Bell foundry Oberascher

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Plant of the Oberascher foundry in Salzburg- Kasern around 1920

The bell foundry Oberascher was a 1618 to 2003 in the city of Salzburg existing metal and bell foundry . The company was owned by the same family for most of the time and produced several of the largest bells in Europe.

Old production facility of the Oberascher bell foundry until 1919 in Linzer Gasse 31

history

There is evidence of a bell foundry in Salzburg as early as 1430 with masters such as Jörg Gloppitscher , which existed until around 1520.

In 1618 the foundry was re-established by Jakob Lidl as a prince-archbishop's court and bourgeois stucco and bell foundry .

Initially, the company was located in Salzburger Goldgasse 14, under Johann Hackhl it was relocated in front of the previously existing Linzertor at the end of Linzer Gasse (today Glockengasse 10) and in 1724 in the Bruderhof on Linzer Gasse. The neighbors protested against this several times; they pointed out the risk of fire from flying sparks during casting. In 1919 the company moved to what is now the Kasern district .

In 1765 Johann Baptist Oberascher took over the business, which remained in the family until the end of 2003.

In addition to the casting of bells, the manufacture of cannon barrels for the Turkish and French Wars was one of the foundry's most important branches of production.

Documents prove that the Oberaschers were granted various extraordinary rights by the sovereigns on the basis of their services. B. the building and prospecting law for the copper mining in Mitterberg and on Radhausberg in the Tauern . The Oberaschers played a decisive role in the expansion of this then flourishing mining industry.

When Salzburg fell to Bavaria in the course of the Napoleonic Wars between 1810 and 1816, the company functioned as a royal Bavarian court bell and stucco foundry.

During the two world wars the bell casting was stopped. From 1939 the foundry operated under external management as an armaments factory with forced laborers and produced howitzers and grenades. In 1946, bell casting was resumed under the direction of Georg Sippel.

In the first post-war years, when the tin necessary for bell bronze was expensive and difficult to obtain, a lot was cast in a special alloy that was low in tin , consisting of approx. 60% copper , 29% zinc , 6% lead and 5% tin.

Part of the Oberascher bell foundry as object 5 on today's Gusswerk industrial estate

After 1948, bell casting increased rapidly, and within a few years Oberascher became one of the five largest bell foundries in Austria. Between 1946 and 1972 a total of approx. 1650 bells with a total weight of 911,309 kg were made, many of which went abroad, e.g. B. to Sydney and Bethlehem .

In 1961, the largest bell in Austria and southern Germany was cast at Oberascher for the Salzburg Cathedral , weighing a total of 26,787 kg.

Because of the general saturation - the bells delivered during the war had all been replaced - only very few bells were cast at Oberascher from the 1970s, which is why the company increasingly devoted itself to industrial casting (light metals and cast iron), which increasingly represented the main field of activity of the company.

Due to the decreasing demand, bell casting was completely discontinued in 2003. In 2004 the Oberascher company became the Oberascher Manufaktur Gießerei & Handelsgesellschaft mbH with new owners . newly founded. Mainly commercial and industrial small series, sophisticated art casting as well as individual pieces and custom-made products were cast there. On December 30, 2009, this company also had to file for bankruptcy at the Salzburg regional court.

owner

  • Jakob Lidl (* around 1586 in Munich; † 1647 in Salzburg) applied for permission to build a foundry on October 29, 1618 and thus became the founder and first owner of the foundry.
  • Johann Eisenberger (* around 1611 in Nuremberg; † December 27, 1674 in Salzburg) was Lidl's son-in-law and managed the business from 1650 to 1674.
  • Benedikt Eisenberger (* around 1651; † June 17, 1723) took over the business in 1674 after the death of his father and ran it until 1723.
  • Johann Hackhl (born March 25, 1704 in Gneixendorf near Krems , † around 1750) married the widow of Benedikt Eisenberger on February 28, 1724 and took over the business.
  • Johann Georg Leschinger († 1759) married Hackhl's second wife Anna on August 31, 1750 and took over the business. After Leschinger's death, his widow initially continued the business alone.
  • Johann Baptist Oberascher (born June 17, 1737 in Salzburg-Knigl ; † 1797) was the son of a farmer and is the progenitor of the Oberascher bell foundry dynasty. He learned bell casting from Johann Georg Leschinger (master craftsman certificate 1753). After Leschinger's death, he married his widow on May 7, 1765 and took over the business. Johann Baptist Oberascher is considered to be the most important founder of the Baroque period in Salzburg. By his death in 1797, he had cast 83 named bells. In addition to numerous bells, he also created entire chimes, including one of the greatest castings of the Baroque period in Austria, the monastery chime of Mondsee , whose large bell weighed 4,383 kg. Only the second largest bell survived the wars from this peal. The bells for the Church of St. Zeno in Bad Reichenhall, on the other hand, are still completely preserved (4 bells from 1790/91, the big one with 2268 kg) and is one of the most beautiful sounds of the Baroque period.
Grave of Johann Oberascher (1769–1847) at the Sebastian Cemetery in Salzburg
  • Johann Oberascher (born January 26, 1769 - † December 23, 1847) took over the foundry after the death of his father in 1797 and ran it until 1835. Despite the war and devaluation of money, the company grew in importance under him. The foundry delivered 138 larger bells for Salzburg and the surrounding area. In order to meet the increasing demand, Johann Oberascher felt compelled to expand the company in 1810 and relocate the old foundry from the headquarters in Goldgasse to Glockengasse and later to Linzer Gasse. In Nonntal "in front of the ski jump" the now royal Bavarian stucco and bell caster acquired a workshop for turning and drilling cannon barrels. In the course of the great Salzburg city fire from April 30 to May 4, 1818 , the Oberascher foundry burned down to the outer walls. After Johann Oberascher had approached the responsible Salzburg building commission with plans to rebuild his foundry on May 13, 1818, he was initially not allowed to rebuild the company. The background to this was that there had been repeated disputes with residents about the foundry and the associated fire hazard for neighboring properties since 1810. Initially, several experts and the state government were concerned with the reconstruction plans for the Oberascher foundry. Johann Oberascher then turned directly to Emperor Franz I and asked him for his support, in particular with the argument that the foundry with its cannon production would also be important for the military of the Habsburg Empire . In the end, the Oberascher company prevailed against all objections and with the arrival of a very high resolution , the foundry could finally be rebuilt by June 1819. The large hydraulic brine pumping station for the salt works in Bad Reichenhall , which was cast in 1818, also came from Johann Obderascher . The pumping station is generally regarded as a masterpiece of the art of casting and is now exhibited in the Technical Museum in Munich.
    The bourgeois Stuk and bell founder died in the 79th year of his active life and was buried in the Sebastian cemetery; his wife Anna Wagner had preceded him five years earlier, on August 27, 1842.
  • Franz Oberascher I (born November 19, 1802 - † March 13, 1877) took over his father's foundry in 1835. He made 264 larger bells. In his time there was the great "casting wave", during which countless parishes had their old, mismatched bells cast over to make larger, harmonious peals. Only a few of its numerous bells survived the two world wars. The most important works included the big bells for Bad Ischl (2179 kg), the parish church of Steyr (2906 kg) and the Archabbey of St. Peter (2178 kg) as well as the bells for Hallein (4751 kg), for the Nonnberg monastery (3457 kg) ) and Mariapfarr (4368 kg). In 1874, due to his age, he handed the business over to his nephew Josef.
  • Josef Oberascher (* 1844; † 1911) managed the foundry from 1874 to 1907. He made numerous bells, mainly for Salzburg, but also for Upper Austria. He also benefited from the big "Umgusswelle". Josef Oberascher used a baroque rib that he should have taken over from Franz Oberascher I, as it shows the same sound behavior. The bells for the monastery church in Puchheim (4065 kg) and the Andräkirche in Salzburg were his most important works , along with the big bell for Mattighofen (2394 kg).
  • Franz Oberascher II (* August 7, 1870 - May 5, 1942) took over the business from his father in 1907 and managed it until 1939. Up to the First World War , numerous bells were cast, the largest of them for Hochburg (2277 kg) and the Herz-Jesukirche in Wels (5140 kg). One of the most important bells from this time is the large bell of the parish church in Mülln , cast on the day of the declaration of war in 1914, which has been preserved to this day and is one of the most valuable bells of historicism in Austria. Otherwise, only two smaller bells have survived from before 1914. Only a few smaller bells remained from its inter-war bells, all others were melted down during the Second World War. One of the few surviving works is the large bell from Maria Plain , called the "Stürmerin" (2018 kg), which is considered to be particularly sonorous and valuable. His son Franz Oberascher III (* 1898, † 1944) died in World War II .
  • Dorothea Sippel, b. Oberascher (born January 16, 1913; † February 9, 1995)
  • Maria Schreiner, b. Oberascher (March 8, 1900 - March 1, 1982) After the death of Franz Schreiner (August 24, 1938), the husband of Maria Oberascher, she and her two siblings Franz Oberascher III and Dorothea Sippel were equally owners. After the death of Franz Oberascher III, the two sisters took over his shares after the war. Georg Sippel (born November 11, 1905, † June 17, 1993) came to Salzburg after the war and married Dorothea Oberascher. Under his direction, bell casting was resumed in 1946. The modern bell ribs used from 1948 onwards go back to him. His death posed great problems for the bell foundry near Oberascher, as Sippel did not leave any written documents on his rib designs and he had not passed on his knowledge sufficiently. As a result, most of his rib designs were lost.
  • Franz Schreiner (born October 10, 1926), son of Maria Schreiner, took over his mother's shares on his 50th birthday.
  • Hartwig Sippel (born September 9, 1953) The Sippel family took over the business as sole owners from 1983.
  • The foundry remained in the possession of the Sippel family until 1993.

The company had two branches:

  • on Salzburger Strasse in Bad Reichenhall , founded in 1819 by Johann Oberascher II , the son of Johann Oberascher. This company was founded as a result of the Congress of Vienna with which Salzburg fell to the Austrian Empire and the foundry was subsequently prevented from delivering to neighboring Bavaria due to customs barriers . Johann Oberascher II worked until 1840 and cast 96 bells for the surrounding villages. He was followed by his son Anton Oberascher (1809–1873), who cast around 200 bells. His successor Franz Sales Oberascher (1854–1908) supplied Upper Bavaria with around 80 bells between 1873 and 1908. With that this line became extinct.
  • Rupert and Rudolf Oberascher, sons of Josef Oberascher, took over the foundry of Josef Strasser in Munich in 1899. This company existed until after the Second World War. The most famous work from this company is the carillon for the town hall in Munich, consisting of 43 bells, which is regarded as a symbol of the city.

Bell production

Georg Sippel (r.) In front of the Salvator Bell (1961)
Consecration of the Salzburg cathedral bells on September 24, 1961
Consecration of the cathedral bells of a convent wing of the monastery of St. Peter of view

Only a few small bells have survived from the founders before Johann Baptist Oberascher. The works of the Oberascher and Sippel families include the following important works:

Bells by Johann Baptist Oberascher:

Bells by Johann Oberascher:

  • City parish church in Schwanenstadt : 6-part bell with a total weight of 3,962 kg (not preserved).

Bells from Franz Oberascher I:

Bells by Josef Oberascher:

Bells from Franz Oberascher II:

  • Herz-Jesu-Kirche Wels : 6-part bell on c 1 with a total weight of 5,140 kg, cast in 1911 (not preserved).
  • Parish church Mülln in Salzburg: large bell with strike tone c 1 and a weight of 2,433 kg (preserved), cast on the day of the declaration of war in 1914.
  • Parish church Söll : 4 bells on b 0 , cast in 1920 (not preserved).
  • Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg: 4 bells on c 1 , cast in 1921 (not preserved).
  • Parish church Bad Hall : 5-part bell on h 0 , cast in 1923 (only bell 4 preserved).
  • Parish church Bartholomäberg : 5-part bell on h 0 , cast in 1923 (not preserved).
  • Parish church of Zams : 6-part bell on h 0 with a total weight of 8,035 kg, cast in 1923 (not preserved).
  • Andräkirche in Salzburg-Neustadt : 4 bells on h 0 , cast in 1924 (not preserved).
  • Stadtpfarrkirche in Hallein : 5-part on h 0 , cast in 1926 (not preserved).
  • Pilgrimage Church Maria Plain : 5 bells on cis 1 , cast in 1927 (only the big bell has survived).
  • Salzburg Cathedral : 4 bells on c 1 , cast in 1928 to supplement older bells (not preserved).

Bells by Georg Sippel:

Bells after 1993:

  • Kronplatz in South Tyrol: Concordia 2000 with percussive cis 0 , cast 2002. This bell is 18,100 kg weight and 311 cm in diameter, not only the largest bell ever made at Oberascher, but one of the biggest bells in Europe. It is one of the last works of this foundry.

literature

  • Wilhelm Berdrow: Of bells and bell castings . In: Reclams Universum Volume 24.2 (1908), pp. 921–925.
  • Josef Brettenthaler: Salzburg's synchronicity . Alfred Winter Publishing House, 2002.
  • Augustin Jungwirth: The bells and bell founders of Salzburg . In: Communications of the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies 75, 1935.
  • Nikolaus Schaffer: On the history of the Salzburg artillery in 1800 . Reprint from: Communications of the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies , Volume 125, Salzburg 1985.
  • Jörg Wernisch: Bell customer of Austria . Journal-Verlag, Lienz 2006.
  • Josef Kral, Bell memory: The bell customer of P. Augustin Jungwirth , BoD Verlag, Salzburg 2017
  • K. Zschocke: Gold mining in the Hohe Tauern and the excavation of the Radhausberg underground tunnel in Böckstein near Bad Gastein . Reprint from: Research and Researchers, Volume V, 1957–1965.
  • Erich Marx: Reconstruction or demolition . In: Erich Marx, Peter Husty, Peter F. Kramml [eds.] “The flames blaze furiously” - The great Salzburg city fire 1818 , p. 185 f., City Archives and Statistics of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 2018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jörg Wernisch: Bell customer of Austria . Journal-Verlag, Lienz 2006
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Augustin Jungwirth: The bells and bell founders of Salzburg . In: Communications of the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies 75, 1935
  3. ↑ K. Zschocke: Gold mining in the Hohe Tauern and the excavation of the Radhausberg underground tunnel in Böckstein near Bad Gastein . Reprint from: Research and Researchers, Volume V, 1957–1965.
  4. ^ Josef Brettenthaler: Salzburgs Synchronik . Alfred Winter Publishing House, 2002
  5. ↑ He was named Johann Bap by chaplain Leopold Lamprecht in Salzburg Cathedral . Franz baptized; AES , Salzburg cathedral parish, baptismal register TFBIX / 2 1756–1814. See: picture number 03-Taufe_0252 , accessed on April 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ Erich Marx: Reconstruction or demolition, in Erich Marx, Peter Husty, Peter F. Kramml [eds.] "The flames blaze furiously" - The great Salzburg city fire 1818, p. 185 f., City Archives and Statistics of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 2018
  7. ↑ A carillon for 6913 marks . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung
  8. ↑ Laim - A sound dies away . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung
  9. ^ Market town of Sillian. Solemn consecration of the Sacred Heart bell. marktgemeinde-sillian.at, archived from the original on January 14, 2013 ; Retrieved July 24, 2012 .

Web links

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