Bedřich Schnirch

Bedřich Schnirch, also recorded under the German form Friedrich Franz Schnirch, was a Czech engineer and builder born in Pátek in 1791 who died in Vienna in 1868. He rose to be an Imperial Councilor and the Chief Inspector for the State Railways, a senior state post. He is primarily known for designing chain bridges, bridges in which the deck is carried on iron chains, and for that work he stands among the early bridge engineers of the Czech lands. His nephew Josef Emanuel Schnirch was also a well known builder, and his grand-nephew Bohuslav Schnirch became a sculptor, so the family appears in both the building trades and the arts. This entry rests on the opening summary of his career, so his individual bridges remain to be documented by later work.