Organ builder Breinbauer

Organ building institute Breinbauer
legal form	one-man business
founding	1830
resolution	1920
Seat	Ottensheim (from 1844, large in Haibach above the Danube )
management	Fam. Breinbauer
Branch	Musical instrument making

The Breinbauer organ building firm was one of the most important Austrian organ building companies from 1830 to 1920 . About 300 organs for churches in Germany and abroad were manufactured in Ottensheim , on the Danube in Upper Austria .

history

Around 1800 the Breinbauer family owned mills and sawmills in Haibach near Passau . Johann and Anna Maria Breinbauer had at least three children, Mathias (* April 4, 1803), Anna Maria (* May 2, 1804) and Josef (* February 17, 1807), with Josef Breinbauer taking over the property.

Josef Breinbauer (1807–1882)

However, Joseph was more interested in music, especially church music. He was particularly fascinated by the large organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau , one of the largest organs in the world. He was a member of the church choir in the parish Freinberg . In his meager free time he always went to nearby Passau to watch the organ builders at work and also to help out. The clergy of Passau and Father Laurenz Haasreiter (1826–1834 pastor in Freinberg) recognized Josef's talent, encouraged it and tried to persuade his father to let him learn the trade of organ builder. On March 26, 1830, ownership was transferred to his sister Anna Maria and her bridegroom, Josef Ratzinger (an ancestor in direct line of Pope Benedict XVI ). Josef Breinbauer received a severance payment of 750 guilders. With the help of this he built his first self-taught organ from 1830–31, which he sold to Bogenhofen near Braunau for 96 guilders. He then went on a two-year hike , with an excellent certificate from Nikolaus Müller , organ builder in Klagenfurt , documenting his skills.

In Haibach he built about ten more organs. Then he looked for a larger building and found it in Ottensheim . He acquired the old, no longer used hospital church from Wilhering Abbey. He moved there in 1844. Until his death (April 27, 1882) around 70 organ works for churches in the greater Ottensheim area, as far as the Czech Republic in Vyšší Brod . Among other things, the organs of (arranged according to the year of their creation):
Tragwein , Pregarten , Haibach ob der Donau , Haslach , St. Agatha , Natternbach , Waizenkirchen , Marchtrenk , Niederwaldkirchen , Grieskirchen , Altaussee , Oberplan , Gallspach , Ulrichsberg , Wallern , Oberkappel , Parish church Maria Laah , Kleinmünchen , Aschach , Steyregg , Teplitz , Grein , Oftering , Pasching , Schönering , Hörsching and Schardenberg .

Due to his work as an organ builder, there was lively contact with Anton Bruckner , who was cathedral organist in Linz from November 14, 1855 to 1868 . In a letter to the Bishop's Ordinariate of 14 October 1856 Bruckner struck the Lord's organ builder Prein farmer from Ottensheim as an organ builder for the renovation and expansion of the original from the Engelszell Church coming and Franz Xaver Krisman (1726-1795) organ built in the old cathedral in Linz before.

Josef Breinbauer was also significantly involved in the creation of the 1st  Ottensheim wire rope bridge in 1871.

In 1858 he married Anna Maria Ortner from Aschach. With this he had two sons, of whom Leopold Breinbauer (born January 15, 1859) took over the organ building workshop after the death of his father.

Leopold Breinbauer Sr. (1859-1920)

Organ of the Wilhering collegiate church by Leopold Breinbauer sen. (1884)

Leopold Breinbauer's business card

Golden Medal, Upper Austrian State Craftsmen Exhibition Linz 1909

Company sign: Leop. Breinbauer

Now the heyday of organ building began in Ottensheim . The work of the Tonkunstler Josef Calasanz Waldeck also had a fruitful effect . He was a brother of Karl Borromäus Waldeck , who was cathedral organist, cathedral music director, composer and a student of Anton Bruckner. Josef Waldeck was a friend of the family and worked as a senior teacher and choir shower in Ottensheim. Leopold was strongly influenced by him.

Leopold Breinbauer was also actively involved in the local community. Among other things, in 1892 he was co-initiator of the 1st Märktische Wasserleitung in Ottensheim . His first major work was the organ in the Wilhering collegiate church in 1884 . In 1888 he built the organ in his hometown Ottensheim. As with many of his works, the carvings of this organ were designed by the Kepplinger altar building workshop located in Ottensheim . One of the largest organs that Breinbauer's workshop left is the main organ of the Hohenfurth monastery church in southern Bohemia , built in 1892 . Around 1905 Leopold supplied a pneumatic choir organ for this monastery church. Both organs are still in their original condition and can still be played very well, which speaks of a solid craftsmanship.

The major fire in Ottensheim on June 7, 1899 was a very heavy financial burden for the Breinbauer company. Due to the heat of the fire, the main vault of the hospital church collapsed and buried an already completed, assembled organ (Stiftsorgel for Schlierbach ) and two half-finished organ works. The whole wood supply and most of the machines, tools and templates were also destroyed. The house also fell victim to the fire. With combined forces, everything was repaired and operations continued.

The mechanization of organs fell into his creative period. The conventional, purely mechanical cone chests were converted to pneumatic and later electro-pneumatic controls around 1900. The first organ to be built with pneumatic control and one of the largest organs he built was the one for Freistadt . In 1909 Breinbauer was awarded the Golden Medal of the Upper Austrian State Craftsmen and Industry Exhibition.

Places where Leopold Breinbauer's organs were built or renewed include Aigen, Alkoven, Altenmarkt / Yspertal, Altmünster, Amstetten, Ansfelden, Attnang-Puchheim ( pilgrimage basilica Maria Puchheim ), Bach near Schwanenstadt, Braunau, Ebensee, Eferding, Eidenberg, Ernsthofen, Esternberg, Feldkirchen, Gallneukirchen , Goldwörth, Gramastetten, Grieskirchen, Gutau, Haag, Haslach, Herzogsdorf, Kirchberg, Klaus, Königswiesen, Maria Laah, Leonding, Leonfelden , Mattighofen, Neufelden, Niederkappel, Oberneukirchen, Pabneukeilstein, Pasching, Pasching , Perg, Peuerbach, parish churches, Pregarten, Puchenau, Reichenau, Rohrbach, Sarleinsbach, Suben, St. Agatha, St. Georgen, St. Martin, St. Peter, St. Valentin, Schärding, Maria Scharten, Schönau, Steyr (Christkindl) , Traun, Traunkirchen, Vorderweißbach (this is now in Neußerling ), Waizenkirchen, Weibern, Ysper or Zwettl .

About 30 organs were also built for nearby Bohemia. Due to his good reputation he was even able to set up plants in Styria (after Gamlitz , Landl and Leoben ), in Vienna and Stammersdorf near Vienna. His organs were also in great demand abroad. There were orders from Göttingen, Lucerne, Trieste, Odessa and Saloniki.

On February 25, 1884, Leopold Breinbauer married Sen. Franziska Moser (* December 27, 1859 - † September 13, 1950). This marriage produced eight children, six girls and two boys. The two sons would then continue to build the organ.

Leopold Breinbauer jun. (1886–1920) and Rudolf Breinbauer (1888–1973)

Leopold (born November 9, 1886) was the musician in the family. He attended the state trade school in Linz. He then took electrical engineering studies in Mittweida near Chemnitz . He had the so-called absolute pitch , which was a great advantage when tuning the organ pipes. He was a gifted organist and pianist. Leopold Breinbauer learned the organ building trade not only from his father, but also from other well-known organ building workshops in Lucerne and Switzerland . The last and at the same time the only one under Leopold jun. The organ built in 1920, already with an electro-pneumatic system, for the state teachers a. Teacher training institute in Linz .

The second son Rudolf (born April 13, 1888) was the artist of the Breinbauer family. He attended the state trade school (for fine arts) in Linz, the sculpture school in Hallstatt , and went on a hike. Then he worked in his parents' business and also worked independently as a sculptor.

First World War and subsequent years

In 1914 Leopold jun. and Rudolf drafted into military service on the southern front . The organ building was stopped. Father Leopold had to remove the tin organ pipes from many organ structures and deliver them to the war machinery. Towards the end of the war, both sons were taken prisoner in Italy. They were not released until 1919. Rudolf came back to Ottensheim in October 1919. Leopold reached his home country already very weak and sick. In October 1919 his serious illness (blood disease with swelling of the spleen) announced itself. Leopold Breinbauer junior died on January 9, 1920. in the late effects of the rigors of the First World War.

The father Leopold Breinbauer was already sick and did not feel able to attend his son's funeral. Soon afterwards he came to the hospital of the Sisters of Mercy in Linz. Diagnosed with gastric cancer , he was sent home on April 10, 1920 and died on May 18, 1920.

The company was initially continued by Rudolf Breinbauer, he still carried out remaining work, but in 1921 the organ building company Wilhelm Zika (1872–1955) - and subsequently Helmut Kögler - took over the business. This marked the end of the organ building establishment under the name of Breinbauer. Rudolf Breinbauer later made a name for himself as a boat builder.

Organs erected by members of the Breinbauer family (selection)

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1861	Arbing in the Mühlviertel	Arbing Parish Church		I / P	7th	Erected by Josef Breinbauer from 1858. In the early 2000s, the almost completely preserved organ was restored.
1864	Ansfelden	Ansfelden parish church		I / P	11	Built by Josef Breinbauer as a mechanical slider chest organ with a short octave . Since Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden and had a connection to the parish church, the instrument is often called the "Little Bruckner Organ". In 2009 the almost completely preserved organ was restored by the Kögler company .
1878	Steinakirchen am Forst	Parish church Steinakirchen am Forst		II / P	21st	Delivered by Josef Breinbauer in 1878/79 after a dramatic accident on the Danube near Linz in which parts of the organ fell into the water. In 1929, on the occasion of the 950th anniversary of the parish, the Mauracher brothers built a new organ with around 1450 pipes into the Breinbauer case.
1884	Wilhering	Wilhering Collegiate Church		III	39	Built by Leopold Breinbauer using the original brochure by Johann Ignaz Egedacher (1741).
1890	Traun	Catholic parish church in Traun		II	18th	The case was created by the sculptor Josef Kepplinger , it contains 1134 pipes. The organ was probably already played at the church consecration in 1890. In 1989 it was extensively renovated and is a listed building.
1893/94	Liebenau	Parish Church of Liebenau		I.	10	A parapet organ created by Leopold Breinbauer on the west gallery with a three-field, neo-Romanesque-Gothic case with a figure of St. Cecilia on the low midfield. It is played with a mechanical cone drawer.
around 1900	Neusserling	Filialkirche Neußerling		I.	7th	Mechanical organ built by Leopold Breinbauer . The instrument has 740 pipes, it was originally built for the parish church of Vorderweissenbach and was transferred to Neußerling in 1982.
1912	Ice yarn	Collegiate pen Eisgarn		II / P	13	Disposition The Leopold Breinbauer organ is part of the three organs of the Eisgarn collegiate church and can be played from the general console as well as from your own.
1912	Feldkirchen on the Danube	Feldkirchen an der Donau parish church		II / P	10	Organ in a neo-Gothic case divided because of the west window with a pneumatic play and stop action with II manuals and 10 stops.
1913	Eferding	Parish Church Eferding			38	The structure of the organ works through the large central window with the representation of St. Cäcilia, the patroness of church music, divided into two parts. The organ has a pneumatic action with 38 stops and six couplers. Breinbauer used large stocks of the previous organ from 1844.
1914	Offenhausen (Upper Austria)	Offenhausen Parish Church (Upper Austria)			10	The organ was built into the existing organ prospectus from 1757 by Leopold Breinbauer .

literature

• Upper Austria male figures from the last century. Edition 1926
• Provincial Chronicle of Upper Austria
• Rainer Kreslehner: Josef Breinbauer (1807–1882) . In: Ottensheimer Gemeinde Nachrichten (=  The Breinbauer Family (1807–1973). Organ builder, sculptor, boat builder in Ottensheim . Part 1). April / May, No. 314 , 2004, pp. 22 ( riskommunal.net [PDF]).
• Rainer Kreslehner: Leopold Breinbauer (1859–1920) . In: Ottensheimer Gemeinde Nachrichten (=  The Breinbauer Family (1807–1973). Organ builder, sculptor, boat builder in Ottensheim . Part 2). June / July, No. 315 , 2004, pp. 19 ( riskommunal.net [PDF]).
• Rainer Kreslehner: Rudolf Breinbauer 1888–1973 a. Leopold Breinbauer 1896–1920 . In: Ottensheimer Gemeinde Nachrichten (=  The Breinbauer family (1807–1973). Organ builder, sculptor, boat builder in Ottensheim . 3rd part). Aug./Sept, No. 316 , 2004, pp. 18 ( riskommunal.net [PDF]).
• Hans Weinzinger [jun.]: From the organ to the kayak . Supplement to Kreslehner 2004. In: Ottensheimer Gemeindeachrichten . Oct./Nov, No. 319 , 2004, pp. 14-15 ( root.riskommunal.net [PDF]).
• Helga Hochhauser, Franz Scharf: Breinbauer Organ Builders . Archive material index. Ed .: Upper Austrian Provincial Archives. Linz 1996 ( landesarchiv-ooe.at [PDF]).

Web links

Commons : Orgelbau Breinbauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Diocese of Linz / Catholic Church in Upper Austria: Historic Leopold Breinbauer organ in the Bach Expositurkirche is being restored ( memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved June 5, 2009
2. ^ Parish Gramastetten . Retrieved April 2, 2016.
3. ^ Parish Arbing in the Mühlviertel: The organ and the church Arbing ; accessed on December 16, 2018
4. ↑ Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio-Handbuch. The art monuments of Austria. Topographical inventory of monuments. Lower Austria south of the Danube, part 2, M to Z. Verlag Berger, Horn / Vienna 2003. ISBN 3-85028-365-8 . Pages 2277.
5. ^ Friedrich Schragl: History of the parish and its places . Pp. 76 and 83
6. ^ Rudolf Ertl: Equipment of the Traun parish church . Stadtpfarre-Traun, accessed on February 27, 2016
7. ↑ The art monuments of Austria. Dehio Mühlviertel 2003 . Liebenau, parish church St. Josef, p. 426.