Heinrich Hermann Freytag

Heinrich Hermann Freytag (* around April 15, 1759 in Hamburg ; † April 14, 1811 ) was a German- Dutch organ builder . As a student of Albertus Antonius Hinsz , he continued the Arp Schnitger tradition in the Netherlands at a high level and was one of the most important Dutch organ builders around 1800.

Life

Freytag was the son of a cabinet maker from Württemberg . Around 1784 he started his apprenticeship in Groningen zu Hinsz, who ran Schnitger's workshop there. After Hinsz's death in 1785, Freytag took over the workshop under the name “Snitger & Freytag” in partnership with Frans Casper Snitger , Arp Schnitger's grandson and Hinz's stepson. In 1793 he married the widow of a landlord from Groningen, Hiskia Hornemann (1765-1817). Five of the ten children reached adulthood. So that his wife could continue her business, Freytag joined the inns' guild and received minor citizenship of the city of Groningen. When Schnitger died in 1799, Freytag took over the management of the organ building workshop and led the northern Dutch organ building into a new heyday. At a high level of craftsmanship, he was entirely in the tradition of Arp Schnitger. Compared to Hinsz, Freytag's registers are characterized by a more elegant sound. While the early new buildings are still completely shaped by Schnitger in terms of appearance, the external design of his instruments is increasingly influenced by classicism . In the 1800s, Freytag created some single-manual cabinet organs with six registers without a pedal (as in Lellens, Anloo and Doesburg).

After Freytag's death in 1811, his employees temporarily continued the business under the management of his widow, as their own children were still too young. In 1817 Freytag's son and successor Herman Eberhard Freytag (1796–1869) and his brother Barthold Joachim (1799–1829) in 1817 transferred the company. Herman Eberhard was also active in Germany and carried out repairs on the Hinsz organs in Leer and Weener . Herman Eberhard's son Willem Fredrik Freytag (1825–1861) was intended to be another successor and ancestral owner of the family business, but died before his father. In 1862 his daughter Jantje Freytag also died. Herman Eberhard then retired and in 1863 sold the company to the family of Dirk Lohman , who may have been a student of Freytag himself. But later the companies entered into competition.

List of works

The following works by Freytag are still largely preserved (5th column: large "P" = independent pedal, small "p" = attached pedal):

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1785	Groningen	Doopsgezindekerk		I / p	8th	Replaced in 1816 by a new building by Johannes Wilhelmus Timpe
1787	Zwolle	Michaelskirche		III / P	64	Repair of the Schnitger organ (1721)
1788-1790	Kampen	Bovenkerk		III / P	46	Expansion of the organ (1741–1743) together with FC Schnitger jun. around a free pedal and a breastwork (today IV / P / 56) → organs of the Bovenkerk (Kampen)
1790-1792	't Zandt	Mariakerk		II / p	12	Reconstruction of the organ (1662) on a new gallery with new wind chests , actions and keyboards ; 11 registers and a large part of the case were taken over; Expansion with 4 additional notes in the bass and 2 in the treble in all registers; 3 registers from 1792 preserved
1792	Bierum	Hervormde Kerk		I / p	10	New building; the first organ in the province of Groningen with a console at the side; well preserved
1792/1793	Zuidhorn	Hervormde Kerk		I / p	12	New building to replace an older organ; 1924 extended and extensively rebuilt, restored and reconstructed in 2012; Half of the pipe inventory preserved
1793	Ezinge	Herv. Dungeon		I / p	10	Realization of the organ by an unknown organ builder (around 1750, Johannes Jacobus Moreau?); largely preserved
1793	Groningen	Martinikerk		III / P	47	Repairs to the organ of the Martinikerk , which today has 52 stops
1793-1795	Zuidbroek	Petruskirche		II / P	28	New building in the Louis-Seize style to replace the old organ by Andreas de Mare (1578); In 1853 and 1884, minor changes were made by Petrus van Oeckelen , otherwise largely preserved in the original
around 1796	Built in Groningen, today in Weener	Organeum		I.	5	Bureau organ built into a secretary; receive
1796-1798	Bellingwolde	Magnuskerk		II / p	17th	New building; Originally preserved except for two reconstructed registers
1799	Enkhuizen	Zuiderkerk		II / P	20th	Conversion, which is almost to be seen as a new building: The Hauptwerk case, the pedal windchest and some registers are taken over.
around 1800	Lellens	Hervormde Kerk		I.	6th	Cabinet organ, built for Lellens Castle; Transferred to the church in 1860 and added an attached pedal and side panels, which were necessary for the transformation of the Praestant 8 'into a 16'; otherwise completely preserved
1802	Noordwolde	Hervormde Kerk		II / P	18th	Reconstruction of an older, three-manual organ (approx. 1640, probably by Anthoni Waelckens); largely preserved
1803	Loppersum	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	20th	Freytag replaced the pipe work of the Rückpositiv on the organ (1735).
1804	Anloo	Magnuskerk		I.	6th	Cabinet organ for an unknown client; from 1857 to 1943 in the cath. Zuidhorn church, then privately owned
around 1805	Doesburg	Martinikerk		I.	6th	New construction of a cabinet organ without a pedal, which is attributed to Freytag; Client and original location unknown; now in Middelstum , where it was rediscovered on a farm in 1958; After restoration in 1961 as a choir organ in the Oude Kerk in Soest , from 1961 in private ownership in Baarn, 1985 transfer to the Groeneveld Castle there, since 2003 in Doesburg
1808	Darkwolde	Hervormde Kerk		I / p	15th	New building; well preserved
1809	Eenum	Hervormde Kerk		I / p	10	Completion of the organ (Arp Schnitger, 1703/04) with an attached pedal
1807-1809	Noordbroek	Dorpskerk		II / P	24	Reconstruction of the organ (Arp Schnitger, 1695/96); Replacement of some registers, new wind chests and keyboards; In all three works Freytag's Praestanten and in the pedal further registers are preserved → organ of the Dorpskerk Noordbroek
1809-1810	Bolsward	Doopsgezindekerk		I / p	11	Mostly preserved
1811	Oostwold	Hervormde Kerk		II / p	18th	New building, the final intonation of which was probably carried out by JW Timpe; Changes by Petrus van Oeckelen 1860/83; well preserved.
1811/1812	Warffum	Hervormde Kerk		II / P	24	New building, which was mainly carried out by JW Timpe. Most of the old registers have been preserved.

literature

• Richard Kassel: The Organ. To Encyclopedia . Ed .: Douglas E. Bush, Richard Kassel. Routledge, New York, London 2006, ISBN 0-415-94174-1 , pp. 211–212 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Gustav Fock : Arp Schnitger and his school. A contribution to the history of organ building in the North and Baltic Sea coast areas . Bärenreiter, Kassel 1974, ISBN 3-7618-0261-7 .
• Arend Jan Gierveld: Het Nederlandse huisorgel in de 17de en 18de eeuw . Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, Utrecht 1977, ISBN 90-313-0294-5 .
• Koos Tiggelaar, Albert Valstar: Freytag & Snitger in compagnie: een introductie tot het Werk van Heinrich Hermann Freytag en diens compagnon Frans Caspar Schnitger junior, "afsluiters" van de 18de new Gronings-Hamburgse orgelmakersschool . Kerkvoogdij Hervormde Gemeente Oostwold, Oostwold 1990.

• LB Smit: Frans Casper Snitger & Heinrich Hermann Freijtag en de (Noord-) Nederlandse markt voor kerkorgels rond 1800 . RuG, Groningen 2003.

Web links

• J. Jongepier on Freytag (Dutch) (as of July 19, 2009).
• various dispositions (as of July 19, 2009). (PDF file; 501 kB)
• Organ in Bellingwolde (with information on Schnitger / Hinsz / Freytag) (seen July 19, 2009).
• Organ in Noordwolde (with photo) (seen July 19, 2009).
• Organ in Enkhuizen (with photo)
• Organ in Doesburg (with photo) (seen July 19, 2009).
• Organ in Oostwold (with photos) (seen December 5th 2010).
• Organ in Warffum (with photos) (seen July 19, 2009).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ organ in Lellens (Dutch), seen April 1 2014.
2. ^ Cabinet organ in Anloo , seen May 16, 2012.