Hans Kaldenbach (also Caldenbach), called Hess, came from Marburg to Frankfurt, where beginning in 1467, together with Hans von Langendiepach, he is documented as an apprentice in the workshop of Konrad I. Fyoll. After Fyoll's bankruptcy, he took over his workshop in 1470. His second wife was Katharina von Bissenbach, with whom he had four sons. Of them the oldest, Martin, also took up a painting career, presumably having trained in his father's workshop. In 1475 Hans Caldenbach finally became a Frankfurt citizen, and went on to hold several municipal offices: transactor, court advocate, and guarantor in the administration of estates. After having been commissioned to paint various coats of arms, in 1483 he was entrusted, together with goldsmith Hans Dirmstein and painter Thomas von Strassburg, with the splendid redesign of the Römer facade. In 1489 he and his wife made his will, and in 1502 the two registered in the Dominican rosary book. In that same year he produced a work of which only a drawing gives some impression, a 'Last Judgment' in the Römer's jury room, which was since destroyed, presumably in the Reformation period. A number of panel paintings for Frankfurt churches are attributed to him, frequently with the assumption that his son Martin was a collaborator. One of the last works associated with Hans is a Crucifixion from 1503/05 commissioned by Frankfurt wine merchant Wigand Märkel (Frankfurt, Städel Museum). After Hans's death in early 1504, Martin took over his father's workshop.
