Franz Geilhofer

   

  • architect

    Franz Geilhofer

  • Date of birth

    1871 (?)

  • Date of death

    6. 11. 1931 Vienna, Austria
Franz Geilhofer, the presumed architect of the Palace of Justice (Justiční palác) in Jihlava, was a Viennese civil and structural engineer employed in the Austrian ministerial service. He was probably born in 1871, but his birthplace, as well as details of his training, are as yet unknown. He worked for Viennese ministries in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the time of the construction of the Palace of Justice in Jihlava, he was the building councillor of the Ministry of the Interior. After the establishment of the independent Republic of Austria, he became ministerial councillor of the State Office (Ministry) for Trade, Industry, and Construction. He died in 1931 in a sanatorium near Vienna at the age of sixty.

According to his obituary in the Neues Wiener Tagblatt, the courthouses in Plzeň, Litoměřice, and Jihlava were built under his direction. He is also associated with the palaces of justice in České Budějovice and Karlovy Vary, but it is certain that he simply supervised their construction. The designs of both buildings were drawn up by another Viennese architect, Emil von Förster, with whom Geilhofer worked at the Ministry of the Interior. It is unclear whether the architectural designs of the remaining buildings can be attributed to Geilhofer or whether he was merely the supervising engineer for all of them.

The illustrious palaces of justice from the early twentieth century attributed to Geilhofer were government contracts, and their architecture thus reflects the Viennese Neo-Baroque style. The architectural elements refer to the mission of the buildings – often a distinctive bossage evoking fortress architecture, which symbolises the solemnity of the office. The rather complex floor plan of the buildings, whose central and outer axes are usually punctuated with pavilions or avant-corps, are also majestic.

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