Johannes Steinmeyer (organ builder)

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Friedrich Johannes Steinmeyer (born June 27, 1857 in Oettingen in Bavaria ; † July 22, 1928 there ) was a German organ builder .

Life

Johannes Steinmeyer was the third son (and fourth child) of the organ builder Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer and his wife Johanna, geb. Beyhl (1829-1863). After finishing school in 1872, he began an apprenticeship as an organ builder in his father's company; he was also trained by Friedrich Goll in Lucerne . In 1884 his 65-year-old father made him a partner and gave him more and more tasks. From 1887 he went on organ tours independently. Since his older brother Theodor (1852–1880), also an organ builder, had already died, he took over the management of GF Steinmeyer & Co. after his father's death in 1901 .

Organ building

The company had around 50 employees in the 1880s, 70 in 1892 and 75 at the turn of the century. In 1902, the site of a nursery across the street was acquired, on which new production halls were built from 1921. After the inflation of 1924, a boom in organ building began and the company temporarily employed 140 people.

In 1903 the completion of the 800th Steinmeyer organ was celebrated and in 1909 the 1000th organ.

In 1921 Wilhelm Strebel (1873–1939), the son of Johannes Strebel , joined as a new partner. From then on, the company called itself GF Steinmeyer & Co. (Steinmeyer & Strebel) until his death. With him, the customers and the inventory of the Nuremberg company were also taken over.

In the 27 years that Johannes Steinmeyer ran the company, around 750 new organs were built, including 5 four-manual and 64 three-manual, with a total of around 13,000 registers. His most important work was the organ in Passau Cathedral with five manuals and 208 registers. It was built from 1924 to 1928, consisted of five instruments (main, epistle, gospel, choir and remote organ) and was at that time the largest church organ in the world. The designer of the entire system was his youngest brother Albert (born November 12, 1874 - July 13, 1941), who also intoned it together with the Finnish organ builder Hymander.

Windchest

Until the 1890s the Steinmeyer company mainly built organs with a mechanical cone chest. The introduction of the pneumatic action in 1891 and the pocket drawer in 1894/1895 were essentially due to the initiative and commitment of Johannes Steinmeyer. The construction of the pocket drawer from Steinmeyer was characterized by high functional reliability, robustness and a short delay between pressing a button and speaking to the pipes.

In 1909 the first organ with an electric action was built: Opus 1014 with II / 24 for the Petruskirche in Darmstadt-Bessungen . Until 1920 mainly remote control units with electric action were connected. The Marienkirche in Landau in the Palatinate was the first larger organ with an electropneumatic action (1924, Opus 1384 with III / 72).

Restorations

In 1914 and 1922 the choir organs of the Ottobeuren monastery church , which Karl Joseph Riepp had built in 1766, were restored. First of all, the organ was supposed to be converted to a pneumatic action and corresponding offers were obtained from Maerz and Steinmeyer. In the end, a conservative restoration of the slider chest organs was carried out, which is still considered exemplary today.

Harmonium construction

In addition to organs, the company also built harmoniums . Until the death of Johannes Steinmeyer in 1928 there were a total of 6,000 pieces.

family

Johannes Steinmeyer was married to Berta Wolf (1863–1926). He had three children with her:

  • Hans (1889-1970)
  • Fritz (senior) (1895–1974)
  • Maria

The two sons also became organ builders and Hans took over the management after the death of their father.

Honors

  • 1926: Awarded the title of Privy Councilor of Commerce.
  • 1927: Honorary citizen of the city of Oettingen.

literature

Web links

Obituary in the Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau , Vol. 48, Leipzig, 1928, p. 1142.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 74.
  2. ^ Celebration for the 800th organ of the Steinmeyer company. In: Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau , Vol. 24, Leipzig, 1903, p. 307.
  3. ^ Celebration of the 1000th organ from Steinmeyer. In: Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, Vol. 29, Leipzig, 1908/1909, p. 1103.
  4. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 42.
  5. ^ Fischer: The Steinmeyer family of organ builders. 2011, p. 38.
  6. ^ List of honorary citizens of the city of Oettingen i.Bay.
personal data
SURNAME Steinmeyer, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steinmeyer, Friedrich Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organ builder
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Oettingen in Bavaria
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 1928
Place of death Oettingen in Bavaria