Franz Anton Grieshaber

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Franz Anton Grieshaber (born April 23, 1725 (baptism date) in Waldshut ; † December 23, 1757 in Mimmenhausen ) was a south-west German metal and bell caster and from 1754 to 1757 created the "Bell Sky of Salem ".

Life and origin

Imperial Abbey of Salem with the bell tower demolished in 1807

Franz Anton II. Grieshaber came from a family of bell founders based in Waldshut. The grandfather of Franz Anton (II.), Johann Jakob, was already known nationwide. The father, Franz Anton (I.), is also documented with a number of signed bells in his profession.

After being recognized as a master craftsman, Franz Anton (II) moved to Freiburg im Breisgau , where he was accepted into the blacksmith 's guild in 1751 . His perfectly shaped and technically high-quality castings quickly earned him a nationwide reputation. In 1753 he and his father cast the Fridolin bell of the Fridolin Minster in Waldshut . Abbot Anselm II. Schwab called Grieshaber to the Imperial Abbey of Salem in 1754 and commissioned him with the production of the unusually elaborate Salem bell ensemble comprising 17 bells, which he built from 1754 to 1757 (four bells in 1754, seven bells in 1755) together with Johann Georg Scheichel . Despite its enormous size, Grieshaber's bells are characterized by outstanding sound quality, perfect casting technique and high-quality artistic design with models based on designs by Ignaz Günther and Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer . The 66 models from the estate were probably made by the Freiburg sculptor Xaver Hauser , whom he had as a neighbor in Freiburg. The three big bells were consecrated on April 1st, 1757 by Abbot Anselm. The largest chime of its time, also known as the “Salem Glockenhimmel”, was split up in the secularization and partly sold. The largest, 8,000 kg, Herrgottsbell went to Herisau and is still the fifth largest church bell in Switzerland . Until 1757, Grieshaber cast other bells for the Upper Swabian region such as the bell from Obereschach near Ravensburg (1755).

Franz Anton Grieshaber, who was only 32 years old, died on December 23, 1757 in Mimmenhausen, which is now a part of Salem. There is no evidence in the death register of the parish of Mimmenhausen (1726–1992) for the tradition in the estate files of the Grieshaber family in Waldshut that he died at work. Grieshaber left two daughters, the younger of whom was baptized Nepomucena in Mimmenhausen on March 15, 1756.

literature

  • Kurt Kramer , Frank T. Leusch: The bell sky of Salem , in: The Salem Minster . Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8062-1750-5
  • Konrad Sutter: Waldshuter bell foundry in the 17th and 18th centuries , Badische Heimat, Heft 3, 1976, p. 367ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klein: Birnauer Calendar 1927, p. 60
  2. ↑ Klein: Birnauer Calendar 1927, p. 120
  3. ↑ Publications of the Schwäbische Forschungsgemeinschaft at the Commission for Bavarian State History: Studies on the History of Bavarian Swabia, Volume 1., Verlag der Schwäbische Forschungsgemeinschaft, 1967, p. 121
personal data
SURNAME Grieshaber, Franz Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bell founder, creator of the chimes in Salem
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1725
PLACE OF BIRTH Waldshut
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1757
Place of death Mimmenhausen