Knauf (organ builder)

Knauf is the family name of a German family of organ builders who built organs for four generations in Thuringia and southern Westphalia from 1789 to 1904 . The Knaufs were among the most productive organ builders in Thuringia in the 19th century; her oeuvre includes more than 300 organs.

The dynasty began with Johann Valentin Knauf (1762–1847), it continued with his sons Friedrich Christian (1802–1883) and Gottlieb (1810–1872). This was followed by Friedrich Christian's son Guido († after 1891) and Gottlieb's son Robert (1839–1900), and finally Robert’s son Ernst (1869–1904).

History / biographies

Johann Valentin Knauf was the son of a floorboard cutter ( carpenter ) in Großtabarz (today part of Bad Tabarz ). During his years of traveling as a journeyman , he acquired the craftsmanship to build organs, and since 1789 he had an organ building privilege. Since many devastated churches had to be repaired or rebuilt after the Seven Years' War , there was a lot to do for him as an organ builder.

Johann Valentin's sons Friedrich Christian and Gottlieb initially both worked in their father's business in Groß-Tabarz. Gottlieb opened a workshop in Bleicherode in 1838 . Previously, as a collaborator with his brother Friedrich, he was involved in organ building in Klettenberg (1833), Holbach (1835), Liebenrode (1835) and finally Bleicherode (1838).

Friedrich Christian's son Guido followed his father around 1870, who also opened a branch workshop in Gotha , in Groß-Tabarz and Gotha. Gottlieb's son Robert took over the business in Bleicherode in 1872. Robert's son Ernst began building pneumatic actions around 1895 , but died in 1904 at the age of only 35.

Shortly before his death, Ernst Knauf had won the organ builder Friedrich Johnsen from Humptrup in North Friesland as a partner. This was now the sole owner of the company, went with her but already in 1908 in bankruptcy . The organ builder Jakob Kießling, who had previously worked for Knauf and Johnsen, then founded his own company in 1910 with his sons Georg and Ernst, Kießling & Sohn, which existed in Bleicherode until 1939 and took care of many Knauf organs. Kießling & Sohn had to file for bankruptcy in 1939. The workshop was taken over by Gebr. Krell from Duderstadt.

List of works (selection)

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
Early 19th century	Fischbach (Waltershausen)	Jacobuskirche		II / P	13	Johann Valentin Knauf
1819	Hohenkirchen	St. Gangolf		IIP	27	Johann Valentin Knauf, Großtabarz
1823	Wipperoda	St. Wigbert		I / P	8th	Johann Valentin Knauf
1823-1825	Cabarz	Village church				Valuable original substance, mostly preserved
1824	Schnepfenthal	St. Peter and Paul		II / P	19th	Johann Valentin Knauf
1827	Oesterbehringen	Christ Church				Johann Valentin Knauf. The organ was restored by Orgelbau Waltershausen in 1996–2002 .
1833	Apple Town	St. Walpurgis		IIP	31	Christian Friedrich Knauf
1833	Klettenberg	St. Georgii (castle and upper church)		II / P	19th	Friedrich Knauf; not received
1835	Holbach	St. Bartholomew Church				Friedrich Knauf
1835	Liebenrode	St. Petri Church		II / P		Friedrich Knauf, no longer playable, case preserved
1836	Berka in front of the Hainich	St. George		II / P	21st	Valentin and Friedrich Knauf
1843-1844	Depth location	Peterskirche		II / P	21st	Friedrich Knauf; 2011–2014 restoration by Hoffmann and Schindler
1845	Wretched	St. Mary		I / P	7th	Gottlieb Knauf
1845	Engelsbach	St. Christopher's Chapel		I / P	6th	Friedrich Knauf
1846	Greed City	St. Boniface Church		II / P	25th	Friedrich Knauf; in need of renovation, mostly original
1847	Grossenbehringen	Village church		II / P	25th	Friedrich Knauf
1848	Life	Johanneskirche		II / P	20th	Friedrich Knauf; preserved almost unchanged
1848	Geisa	Catholic parish church of St. Philip and James		III / P	28	Friedrich Knauf; next to Niederdorla (1899) only three manual organ of the family; 1906 slightly rearranged by OR Markert; largely preserved
?	Geisa	Gangolf Chapel				Friedrich Knauf
?	Keula	Trinity		II / P	16	Second largest organ by Gottlieb Knauf
1850	Schönau vdW	George Church		II / P	21st	Friedrich Knauf
1850	Boilstädt	To the gate of heaven		I / P	10	Friedrich Christian Knauf replaced a previous organ by Johann Christoph Thielemann from 1710
1852	Leimbach	Ev. Saint Martin Church		II / P	21st	Largest organ from Gottlieb Knauf; Originally preserved except for 2 registers
1853	Munchenlohra	St. Gangolf
1854	Deubach	St. Peters Church
1856	Winter stone	St. Johannis		IIP	18th	Friedrich Knauf
1857	Gehlberg	Mountain church		I / P	11	Friedrich and / or Guido Knauf
1857	Niederspier	St. Peter and Paul		IIP	16	Gottlieb Knauf
1857	Ruhla	St. Concordia		II / P	31	Friedrich Knauf; Replaced in 1911 by the Jehmlich organ
around 1858	Ruhla	Trinity Church		II / P	33	Friedrich Knauf; later rescheduling
1858	Schwarzhausen	St. Peter and Paul		IIP	21st	Friedrich Knauf
1858	Wülfingerode	St. Elisabeth Church		II / P	16	Gottlieb Knauf; preserved almost unchanged
1859	Rehungen	Ev. church
after 1850	Schmerbach	Christ Church		IIP	16	Friedrich Knauf, possibly with Guido Knauf
circa 1860	Petriroda	St. Salvator		IIP	12	Friedrich Christian Knauf
1860	Gossel	Marienkirche		II / P	21st	Friedrich or Guido Knauf
after 1860	Friedrichswerth	Ev. Gustaf Adolf Church
1861	Bischofroda	Ev. church				Friedrich Knauf
1864	Menden	Ev. Holy Spirit Church				Prospectus received
1867	Pustleben	St. Albani		IIP	14th	Gottlieb Knauf
1868	Lauterbach	St. Nicholas
1868	Hohenbergen					Friedrich Knauf; currently not playable
1869	Greifenstein Castle (Greifenstein)	Baroque church		I / P	14th	Friedrich and Guido Knauf; neo-Romanesque prospectus
1870	Silberborn	St. Mark's Church				Guido Knauf; receive
1872	Emleben	St. Boniface		IIP	28	Friedrich Christian Knauf
1873	Mihla	St. Martin's Church
1874	Buttlar	Catholic Church of the Birth of Mary				Guido Knauf
1877	Oberholzklau	Ev. church		II / P	13	Robert Knauf; Replaced after various changes in 1988, prospectus preserved
1882	Geschwenda	Nikolaikirche		II / P	21st	Guido Knauf
1884	Lengenfeld under the stone	Virgin Mary's birth		II / P	26th	Robert Knauf
around 1885	Berlin-Lichtenberg	Baptists		I / P	7th	From Rieda (Petersberg); mechanical cone tray; 1977 reorganized
1885	Mehlis	Magdalenenkirche				Guido Knauf; rebuilt several times; today II / P / 30
1887	Hohegeiß	To the gate of heaven		IIP	12	August Friedrich Robert Knauf
1887	Lintorf	Protestant church
1889	Braunlage	Trinity Church		II / P	23	rebuilt by Robert Knauf with II / P 21, overhauled and modified to II / P 23 by Friedrich Weissenborn in 1953 and 1969
1891	Lühe	St. Ulrich's Church		I / P	6th	Compiled from different materials; pneumatic action
1890-1891	Again	Luther Church				Mechanical slide chests
1891	Neuenkirchen (Ruegen)	Maria Magdalena Church (Neuenkirchen)		II / P	12	Guido Knauf; rebuilt several times
1892	Krimderode	Ev.-luth. St. Nicolai Church		I / P	8th	Reconstruction of the Vogt organ, which was built in 1874 for the customs office of the Catholic community in Wilnsdorf near Siegen, in 1892 transfer to the church building and, for reasons of space, installation without a principal bass 8 ′ in Krimderode (I / P / 7); In 1960 Jehmlich reorganized
1892	Braunfels	Catholic parish church St. Anna				Robert Knauf, originally for St. Anna in Wilnsdorf, sold to Braunfels in 1957 and transferred
1893	fir	Fir tree village church		II / P	14th	Robert Knauf
1895	Schaprode	St. John's Church		II / P	12	Guido Knauf
1898	Bleicherode	St. Mary		II / P	27	Robert and Ernst Knauf, op. 197; receive
1899	Niederdorla	St. John's Church		III / P	31	Robert and Ernst Knauf, op. 205; Conversion of the organ by Reubke and Sohn (1874) into a pneumatic one (tube pneumatics with cone loading and inflow) using pipe material from Reubke; since then preserved unchanged
around 1900	Schermcke			II / P	12	Pneumatic cone drawer; Overhauled in 1990, bellows rebuilt
1902	Altenbrak			II / P	23	Ernst Knauf; pneumatic cone tray
1906	Kraja	Village church		I / P	6th	R. Knauf & Sohn, Inh. F. Johnson & Co

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hartmut Ellrich u. a .: The churches of the superintendent in Waltershausen-Ohrdruf. Weimar 2005, pp. 30-31, 107.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Ellrich / Heinke / Hoerenz: Between Hörsel and Wilder Gera , Weimar 2005, ISBN 3-86160-167-2
3. ↑ 350 years of Klettenberg Castle Church , as seen on March 5, 2016.
4. ↑ ev-kirchenkreis-suedharz.de , seen December 19, 2011.
5. ↑ berka-vor-dem-hainich.de: The Knauf organ in Berka in front of the Hainich is 175 years old , seen on December 19, 2011.
6. ↑ The Berkaer Knauf Organ 1836–2008, commemorative publication for the organ consecration on October 17, 2008 (PDF; 1.3 MB), viewed December 19, 2011.
7. ↑ rokokodom.de , seen December 19, 2011.
8. ↑ Organ in Tiefenau ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2016 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. , accessed on December 12, 2015 (PDF). 
9. ↑ Uwe Pape (Ed.): Lexikon Norddeutscher Orgelbauer, Volume 1: Thuringia and Umgehung, p. 159. Pape Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-921140-86-4
10. ↑ stiftung-orgelklang.de: Organ Johanneskirche Gotha OT Uelleben  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , seen December 19, 2011.  
11. ↑ ^{a b} Geisa parish church , seen December 19, 2011.
12. ↑ bistum-fulda.de: Geisa, St. Philippus und Jakobus (with disposition), seen December 19, 2011.
13. ↑ CD: The Knauf organ in the parish church of St. Philippus and Jakobus zu Geisa: Roland Maria Stangier (Essen) plays works by JS Bach, A. Vivaldi, WA Mozart, APF Boely and F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
14. ↑ ^{a b c} Orgelpate.de: Keula , seen December 19, 2011.
15. ^ KiBa Foundation: Sankt-Martin-Kirche Nordhausen, Leimbach , as seen on December 19, 2011.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Glaub-und-heimat.de: Organ of the Ruhla Winkelkirche used again after three years of renovation , seen December 19, 2011.
17. ↑ otz.de: Donation campaign for the restoration of the "Knauf Organ" in Ruhla , as seen on December 19, 2011.
18. ↑ (PDF; 10 MB) ( Memento from February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ The history of the Protestant Church in Rehungen  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , seen December 19, 2011.  
20. ↑ otz.de: Bischofroda's Knauf organ is being restored in the workshop , as seen on December 19, 2011.
21. ↑ Ev. Menden parish , seen December 19, 2011.
22. ↑ thueringen-tourismus.de: Church of Hohenbergen , seen December 19, 2011.
23. ↑ xGreifenstein Castle: The Little Castle Guide ( Memento from September 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ Daily Gazette from March 1, 2008: The visit to Silberborn's church is an exhilarating experience ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , seen December 19, 2011. 
25. ↑ St. Martin's Church in Mihla , as seen on December 19, 2011.
26. ↑ orgelbau-ruehle.de , seen December 19, 2011.
27. ↑ Organ in Oberholzklau , seen March 5, 2016.
28. ^ Lengenfeld Church , as seen on December 19, 2011.
29. ↑ ^{a b c} orgelbau-welde.de , seen December 19, 2011.
30. ^ Church in Zella , as seen on December 19, 2011.
31. ↑ Lintorf Church ( Memento from July 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
32. ↑ martin-vibrans.de: Organ in Lühe ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , seen December 19, 2011. 
33. ↑ Lutherkirche Wieda , as seen December 19, 2011.
34. ↑ Sebastian Wamsiedler: The organ of the Protestant church Maria Magdalena in Neuenkirchen (PDF; 74 kB), as seen on December 19, 2011.
35. ↑ karstwanderweg.de: Krimderode Church , seen December 19, 2011.
36. ↑ kirchenmusik-mv.de: Organ in Schaprode , seen December 19, 2011.
37. ↑ ev-kirchenkreis-suedharz.de , seen December 19, 2011.
38. ^ Uwe Pape (Ed.): Lexikon Norddeutscher Orgelbauer, Volume 1: Thuringia and Bypassing, p. 160. Pape Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-921140-86-4

literature

• Fritz Reinboth: The organ builder family Knauf: A contribution to the organ history of Thuringia. 2nd edition, Uwe Pape, Berlin, May 2007, ISBN 978-3-921140-76-5 .