1446) and the construction of the foundations of the north tower which he had also planned (1450); constructed the choir of the parish church in Steyr (1443) and carried out the alterations at the "Spinnerin am Kreuz" monument in Vienna (1451/52). His 70 drawings (Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna) with plans for the West tower of Ulm Minster, Steyr, St. Stephen´s Cathederal, Vienna Town Hall and the Zapolya chapel in Spišsky Štvrtok, Slovakia (then Donnersmarkt) are considered the most important surviving drawings by a medieval architect.

Literature: B. Grimschitz, H. P., 1947; H. Koepf, Die got. Planrisse der Wr. Sammlungen, 1969.