George Bähr was born on March 15, 1666 in the town of Fürstenwalde in the Eastern Erz Mountains. He grew up in humble circumstances as the son of a linen weaver. He completed an apprenticeship as carpenter and arrived in Dresden in 1693. Although he had no master craftsman's diploma, he was appointed the city master carpenter in 1705. He was the first of his trade to bear the title architect.
 
Buildings he planned include the Loschwitz church (1705-1708), the Waisenhauskirche in Dresden (around 1710), the Church of the Holy Trinity in Schmiedeberg (1713-1715), the church in Forchheim near Pockau (1719-1726) as well as others in Königstein, Hohnstein and Kesselsdorf. Between 1732 and 1739 Bähr supervised the construction of the Dreikönigskirche in Dresden that had originally been planned by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. He also planed numerous residential houses in Dresden, but his most important work remains the Frauenkirche in Dresden. 
 
Bähr tried to modernise church building. He believed that churches up to that time did not do justice to the Protestant understanding of church services. He wanted to create a symbol of Protestant church building with the Frauenkirche. 
 
George Bähr died one day after his 72ndbirthday. He was initially buried in the old Johannisfriedhof graveyard. Bähr's final wish, that he be buried in the Frauenkirche, was only met in 1854. The Dresden sculptor Johann Christian Feige senior built the tomb, which can be seen today in the Lower Church.