Felix (bell-maker)

The Felix foundry family was a stucco and bell foundry in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg from 1675 to 1778 .

The Felix foundry family

Gabriel I. Felix received master justice in the brotherhood of locksmiths and blacksmiths in 1675 . Three sons, Gabriel II. Felix, Franz Josef Felix and Felicis Felix learned the foundry trade. Franz Josef Felix and Felicis Felix continued to run the foundry. They were followed by the grandsons Christian Felix and Gabriel III. Felix.

Like most of the stucco and bell foundries in other small towns, the Felix foundry also cast appliances and candlesticks. In contrast to bells and guns, these works remained unsigned and anonymous. The usual specialization of the craft in bronze casting , brass casting and red casting , as was possible in larger cities, did not exist in Feldkirch.

Gabriel I. Felix

Gabriel I. Felix (first mentioned 1646; † 1714) probably learned the foundry trade from Jakob Stutzenberger and worked as a journeyman. His first marriage was Magdalena Weinzierlin in 1646, where his son Gabriel II. Felix was born in Bludenz . In his second marriage to Anna Gairin from 1675, the sons Franz Josef Felix and Felicis Felix were born. All three become bronze casters. In 1675 he became a master craftsman in the brotherhood of locksmiths and blacksmiths in Feldkirch. In 1682 he was elected to the office of the younger candle master and in 1691 to that of the older candle master.

Gabriel I. Felix trained four apprentices to become journeyman:

• 1680 Andreas Aborte from Feldkirch
• 1685 Johannes Gaw from Rankweil
• 1708 his son Franz Felix
• 1708 his son Felicis Felix

Gabriel II. Felix

Gabriel II. Felix (* around 1655 in Bludenz, first mentioned 1671; † 1708) became an apprentice to Jakob Stutzenberger in Feldkirch in 1671 . After the apprenticeship and the possible wandering, he returned to Feldkirch. In 1685 he married Barbara Kappeller from Feldkirch and probably received the master's degree in the same year. At times he ran his own foundry together with Hans Georg Gapp.

Works

• 1687 bell in the Kristbergkirche hl. Agatha in Silbertal
• 1697 Bell for the St. Michael Chapel at Wildkirchli (AI)
• 1700 with Hans Georg Gapp bell of the parish church Maria Schnee in Oberegg
• 1708 Bell in the Reformed Church in Donat GR

Franz Josef Felix

Franz Josef Felix (* March 13, 1687; † February 23, 1759) did his apprenticeship from 1700 to 1708 with his father Gabriel I. He received the master's justice in the big hammer guild in 1715. In 1716 he married Anna Maria Gisinger from Feldkirch, who gave him 15 Gave birth to children, from whom Johannes Baptista Felix and Christianus Felix learned the trade of bronze caster. In 1723 he was elected to the office of brother master.

Works

• 1698 with Andreas Apporte and Hans Georg Gapp Glocke in the Katzenturm in Feldkirch
• 1715 baptismal bell in Pfäfers monastery
• 1725 Bell stood in the parish church of St. Joseph in Egger
• 1728 Bell in Mittelbüel near Gonten AI
• 1737 bell in the parish church of St. Agnes in Klaus in Vorarlberg

Felix (Felicis) Felix

Felix Felix or Felicis Felix (* September 25, 1693; † January 1, 1749) learned from 1700 to 1708 from his father Gabriel I. He received mastery justice in the big hammer guild before 1722. In this he married Maria Barbara Madlener (1696– 1736) from Feldkirch. This marriage has eight children. In 1737 he married Maria Susanna Waldner (1696–1783) from Feldkirch, who gave him two children.

Johannes Baptista Felix

Johannes Baptista Felix (* August 17, 1718; † February 18, 1799) learned the craft of stucco and bell caster. On January 5, 1746 he entered the Jesuit order and made the novitiate in Landshut and emigrated to Chile in 1746 . After the abolition of the Jesuit order in Chile he returned in 1768 and probably lived as a religious in Feldkirch until 1773 and died in Constance in 1799 .

Christian Felix

Christian Felix (* December 22, 1723; † August 5, 1796) is not known from whom he learned the craft of bell founder. At first he did not operate his own foundry in Feldkirch. Around 1768 he lives and works in Chur , where he works with Johannes Schmid. In 1768 he is an independent caster in Feldkirch.

Works

• 1763 with Gabriel III. Felix the casting of a bell in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Chur
• 1764 with Gabriel III. Felix the bell of the Reformed Church in Seewis in Prättigau
• 1764 2 bells, parish church St.Carpophorus in Trimmis , cast in Chur, one together with Johannes Schmid
• 1770 bell, chapel of St. Lucius in Disla near Disentis
• 1778 bell, parish church of St Mauritius in Appenzell

Gabriel III. Felix

Where Gabriel III. Felix (* July 8, 1721; † April 7, 1778) learned the craft of bell founder is not known. In 1749 he achieved the master's degree in the Feldkirchen hammer guild. He was married twice. Children are not known. He worked temporarily with Christian Felix in Chur.

Works

• 1749 small bell in the parish church of St.Joseph in Eggerestand AI
• 1763 Casting of a bell, cathedral in Chur, together with Christian Felix
• 1764 bell, Evangelical Church, Seewis im Prättigau , together with Christian Felix
• 1772 bell, Evangelical branch church in Masans (Chur)

literature

• Angelo Steccanella: bronze caster of the city of Feldkirch.
• Erwin Poeschel: The art monuments of the canton of Graubünden. Volume II, Basel 1937.
• Erwin Poeschel: The art monuments of the canton of Graubünden. Volume V, Basel 1943.
• Erwin Poeschel: The art monuments of the canton of Graubünden. Volume VII, Basel 1948.
• Erwin Rothenhäusler: The art monuments of the canton of St.Gallen. Volume I, Basel 1951.
• Rainald Fischer: The art monuments of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. Basel 1984. ISBN 3-7643-1629-2 .

Web links

• History page of the Grosshammerzunft Feldkirch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dehio Vorarlberg 1983 , Silbertal, Church of St. Agatha on the Kristberg, p. 381.
2. ↑ KDM AI, p. 468.
3. ↑ KDM AI, p. 507.
4. ↑ KDM GR V, p. 202, note 1.
5. ↑ Ulmer / Getzner, p. 374.
6. ↑ KDM SG I, p. 185 f.
7. ↑ KDM AI, p. 399.
8. ↑ KDM AI, p. 472.
9. ↑ DEHIO, p. 268.
10. ↑ KDM GR VII, p. 146.
11. ↑ KDM GR II, p. 65.
12. ↑ KDM GRVII, p. 393f.
13. ↑ KDM GR V, p. 120.
14. ↑ KDM AI, p. 397.
15. ↑ KDM AI, p. 399.
16. ↑ KDM GR VII, p. 146.
17. ↑ KDM GR II, p. 65.
18. ↑ KDM GR VII, p. 255.
19. ↑ online: Bronzegiesser der Stadt Feldkirch  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 842 kB).  
20. ↑ cited: KDM GR II.
21. ↑ quoted: KDM GR V.
22. ↑ cited: KDM GR VII.
23. ↑ quoted: KDM SG I.
24. ↑ quoted: KDM AI.