Franz Metzner was an influential German sculptor, particularly his sculptural figures integrated into the architecture of Central European public buildings in the Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 / Jugendstil / Vienna Secession

Vienna Secession

The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...

 period. His style is difficult to classify.

Biography

Metzer learned the craft of stone-cutting in Breslau with Christian Behrens and did apprenticeships in Saxony through 1894. He founded his own studio in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in 1896 and worked predominantly for the royal porcelain factory until 1903, and became a professor at the Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 college of arts and sciences. Metzner achieved notoriety by winning a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle (1900)

Exposition Universelle (1900)

The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...

.

Among his important works are the sculptures for Josef Hoffmann

Josef Hoffmann

Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian architect and designer of consumer goods.- Biography :...

's 1904-1911 landmark Art Deco Palais Stoclet

Palais Stoclet

The Stoclet Palace is a private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels, Belgium, for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet. Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the Stoclet's house is one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century.The...

 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, including the eccentric four green male nudes at the summit of the building. The Palais Stoclet is an example of "Gesamtkunstwerk", the integration of art and architecture, one of the goals of Jugendstil.

In 1910 Metzner met the vacationing Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 and, according to the scholarship of Anthony Alofsin

Anthony Alofsin

Anthony Alofsin is an architect, artist, art historian, writer, and professor. Educated at Andover, Harvard, and Columbia University, he has been named a Fellow, Bogliasco Foundation, Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in...

, Metzer had a impact on Wright's "conventionalization" of the human figure and its incorporation into buildings like the Larkin Building and Midway Gardens. Around the same time, Metzner's designs influenced Czech artists working in Prague, Stanislav Sucharda

Stanislav Sucharda

Stanislav Sucharda , Czech sculptor and professor at the Prague School of Applied Arts from 1899, and a leading figure in the Mánes Union of Fine Arts Stanislav Sucharda (1866–1916), Czech sculptor and professor at the Prague School of Applied Arts from 1899, and a leading figure in the Mánes Union...

 among them.

A famous work is the 1913 Völkerschlachtdenkmal

Völkerschlachtdenkmal

The Monument to the Battle of the Nations is a monument in Leipzig, Germany to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations...

 (People's Battle Monument), designed by the architect Bruno Schmitz

Bruno Schmitz

Bruno Schmitz , was a German architect best known for his monuments in the early 1900s, working closely with sculptors such as Emil Hundrieser, Nikolaus Geiger and Franz Metzner for integrated architectural and sculptural effect...

 in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. Metzner executed the powerful and strangely scaled interior figural-architectural sculpture in the "Hecker Tomb" with his teacher Behrens. The Monument was inaugurated in 1913 by Kaiser Wilhelm II and is associated with political strains of German nationalism in the period between the World Wars.

Much of Metzner's work in Germany was lost in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Other work

• a series of atlantes
  Atlas (architecture)
  In the classical European architectural tradition an atlas is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column, a pier or a pilaster...
  
   for Jože Plečnik
  Jože Plecnik
  Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
  
  's 1905 Zacherl
  Johann Zacherl
  Johann Zacherl was an Austrian inventor, industrialist and manufacturer. Johann Zacherl made a fortune in the late 19th century by selling dried flower heads of Chrysanthenum cinerariifolum as an insecticide.- Biography :...
  
   House in Vienna
  Vienna
  Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
  
  
• Tomb for the paper manufacturer Max Krause
  Max Krause
  Max Joseph Krause was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins.-High school career:...
  
   in the Jerusalem Cemetery in Berlin
  Berlin
  Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
  
  , 1907, Bruno Schmitz
  Bruno Schmitz
  Bruno Schmitz , was a German architect best known for his monuments in the early 1900s, working closely with sculptors such as Emil Hundrieser, Nikolaus Geiger and Franz Metzner for integrated architectural and sculptural effect...
  
  architect
• Der Rüdigerbrunnen (the Rudiger well) in the Bavarian city of Kaufbeuren