Birthplace of Franz Martin Drexel

The way back to the Market Square takes us through the Schillerstrasse. Those interested in the birthplace of Dornbirn’s most well-known emigrant should proceed over the Säger bridge and past the University of Applied Sciences to the city district of Hatlerdorf. In Hatlerstrasse 7 Franz Martin Drexel (29), son of a local businessman, was born in 1792. When he died in Philadelphia (USA) in 1863 he could look back on a successful career as a portrait painter and founder of a bank. His son Anthony J. Drexel became one of the establishing members of Wall Street and founded Drexel University in Philadelphia. Franz Martin’s granddaughter, Katharine Drexel, was canonized in the year 2000. The side chapel of St. Leopold Church is named after her.