Matthias Friese

Matthias Friese (born July 2, 1739 in Liepen , † February 3, 1786 in Kummerow ) was a German schoolmaster , organist and self-taught organ builder .

Life

Matthias Friese was born in 1739 as the son of the Liepener shepherd Matthies Friese.
Nothing is known about his further life and education until 1763. This year his name appears in connection with the baptism of his first son Johann Matthias: He is obviously already a schoolmaster in Bassendorf . In 1765 his second son Jacob Friedrich was born, and on the occasion of the baptism of his fourth child Carl Joachim the baptismal register in Jarmen called him “organist here”. In 1772 the family moves to Kummerow; the baptismal register there reveals 1773 as his profession sexton (teacher). He must have been highly respected, as the social position of the godparents of the fifth child Albrecht Heinrich Friedrich reveals. In 1777 he is referred to as "sexton and organist".

About Matthias Friese's work as an organ builder, there are mainly documents relating to the organ in Duckow and repairs to the old and planning and construction of the new organ in Zettemin (both have been preserved). In 1779 Friese signed the organ building contract with the parish of Zettemin and by 1780 the organ was completed, partly using older organ parts. The construction of an organ by him in Kastorf is also known.

Friese's eldest son Johann Matthias also became a sexton (teacher) and organist in Kummerow, the second oldest Jacob Friedrich then established the Friese organ building workshop as the leading organ building workshop in Mecklenburg in the 19th century.

Matthias Friese died in 1786, and the church book in Kummerow noted on this occasion: "... the organist and kisser Matthias Friese ... had held the position for 14 years and was a skilled organ builder, piano and clockmaker, and an autodidact."

Works

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
	Duckow					receive
1780	Zettemin	Zettemin village church				receive
	Kastorf

literature

• Festschrift for the rededication of the restored Matthias Friese organ in Zettemin on July 11, 1998. Published by the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Rittermannshagen 1998
• Friedrich Drese: Family table of the organist and organ builder family Friese . In: Roland Steinbrück (ed.): The Friese organ from 1877 in the collegiate church in Bützow - Festschrift for the re-inauguration on September 25, 1999 , Bützow 1999
• Friedrich Drese: About organ building in Mecklenburg. In: Festschrift for the consecration of the Friese organ - St. Georgenkirche Parchim in October 2001 , Parchim 2001

Web links

• Literature about Matthias Friese in the state bibliography MV
• Disposition of the organ in Zettemin
• Prospectus of the restored organ in Zettemin