Hans Steinmeyer

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Hans Karl Ernst Steinmeyer (born August 16, 1889 in Oettingen in Bavaria ; † January 3, 1970 there ) was a German organ builder .

Life

Hans Steinmeyer was the oldest child of the organ builder Johannes Steinmeyer and his wife Berta, nee. Wolf (1863-1926). After graduating from high school in Erlangen , he studied at the Ohm Polytechnic in Nuremberg . He then did an apprenticeship as an organ builder in his parents' company and a traineeship at the Klais company in Bonn.

After serving a year in the military, he went to the United States in 1913 . He first worked at Hook & Hastings in Boston , then with Ernest M. Skinner , the inventor of the electropneumatic action , and then took on a managerial role at M. Welte & Sons in New York . Because of the First World War he stayed in the USA until 1920 and started his own organ builder in Toledo / Ohio .

After returning to Germany he became deputy manager in the family business and in 1924 co-owner of the company. In 1926 he made the master's examination for organ builder. After his father's death in 1928, he succeeded him as managing director of GF Steinmeyer & Co. In 1967, Hans Steinmeyer handed over management to his eldest son Fritz (junior) for health reasons.

Organ building

Under the direction of Hans Steinmeyer, the company built around 700 new organs. Some important new buildings were:

Even during the Second World War there were a few new buildings:

After the war, new organs could soon be built again, as the factory in Oettingen was undamaged:

The last larger organ was under the direction of Hans Steinmeyer

Windchest

Steinmeyer has relied on the pocket drawer they developed for Windladen since the beginning of the 20th century . It had proven itself many times over, was functionally reliable, very robust and ensured a short delay between pressing a button and addressing the whistle. It was the recognized leading store construction, especially for large organs. Inspired by the movement of the organ and through personal contact with Albert Schweitzer , who strongly advocated the slide chest, Steinmeyer also began to build such wind chests. The first larger organ with slider chests was made in 1934 for the Kreuzkirche in Hanover (op. 1578, III / 45). The sliding chest could only really establish itself from 1956, with the instruments in the Munich St. Matthew Church (op.1900, IV / 65) and Nuremberg Peace Church (op.1908 , III / 48). The three named had electric action. The new construction of the Marien organ of the Ottobeuren monastery church with slider drawer and mechanical action in 1957 was a highly regarded, outstanding work. In 1959 every second new building had a slider drawer, and from 1960 the construction of pocket drawers came to an end.

Brochures

Before the Second World War, under Hans Steinmeyer's direction, new organs were almost exclusively built with open pipe prospects . After the war, Steinmeyer made organs with cases again. The first was in 1958 in the Pauluskirche in Baden-Baden (op. 1943, II / 28). From around 1962/1963 just as many free pipe and case brochures and from 1965 almost only case brochures were built.

production

After the inflation of 1924, a boom in organ building began and the company temporarily employed 140 people. During the Great Depression from 1929 to 1933, a third of the workforce had to be laid off, and for several months the company had fewer than 50 employees. Between 1934 and 1939 the workforce grew again to 90 people. It was only after the currency reform in 1948 that production began again in full, and by the 1950s the company had around 120 employees.

In 1963, a new, almost 100 m long production hall was built on the site in Oettingen.

Restorations

Some valuable monument organs have been restored:

The restorations are still considered exemplary today in that as little as possible was changed and as much as possible was preserved.

family

Hans Steinmeyer married Anne Langhorst (1892–1993) in 1916. He had three children with her:

The two sons also became organ builders and Fritz was the successor in the management.

Man and personality

Steinmeyer was involved in the Evangelical Church. He was a member of the regional synod in Bavaria and the board of directors of the Neuendettelsau deaconess institution . In his hometown he was second mayor from 1945 to 1946. In the Association of Organ Builders in Germany, he was active on the board for a long time and was chairman from 1937 until its dissolution in 1943.

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 54.
  2. ↑ Harald Schützeichel: The organ in the life and thought of Albert Schweitzer . Musikwissenschaftliche Verlags-Gesellschaft MBH, Kleinblittersdorf 1991, ISBN 3-920670-27-2 , p. 311 .
  3. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 104.
  4. ↑ Georg Steinmeyer's CV in the OHS database (English)
  5. ^ List of honorary citizens of the city of Oettingen i.Bay.
personal data
SURNAME Steinmeyer, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steinmeyer, Hans Karl Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organ builder
DATE OF BIRTH August 16, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Oettingen in Bavaria
DATE OF DEATH 3rd January 1970
Place of death Oettingen in Bavaria