Johann Michael Hesse

Hesse organ in Possendorf

Johann Michael Hesse (born April 13, 1734 in Molschleben , † September 26, 1810 in probably Dachwig ) was a German organ builder. He is the founder of a widely ramified Thuringian family of organ builders from Dachwig, who made organs for four generations from around 1760 to 1865.

Life and descendants

Johann Michael Hesse learned the trade of organ building from his grandfather Johann Heinrich Schulze in Nottleben from 1747–1751 and also did an apprenticeship with the Mechanikus Fischer in Erfurt from 1752–1755. In 1754 he founded and ran his workshop in Dachwig near Erfurt . From 1760 there were several organ building workshops there, including that of Johann Georg Kummer .

Hesse himself built over twelve small and medium-sized organs, among others in Eichelborn , Possendorf , Krautheim , Holzhausen , Salomonsborn , Stotternheim , Möbisburg , Haarhausen , Dachwig , Hörselgau , Gispersleben and Schallenburg . The instruments were highly praised by contemporaries. The Goldbach organist Johann Christian Wolfram wrote in 1815: "They are more than masterpieces, they are the perfect artifacts of a genius."

After Hesse's death, his son Ernst Ludwig (1768–1823) took over the company, and after his death, his 16 years younger brother Georg Andreas .

Ernst Siegfried was the nephew of Georg Andreas, who was only five years his junior and who started doing business himself a little later. He was responsible for the construction of the organs in the Erfurt Cathedral , the Peterskirche in Riga , as well as in the village churches of Löser ( Livonia ), Großfahner , Brüheim , Wahlwinkel , Großvargula , Herbsleben , Ermstedt , Rohrberg , Kalteneber , Wenigenehrich , Frienstedt , Mittel Sommern , Saalfeld (Mühlhausen) , Greußen , Eschenberga , Saubach , Korbach and Schwerstedt . Ernst Siegfried's younger brother, who was born in 1806 and was named like the progenitor Johann Michael, also became important.

The last organ builder in the family was Julius Hesse, born in 1830, son of Johann Michael II. After he had taken over the rebuilding of the Wender organ in the Bach Church in Arnstadt , he is said to have fled to Russia in 1865 with the advance payment he received. This thesis is considered refuted.

List of works (selection)

year	place	building	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1760	Salomonsborn	St. Dionysius				currently dismantled
1767-1776	Stuttering home	Church of St. Peter and Paul		II / P	32	New building in the historical prospectus by EF Walcker & Cie. (1902, II / P22)
1786	Haarhausen	St. Nicholas Church				Destroyed by arson in 1972
1788	Holzhausen	Trinity Church		II / P	19th	Re-consecrated in December 2017 after extensive restoration
1790 (approx.)	Possendorf	Village church
1797-1806	Gispersleben	St. Kiliani (Gispersleben)		2	27	in need of renovation, only playable to a limited extent
1806	Hörselgau	St. Boniface				by Ernst Ludwig Hesse
1822	Seamounts	St. George Church				Largest surviving organ and the last work by Johann Michael Hesse. In good playable condition after the restoration completed in 2004
1823	Bruheim	St. Vitus		2	23	by Ernst Ludwig Hesse; 1,620 pipes
1829	Election angle	St. Gotthard				built by Georg Andreas Hesse (son of Johann Michael Hesse), now restored

See also

• Hesse (organ builder)

Web links

• Orgelklang Foundation, Hannover 2016

literature

• AG Ritter: Johann Michael Hesse. In: Urania: Music magazine for organ building, organ and harmonium playing , Erfurt, Jg. 1845, p. 49.
• Notes about the organ builder Ernst Siegfried Hesse. In: Urania: Music magazine for organ building, organ and harmonium playing, year 1846, p. 65.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Christian Wolfram: Instructions for the knowledge, assessment and maintenance of organs: for organ players and all those who are interested in the construction, repair, testing and maintenance of these instruments. Gotha 1815.
2. ↑ Gabi Damm in: Stiftung Orgelklang, Hannover 2016 ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Counter- notification in the calendar Hesse-Orgeln in Thuringia 2018, ed. from the Hesse Circle of Friends
4. ↑ Website of Orgelbau Waltershausen ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.