Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer

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Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer (born October 21, 1819 in Walxheim , † February 22, 1901 in Oettingen ) was a German organ builder .

Life

Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer initially grew up on his parents' farm in Walxheim. When his parents moved to Oettingen in 1830, he was cared for by his grandparents in Ostheim . The father died in 1832, the mother went back to Walxheim in 1833 and took the son back to her home. In 1834 he began an apprenticeship as a carpenter with a relative in Oettingen. The workshop belonged to the organ builder Aloys Thoma (1795–1843) from Aitrang . He finished his apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1838 with the journeyman's examination. Then he learned the trade of organ builder in the same company until 1842. After the journeyman's examination, he went on a hike via Augsburg ( Joseph Anton Bohl ) to Ulm to Franz Sales Hechinger and then from 1843 to 1847 got a job at the organ building company Walcker in Ludwigsburg . In 1847 he took over the Thoma workshop in Oettingen and started his own business. After he had passed the master craftsman's examination in Nördlingen in 1851 , he was also granted a business license in Oettingen.

The location in Oettingen was well suited for a new organ building company because it was (equally) far away from the nearest organ building centers Augsburg and Nuremberg . The most renowned competitor, Walcker, was on the other side of the state border in the Kingdom of Württemberg . Oettingen was also located on the newly built Ludwig-Süd-Nord-Bahn from Lindau to Hof , which made the transport of the material and the organ parts much easier.

Organ building

He built the first organ in 1848 for the Evangelical Church in Frankenhofen . The company expanded quickly. In 1860 he employed 15 people, in the 1880s 50 and in the 1890s over 70 people. Opus 100 went to Naila in 1871 , and Opus 200 with III / 54 was built in 1880 for the Frauenkirche in Munich . His greatest work was Opus 245 with III / 70 registers in 1883 for the Speyer Cathedral .

By 1899, 676 new organs had been built: 377 single-manual, 287 two-manual and 12 three-manual.

For the success of the Steinmeyer organs it was crucial that they were of high quality, were very reliable and had good playing technique.

Windchest

At Walcker's he got to know the cone drawer, which he had been building since 1842. Steinmeyer's first organ already had a cone store. It was the first in Bavaria to use this type of construction. All the others also had cone chests, except for Opus 2, which was fitted with slider chests. To prevent the keyboard from becoming too sluggish with a large number of registers, he also built in some additional Barker levers , first in 1879 in St. Lorenz in Nuremberg for the Hauptwerk action (opus 193 with III / 48). In the 1890s, the mechanical cone drawer was partially replaced by the so-called "cone drawer with pneumatic transmission". The cone valve is opened by a bellows instead of a shaft and arms. From the turn of the century, the pneumatic cone drawer has predominantly established itself. Friedrich Witzig, who has worked at Steinmeyer since 1857, designed the so-called " pocket drawer " in 1895 , for which he received a patent in 1896. It is a diaphragm valve that combines the function of a cone bellows and a cone valve in one component.

Harmonium production

In 1858 Steinmeyer hired the twenty-year-old carpenter Friedrich Hessing and trained him as a harmonium maker at Schiedmayer in Stuttgart . After his return he started producing the harmonium. In 1864, Hessing left the company because a partnership broke up when the experienced organ builder Johannes Strebel (1832–1909) joined the company. After his apprenticeship and time as a journeyman, Strebel had already been with Steinmeyer for two years, from 1856 to 1858. After working at Cavaillé-Coll from 1862 to 1864 , he was to go to Spain as his representative. Strebel, however, preferred to work at Steinmeyer and took over the management of the harmonium making department. In the period from 1865 to 1875, 550 harmonies and 90 organs were made. On January 1, 1870, Strebel became a partner in the company, which then operated as the organ and harmonium factory of Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer & Cie., Oettingen in Bavaria . In 1884 Steinmeyer and Strebel separated peacefully in order to include Steinmeyer's eldest son Johannes in the management. From then on, Steinmeyer's son Wilhelm was in charge of the harmonium department. Strebel had his shares paid out and thus opened his own organ building company in Nuremberg , which soon became a noticeable competitor. By 1901 Steinmeyer had completed around 2000 harmonies, most recently around 100 pieces annually.

family

In 1851 Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer married Johanna Beyhl (1829–1863). He had eight children with her:

  • Theodor (1852-1880)
  • Babette (1854-1880)
  • Johannes (1857–1928) ⚭ Berta Wolf (1863–1926)
  • Johanna (1858-1882)
  • Maria (1860-1915)

Three children died in childhood.

In his second marriage, he was married to Elisabeth Wolz († 1894) from Segringen from 1864 , with whom he had 11 more children. Surviving childhood:

  • Friedrich (1865–1931)
  • Sophie (1866-1958)
  • Gottlieb (1867–1950)
  • Wilhelm (1868–1915)
  • Ludwig (1870–1939)
  • Albert (1874–1941)
  • Magdalena (1876–1964)

Five of his sons also became organ builders.

Man and personality

Steinmeyer grew up as a Protestant and was involved in the administration of his church and on the church council for many years. He maintained good relationships with Wilhelm Löhe and his circle. At the same time, tolerance to the Catholics was a matter of course for him. He volunteered in the administration of the hospital and the widows' institution. In 1888 he founded the “Sick Support Association of the Assistants in the Hof Organ and Harmonium Factory of GF Steinmeyer & Co.”. He was active for a total of 40 years in the parish council and in the city administration.

Honors

  • In 1891 he was awarded the title of Commerzienrat.
  • In 1899 he became an honorary citizen of the city of Oettingen.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 147.
  2. ^ Ferdinand Moosmann, Rudi Schäfer: Eberhard Friedrich Walcker (1794–1872) . Musikwissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Kleinblittersdorf 1994, ISBN 3-929670-34-5 , p. 38 .
  3. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 92.
  4. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 32.
  5. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 96.
personal data
SURNAME Steinmeyer, Georg Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steinmeyer, Georg F.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organ builder
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Walxheim
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1901
Place of death Oettingen in Bavaria