Fritz Steinmeyer
Fritz Steinmeyer (born December 8, 1918 in Toledo / Ohio ; † July 29, 2008 in Hochaltingen ) was a German organ builder .
Life
Fritz Steinmeyer was the older son of the organ builder Hans Steinmeyer and his wife Anne, b. Langhorst (1892-1993). In 1920 the family moved from the USA to Oettingen in Bavaria . After 11 years of schooling in Oettingen, he went to a Munich high school for two more years, where he graduated from high school in 1937. He then did half a year of imperial labor service. Before the end of his two-year military service, World War II began and he was drafted into military service.
After the war he did an organ builder apprenticeship in his parents' company, which he finished in 1949 with the final exam. In 1950 he became a co-owner of the company. In 1955 he made the master's examination for organ builder. In 1967 he succeeded his father as managing director of GF Steinmeyer & Co.
In 1967 he was also elected chairman of the Association of German Organ Builders. He held this office until 1974.
In 1993, for reasons of age, he handed over management to his cousin Paul Steinmeyer .
Organ building
Under the direction of Fritz Steinmeyer, the company built around 240 new organs. Some important new buildings were:
- 1967, Opus 2177: Düren , Ev. Christ Church , with IV / 65
- 1968, Opus 2192: Pforzheim , Ev. City church , with IV / 61
- 1969, Opus 2218: Bad Wörishofen , Ev. Church of the Redeemer, with IV / 39
- 1972, Opus 2263: Augsburg , Kongresshalle , with IV / 65
- 1987, Opus 2383: Zurich , Tonhalle , with IV / 68. Detlef Kleuker († 1988) originally received the order to build the organ . For health reasons, with the agreement of the client, he left the execution to Steinmeyer, with the exception of the intonation by N. Bloningen from Bielefeld.
Windchest
From the beginning of the 1960s, the Steinmeyer company mainly built slider drawers with mechanical action and fewer and fewer pocket drawers , for which they were once famous.
Restorations
From 1966 the demand for new organs fell sharply, at the same time the competitive pressure increased. Steinmeyer therefore increasingly turned to restorations. Some notable examples are:
- 1981, Kaisheim , Klosterkirche : Steinmeyer organ op.348 from 1888 with II / 25 with extensive historical inventory from 1792.
- 1990, Maihingen monastery church : organ with II / 22 by Joh. Martin Baumeister from Eichstätt from 1734/1737.
- 1990, Triefenstein Monastery : Reconstruction and restoration of the organ with II / 25 from 1785/1791 by Franz Zettler, Kitzingen.
literature
- Hermann Fischer : The Steinmeyer family of organ builders . Pape, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-921140-90-1 .
- Georg Brenninger : Organs in Old Bavaria . Bruckmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7654-1859-5 .
- Hermann Fischer: 100 years of the Association of German Organ Builders 1891–1991 . Organ building specialist publisher Rensch, Lauffen 1991, ISBN 3-921848-18-0 .
Web links
- Obituary on the website of the Society of Organ Friends
Individual evidence
- ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 362.
- ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 104.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Steinmeyer, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German organ builder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 8, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toledo / Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 2008 |
| Place of death | Hochaltingen |