Chair Holzer

Research at the Chair of Building Archaeology and Construction History is focusing on building in Europe from antiquity to the early 20th century. Architecture and construction are inseparably linked, even when construction and architectural form do not correspond or construction remains hidden behind the facade, such as in Baroque architecture. Structural knowledge of historical architecture is an indispensable key to its understanding and preservation.

Timber and both natural and artificial stone remained the most important building materials until the late 19th century, and constructions in timber and masonry account for the lion's share of the building cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the history of construction in timber and masonry between the early Middle Ages and the 19th century has been little researched in many areas: for decades, most research projects were devoted either to ancient building techniques or to innovative buildings in iron, glass and concrete from the 19th century. In terms of monument preservation, however, the building stock from the 10th-19th centuries is of utmost importance, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Alongside the question "What was built?", the question "How was the building constructed?" is prominent in all of the chair's projects. We therefore also investigate the history of building aids such as scaffolding, construction machinery and tools. Important research projects at the chair deal on the one hand with entire classes of historical constructions, such as early modern wooden roof trusses in Switzerland, buildings made of unreinforced concrete throughout Europe, or brick buildings of the 19th century. On the other hand, monographical research projects focus on individual buildings of outstanding rank, currently for example the medieval burial and pilgrimage church of St. Anthony in Padua.