Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte

Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte

Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte (born January 12, 1802 in Rotenburg (Wümme) , † November 5, 1873 in Utrecht , Netherlands ) was a German-Dutch organ builder . He is considered one of the most important organ builders of the 19th century in the Netherlands. A large number of the Bätz-Witte organs have been preserved to this day.

Life

Witte was born as the fourth and youngest child of pastor Johann Nikolaus Witte (1762-1817) and his wife Sophia Dorothea Friederika Witte, b. Caulier (1768-1824) born. He had a brother, Johann Nicolaus Christian (1796–1861) and two sisters, Sophia Dorothea Friederica (1793–1862) and Elisabeth Catharina Ernestine Amalie (1799–1864).

Witte, actually destined for the office of preacher , wanted a craft profession. While traveling in the Harz he came into contact with the organ culture there , which aroused his interest in organ building. At the age of 15 he began training as an organ builder with the royal court organ builder Christian Bethmann in Hanover. In his free time he was engaged in music, natural history and drawing. While working on the Brunswick Cathedral , he met Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni , whose sound theory and inventions he was enthusiastic about. After completing his apprenticeship, he went on a hike in 1824 to find a suitable job, but also to expand his knowledge of organ building and to get to know organ building in southern Germany, Switzerland, Holland and France. His goal was to then set up as an independent organ builder in Germany. On the six-week hike from Achim , where his brother lived, on the way to Frankfurt am Main and on to the Netherlands, he visited well-known organ and instrument builders without receiving an offer of employment.

In Utrecht he met Abraham Meere and Jonathan Bätz , who, however, had no immediate use for him. He finally came to Amsterdam via Gouda, Haarlem, Leiden and Delft. On the advice of the organ builder van den Brink, he accepted the offer from organ builder Tewes in June 1824, which included work and accommodation. Two years later, Witte moved to the J. Bätz & Co. company in Utrecht, which was run in the third generation by the brothers Jonathan and Johan Martin Willem Bätz. After JMW Bätz left, Witte became a partner in 1833. After Jonathan Bätz's death in 1849, Witte took over the company J. Bätz & Co. as sole owner and continued to run it under this name until his death in 1873.

The family

In 1839 Witte married Paulina Dorothea Antoinetta Lagers (1810–1884), daughter of a Lutheran pastor Georg Hendrik Lagers, who was born in Hamburg and has lived in the Netherlands since 1787, and his second wife Johanna Maria, née. Bätz. The Lagers family met Witte while working on the organ built by Bätz for the round Marteen Luther Kerk in Amsterdam, where Pastor Lagers worked. In the meantime, Witte had decided to live in Utrecht and considered himself a Dutchman.

The marriage resulted in six sons, of which the eldest, Johan Frederik Witte (1840–1902), as a trained organ builder, took over the business after his father's death in 1873 and continued to run it until his own death. The only daughter, Clara Witte (1880–1940), born from Witte's marriage to Johanna Gehardina, geb. Broekmeijer, which emerged, was not intended for the subsequent management of the company, so that the company Bätz & Co. was liquidated in 1903.

In the obituary of the organ builder M. Maarschalkerweerd on February 7, 1902, it is said: “ One thing is certain, as long as the art of organ building exists, the name of the Bätz company and especially that of Mr. Witte, father and son, will remain in the glorious memory and everyone present and future organ builders will have to agree with me in the high praise owed to true art and which the deceased artist deserves to a great extent ”. (Weekblad voor Muziek, February 15, 1902)

His second oldest son Georg Hendrik Witte (1843–1929), who worked as music director in Essen from 1871 to 1911 , also gained importance . His brothers who remained in the Netherlands were Johann Christiaan (1845–1909), Rudolf (1847–1847) and Rudolph (1850–1905). The last Dutch descendant of CGF Witte was Paul Christiaan Witte (1884–1969), son of Rudolph Witte. All other surviving descendants of the organ builder CGF Witte are settled in Germany.

plant

In the years from 1850 to 1873, when the Bätz company was under the management of CGF Witte, around fifty new organs were delivered. Witte made the highest demands on material and processing. He had a conservative, tradition-based quality awareness. He only made use of technical innovations when they had sufficiently proven themselves. This may explain why many of the instruments he built have been preserved to this day.

The organs of the 19th century corresponded in their conception to the predominant intention in Protestant churches, primarily to support and improve the singing of the congregation. The individual disposition of an organ was determined by the size of the church and the available financial means. With the exception of an order from Paramaribo in Suriname , a Dutch colony at the time, the Bätz company only served the Dutch market. Because of the Evangelical Lutheran origins of the Bätz and Witte families, the Protestant congregations were among the most important clients.

List of works

The list contains the organs made by the Bätz company that were newly used between 1850 and 1873. During this time, CGF Witte was the sole owner of the company (from 1868 together with son and partner Johan Frederik Witte). The size of the instruments is indicated in the fifth column by the number of manuals and the number of sounding registers in the sixth column. A capital “P” stands for an independent pedal, a lowercase “p” for an attached pedal. The location given is the original location of the organ. As far as relocations have taken place, the current locations - as far as known - are given in the "Comments" section.

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1850	Rotterdam	Zuiderkerk				Destroyed in 1940.
1851	Hoorn	Grote Kerk			32	Burned down in 1878
1851	Avoid	Hervormde Kerk				Burned down in 1953
1852	Boers	Lambertuskerk		II / P	17th
1853	Gorinchem	Grote Kerk		III / P	36	After extensive restoration by Pels & Van Leeuwen, it was returned to its original condition and put back into use on February 4th, 2012.
1854	De Rijp	Grote Kerk		II / p	17th	Company sign: "Bätz & Co, orgelmakers van ZM den koning"
1854	Leerdam	Grote Kerk		II / P	21st
1854	Dordrecht	Nieuwe Kerk		II / P	25th	Since 1966 in the Grote Kerk, Tiel (photo), preserving the housing
1855	Delfshaven	Oude Pelgrimvaderskerk		II / P	23
1856	Suffer	Remonstrantse Kerk		I / p	12	Housing was removed in 1978 and has been lost. Parts of the pipework found u. a. Used in the organ of the NPB Baarn.
1856	Loosduinen	Hervormde Kerk		II		Reichner brochure (1780/1791)
1857	Delft	Oude Kerk (main organ)		III / P	40
1857	Kralingen	Hervormde Kerk		I / p	12	Repositioned in 1911 in the Gereformeerd Kerk in Vlaardingen with preservation of the housing. Moved to the Maranatha kerk in Vlaardingen in 1961. The original case was lost.
1858	Beusichem	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	18th
1858	Puttershoek	Hervormde Kerk		II / P	17th
1858	Rotterdam	Oud-kathieke kerk van de HH Petrus en Paulus "Het Paradijskerk "		II / P	20th	The organ was originally designed by M. Verhofstad (1720–1721) and was restored in 1827 and 1857 by the Bätz company. As part of the new church building in 1910, the organ was moved to the new Paradieskirche (Nieuwe Binnenweg)
1858	Amersfoort	Oud-kathieke St. Georgiuskerk		II / p	10	Sold in 1977 and replaced by an organ from August Gern.
1859	Rotterdam	Oud-kathieke kerk van de HH Laurentius en Maria Magdalena (Soli Deo Gloria, Oppert)		II / P	22nd	Destroyed by acts of war in 1940.
1859	Ophemeral	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	13
1860	Putt	Hervormde Kerk		II / P	16
1860	Spijkenisse	Hervormde kerk		II / p	18th	Reinstalled in the church in 1934, the original case having been lost.
1860	Buns	Hervormde kerk		II / p	12
1861	Utrecht	Janskerk		II / P	18th
1861	Culemborg	Barbarakerk		II / p	13
1862	Naarden	Grote Kerk		III / P	45	Company sign: "CGF Witte, Fa Bätz & Co. Utrecht 1863"
1862	Amerongen	Hervormde kerk (Andrieskerk)		II / P	18th
1863	Amersfoort	Rooms-kathieke kerk van onze lieve Vrouwe Hemelvaart		II / P	22nd	Company sign: "CGF Witte, Fa Bätz & Co"; 1964 transferred to the Zuiderkerk, Rijssen. The case got lost
1864	Purmerend	Koepelkerk		II / p	11	Parapet organ
1864	Rijsoord	Hervormde kerk		II / p	11
1864	's-Gravenhage	Kloosterkerk		II / P	20th	Torn down in 1962, the case was lost, the pipework was still used for the organ of the Gereformeerd Kerk in Dalfsen.
1865	Rotterdam	Waalse kerk		II / P	23	In 1922 it was moved to today's church building on the Schiedamse Singel. The original case was lost.
1866	Chapel (Zeeland)	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	17th
1866	Schiedam	Oud-kathieke kerk van de H.Johannes de Doper		II / P	13
1866	Utrecht	Remonstrantse kerk		I / p	12	Brought to the Reformed Church in Anjum in 1904 with the original housing, burned on December 16, 1967.
1867	The hague	Nieuwe Kerk		III / p	28	Reconstruction of the organ by Johannes Duyschot (1702)
1867	Delft	Oud-kathieke kerk van de HH Maria en Ursula		II / p	7th	Duyschot prospectus (1722)
1868	Winschoten	Hervormde Kerk		II / P	23
1869	Delft	Waalse kerk		II / P	23
1869	Elst (Gelderland)	Hervormde kerk		II / p	16
1870	Utrecht	Doopsgezinde Kerk		II / p	11	In 1913 an independent pedal was added
1871	Hoorn	Doopsgezinde kerk		II / p	10
1871	Wognum	Rooms-kathieke kerk van de H. Hieronymus		II / P	12	Loss of housing when the church was moved (1970)
1871	Amersfoort	Oud-kathiek seminar		II / p	9
1871	Hoorn	Oosterkerk		II / P	15th	Case by Bätz (1764)
1872	Rotterdam	Westerkerk		II / P	9	In 1934 brought to Emmahuis, Schiekade, Rotterdam.
1872	IJzendijke	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	11	As a replacement for organ by J. de Voldere
1872	Nederhorst the mountain	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	9	1939 restoration and sale; later extensions
1872	Jaarsveld	Hervormde kerk		II / p	14th
1873	Delft	Armenkerk (Schoolstraatkerk)		I / p	5	Installed in 1962 in the Oude kerk, Delft, north wing (photo)
1873	Doorn (Utrecht)	Hervormde Maartenskerk		II / p	10
1873	Hilversum	Oud-kathieke Vituskerk		II / P	9	Restored by his son in 1889, later expansion of the pedal
1873	Rotterdam	Prinsenkerk		II / p	9	1934 transferred to the Gereformeerd Kerk Amsterdam-Oost, whereby the original housing was lost. The interior was removed in 1973.

literature

• Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte: ' Diary written on the trip from Achim to Amsterdam. Organ Archives of the University of Utrecht .
• Teus den Toom: De orgelmakers Witte, Een bijdrage tot de geschiedschrijving van de orgelbow in Nederland in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw. Part I and II, JJ Groen en Zoon, Heerenveen 1997, ISBN 90-5030-767-1 .
• Gert Oost: De orgelmakers Bätz (1739-1849), een eeuw orgelbouw in Nederland. 3rd expanded edition. Canaletto Alphen aan den Rijn, 1981.
• Stichting Orgel Grote Kerk Gorcum: De Orgelmakers Witte. Gorinchem, Streekmuziekschool, July 15, 1978 - August 19, 1978.

Web links

Commons : Orgelbau Christian Witte  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Maarten Albert Vente Utrecht Organ Archive Foundation
• Guide / Calalogus ( MS Word ; 168 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The birth and baptismal register of the ev.-luth. The parish in Rotenburg gives the date of birth January 11, 1802 “of the evening at 12 o'clock”. In the von Witte family themselves, however, January 12th was regarded as the actual birthday.
2. ↑ Teus den Toom: De Orgelmakers Witte . 1997, pp. 790-881 and pp. 1350-1351; Stichting Orgel Grote Kerk Gorcum: De Orgelmakers Witte . 1978, pp. 64-65.
3. ↑ Het Bätz-Witte organ in de Hervormde Kerk van Ameide (1851–1953)
4. ^ Organ in Buren , seen November 17, 2011.
5. ^ Organ in Gorinchem , seen on May 15, 2012.
6. ^ Organ in De Rijp , as seen on November 17, 2011.
7. ^ Organ in Leerdam , seen November 17, 2011.
8. ^ Organ in Tiel , seen November 17, 2011.
9. ^ Organ in Delfshaven , seen November 17, 2011.
10. ^ Organ in Delft, Oude Kerk , as seen on November 17, 2011.
11. ↑ Organ in Beusichem , seen October 23, 2018.
12. ^ Organ in Puttershoek , seen November 17, 2011.
13. ^ Organ in Rotterdam , as seen on November 17, 2011.
14. ^ Organ in Ophemert , seen November 17, 2011.
15. ^ Organ in Putten , seen on November 17, 2011.
16. ^ Organ in Utrecht, Janskerk , seen November 17, 2011.
17. ^ Organ in Culemborg , seen November 17, 2011.
18. ^ Organ in Naarden , seen on October 8, 2018.
19. ^ Organ in Amerongen , seen November 17, 2011.
20. ^ Organ in Rijssen , seen November 17, 2011.
21. ^ Organ in Purmerend , seen November 17, 2011.
22. ^ Organ in chapel , seen November 17, 2011.
23. ^ Organ in The Hague, Nieuwe Kerk , as seen on November 17, 2011.
24. ^ Organ in Winschoten , seen November 17, 2011.
25. ^ Organ in Utrecht, Doopsgezinde Kerk , seen November 17, 2011.
26. ^ Organ in Wognum , seen November 17, 2011.
27. ^ Organ in Hoorn , seen November 17, 2011.
28. ↑ organ in Beemte seen on Nov. 17, 2011.
29. ^ Organ in IJzendijke , seen November 17, 2011.
30. ^ Organ in Nederhorst den Berg , as seen on November 17, 2011.
31. ^ Organ in Delft, Oude Kerk , as seen on November 17, 2011.
32. ^ Organ in Doorn , seen on November 17, 2011.
33. ^ Organ in Hilversum , seen November 17, 2011.