Gebr. Späth organ building

Gebr. Späth organ building
legal form	one-man business
founding	1894
Seat	Quantities , Germany
Branch	Musical instrument making

Gebr. Späth Orgelbau , based in Mengen, was a German organ building company from 1894 to 1971 .

history

Memorial plaque on the workshop of Hermann Späth at Rittergasse 14, Füssen

The organ builder Alois Späth (born June 16, 1825 in Ennetach ; † July 7, 1876 in Ennetach) had three sons who also became organ builders: Franz Xaver Späth (* 1859), Albert Späth (* 1866) and Hermann Späth (* 1867 ). When Alois Späth died, his workshop was initially closed. To ensure the family's livelihood, Franz Xaver worked for the organ builders Ferdinand Benz, Xaver Mönch , the Klingler brothers and Heinrich Conrad Branmann. It was not until 1882 that he was able to reopen his father's workshop in Ennetach. In 1894 his brother Albert joined the company, which was now called Gebr. Späth Orgelbau .

After 1896, Hermann Späth continued Balthasar Pröbstl's workshop under his own name, which it closed after his death.

His sons Alban Späth (1898–1972) and Hermann Späth junior joined the Späth brothers, their uncles, as employees in 1917. Alban Späth first worked on organ building in the Fuldaer Land in 1914, when the Späth brothers built the organ in Hofbieber. More organs followed. In 1928 the company Gebr. Späth set up a branch in Fulda, which Alban Späth managed. New buildings were still being built in Ennetach, but Alban negotiated with the municipalities, made the plans and then managed assembly, temperature control and mood. In 1928 Alban Späth married Barbara Betty Wieger from Großauheim in Großauheim. (She died in Fulda in 1957; children: Elisabeth Barbara in 1929 - now in the USA, 1931 Hilde Josephine - married in Großauheim and died in 1974.) The family lived in Fulda since 1928, first at Petersberger Str. 78, then since 1931 in Leipziger Str. 16, where Alban kept the workshop until his death. In 1933 he passed the master craftsman examination at the Kassel Chamber of Crafts. In 1937 Alban Späth went into business for himself with regard to conversions, repairs and maintenance contracts. In the case of new buildings, the cooperation with the company Gebr. Späth continued. From 1943 to 1946 he did military service. Then Alban Späth's business was again run as a branch of Ennetach. He died on April 1, 1972 in Fulda and was buried in Großauheim am Main. His workshop in Fulda closed.

In 1909, two other organ builders from the family, the brothers Emil and Hubert Späth in Rapperswil , Switzerland, took over the business from Heinrich Spaich. This offshoot of the Späth organ building dynasty still exists today under the name Späth Orgelbau AG.

In 1912 Franz Xaver Späth was appointed court organ builder and in 1927 as supplier to the papal court. Franz Xaver's son Franz (1901–1924) was to continue the business. However, his unexpected death in Spain prevented this. His brother Karl Späth (1899–1971), a doctor, therefore took over his father's business. The youngest brother August (1908–1979) was a partner from 1934.

In 1964 August Späth and his son Hartwig (* 1942) separated from Karl Späth and transferred the Freiburg branch into a separate company: Freiburg organ builder August Späth .

When Karl Späth died in 1971, eight company employees founded Orgelbau Späth GmbH under the management of Franz Rapp . Later his son Harald Rapp took over the company. In 1985 he started his own business with Harald Rapp organ building workshop .

In 2002 Hartwig Späth, sole owner of the Freiburg Orgelbau company since 1979 , bought the Späth organ building back, but closed the business premises in Ennetach. Hartwig's company has existed since his son joined in 2008 under the name of Freiburger Orgelbau Hartwig and Tilmann Späth .

The company Orgelbau Späth GmbH has expired.

Works (selection)

year	opus	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1870/71		Allmannsweiler	Kath. Filialkirche Heilig Kreuz		I / P	9	receive
1890	11	Bad Saulgau	Church of Our Lady		I / P	7th	receive
1894	28	Emerfeld , Langenenslingen municipality	Catholic parish church St. Pankratius		I / P	7th	receive
1895	26th	Christazhofen , municipality of Argenbühl	Catholic parish church of St. Mauritius		II / P	16	Mostly preserved, restored in 1990
1897	50	Zußdorf , municipality of Wilhelmsdorf	Catholic parish church of St. Simon and Judas		II / P	12	receive
1898	25th	Emerkingen			II / P	10	receive
1903	106	Saarholzbach	St. Anthony		II / P	12	Originally built for St. Sebastian Illerkirchberg / Oberkirchberg ; Restored in 2006 by Egbert Pfaff (Überlingen) and installed in Saarhölzbach.
1907	154	Ostrach - Weithart , part of Habsthal	Catholic parish church St. Stefan, Benedictine monastery church of the Habsthal monastery		II / P	18th	almost original; Restored several times, most recently in 2003 by Harald Rapp's organ building workshop
1908	172	Isny	St. Mary		II / P	24	replaced in 2005 by an instrument by Josef Maier (Hergensweiler); individual parts of the Späth organ were built into the new instrument
1910	185	Fronhofen , municipality of Fronreute	Catholic parish church St. Konrad		II / P	14th	1951 rebuilt and expanded; Canceled in 1999; 5 registers used in the new building Heilig Kreuz Ravensburg, Rückpositiv today in Zußdorf
1911	194	Hedingen Monastery , Sigmaringen	Crypt church (former monastery church)		III / P	32	largely original
1912	201	Gerleve Abbey , Billerbeck	Monastery church		III / P	43	Overhauled in 1971 by the Stockmann brothers from Werl and expanded from the original 25 to 43 registers
1915	244	Wuchzenhofen , Leutkirch in the Allgäu	Catholic parish church of St. Johannes Baptista		II / P	20th	in the existing case by Braun 1845/46; largely original
1924	310	Hausstadt (Saarland)	Parish Church of St. Mauritius and Companions		II / P	24	unplayable; receive
1925	312	Saarbrücken	St. Michael		IV / P	58	with changes (1984)
1925	322	Schramberg	Holy Spirit Church		II / P	35	romantically disposed, but first influences of the organ movement
1927		Rheinfelden (Baden)	Catholic parish church St. Joseph			41	1985 rebuilt by master organ builder Hartwig Späth from March while retaining the old case. The number of registers was increased to 44, 37 of the registers have been reused in whole or in part from the old work.
1934	458	Winterbach (St. Wendel)	Holy Family		II / P	15 (18)
1936	468	Waldfischbach castle albums	Catholic pilgrimage church Maria Rosenberg		II / P	26th
1937	488	Saarbrücken	Oblate Monastery		II / P	19 (23)	Sold to Poland in 2011.
1938	495	Elversberg	Catholic parish church Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Elversberg)		III / P	26th	electropneumatic cone chests; receive
1941	525	Ostrach - Weithart , part of Levertsweiler	Catholic parish church of St. Luzia		II / P	13	receive
1951	551	Lindenberg (Palatinate)	Catholic parish church of St. Maria Immaculata		II / P	19th
1950	553	Saarbrücken	St. Jakob (Saarbrücken)		II / P	17th	1962 extended to III / 33 (37)
1951	563	Weiskirchen	St. James the Elder (Weiskirchen)		II / P	28
1952	574	Zweibrücken	Holy Cross Church		I / P	13	1955 extended to three manuals with 47 registers, replaced in 1994, parts reused in Coswig (Saxony)
1953	583	Elmstein	Catholic parish church Herz Mariä		I / P	5
1955	611	Hirzweiler-Welschbach	Catholic parish church St. Laurentius		II / P	16
1956	635	Kirchhain	St. Elisabeth		II / P	24	electric action
1957	652	Höllstein	St. Mary		I / P	6th	originally built for Winterlingen ; split loops, B / D division at a / b
1960	697	Hüttersdorf	Parish Church Exaltation of the Cross		III / P	36
1960	707	Munich-Schwabing	All Saints Church		III / P	27	III / 35 after expansion / reconstruction in 2002 by Jocher & Edouard
1962	737	Koblenz	Basilica of St. Castor		III / P	34	Dismantled in 2013 and rebuilt by Tamburini in Italy in the Santuario di San Gabriele dell'Addolorata with some changes
1963	755	Esenhausen , municipality of Wilhelmsdorf	Catholic parish church St. Martinus		II / P	15th	receive
1964	755	Frankfurt am Main - Bornheim	Holy Cross Church		II / P	24	received, renovated in 2019 by the Freiburg organ builders Hartwig and Tilmann Späth
1966	812	Schmelz-Bettingen	Parish Church of St. Stephen		II / P	28 (29)
1968	856	Dornstadt	Catholic parish church St. Ulrich		II / P	29	receive; 2015 by Orgelbau Lenter, Sachsenheim, technically overhauled, reworked and expanded with a setting system

literature

• Wolfgang Manecke, Johannes Mayr: Historical organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Biberach . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-7954-1069-X , p. 229 ff .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ spaeth.ch: Späth Orgelbau AG , accessed on April 4, 2013
2. ↑ The Späth Organ Saarhölzbach on Organindex.de
3. ↑ schramberger-orgelkonzerte.de: Organ in Schramberg , accessed on January 16, 2016.
4. ↑ new disposition
5. ^ Freiburger Orgelbau Hartwig and Tilmann Späth, OHG : Frankfurt am Main, Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche - renovation of the Gebr. Späth organ (1964) II / 23 +1 TM 2019 Opus 770. In: Homepage. July 3, 2019, accessed December 14, 2019 . 

Web links

Commons : Gebr. Späth Orgelbau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Company homepage
• Orgelbau Gebrüder Späth on saar-orgelland.de
• Opus list Gebr. Späth Ennetach (chronological order)