Thumb Family - Michael Thumb, Christian Thumb & Peter Thumb
Michael Thumb, b. Bezau, Austria, c.1640, d. 1690;
Christian Thumb, b. Bezau, 1683, d. 1726;
Peter Thumb, b. 1681, d. 1766.

Thumb Family - Austrian famous architects and masons. Michael Thumb was a founder of the Austrian Voralberger school of architects, noted mainly for a large series of Benedictine monastries in SW Germany and Switzerland, which marked the eventual triumph of German elements over Italian in S German Baroque architecture. Michael Thumb’s most important work was the Obermarchtal Church, which demonstrated a pure application of his Baroque spatial concepts and was enhanced by contributions from several renowned artists and craftsmen. Michael’s brother Christian Thumb also designed and supervised the construction of two major Baroque churches at Schussenried in Bavaria (1700) and Giessen in central Germany (1701). Peter Thumb, Michael’s son, developed a more sophisticated and inventive manner than his father, culminating in the pilgrimage church of Birnau on Lake Constance (1745-58), and the library in the monastery at St Gallen (1758-67). The latter is characterized by its dramatic agility and marks a transition from Baroque to Peter Thumb’s own distinctive Rococo style.

Major buildings / works:
Michael Thumb: Church, Obermachtal, 1686.
Christian Thumb: church, Schussenried, 1700; church, Giessen, 1701.
Peter Thumb: Neu Birnau Pilgrimage Church, Bavaria, 1745-58; St Gallen Library and Abbey Church, Switzerland, 1758-67.

Bibliography:
Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Rococo Architecture in Southern Germany, London, 1968.