Organ building Schumacher
Orgelbau Schumacher , since 1981: Schumacher Orgelbau GmbH is a company for organ building and organ restoration based in Eupen in East Belgium . It was founded in 1956 by Stephan Schumacher (1923–2002) and has been under the direction of his son Guido Schumacher (* 1957) since 1988. Orgelbau Schumacher is Belgium's largest organ building workshop.
history
Stephan Schumacher era
The trained cabinet maker Stephan Schumacher decided to build organs in 1948 and learned the trade over the next eight years at the organ building companies Haupt in Lintgen / Luxembourg , Stahlhuth in Aachen and Verschueren Orgelbouw in Tongeren . In the course of these years he researched for improvements to the technology and in 1952 acquired a patent in Luxembourg for his “valve pots for wind chests and relays in pipe organs”. Furthermore, he invented the construction of a labial pipe made of wood, the bulbous quarter-circle shape of which produces a particularly full and round tone and which was first used for the organ of St. Stefan in Bütgenbach .
Finally, in 1956, Schumacher set up his first organ workshop in the former carpenter's workshop of his father-in-law on Werthplatz in Eupen, which initially retained the name “Schreinerei Leon Müllender”. After the first major orders to build organs with electric action , Schumacher switched to organs with mechanical sliding chests in the early 1960s and was largely advised by the organ expert Hubert Schoonbroodt . This was followed by numerous orders for the construction of larger mechanical church organs, especially in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, for which he used, among other things, his newly developed "inverted seals". In addition, he produced numerous small organs , especially chest organs , portatives , house organs and study organs for private customers and music institutes.
Guido Schumacher era
In 1981, Schumacher's son Guido joined his father's company as co-managing director, which from then on operated as "Schumacher Orgelbau GmbH". Guido Schumacher had previously studied organist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège and studied musicology and art history at the University of Liège , as well as writing his thesis on the subject of Liège organ building in the 18th century - The Le Picard and Robustelly Dynasty .
Thanks to his international contacts, new markets opened up for the organ building company and Schumacher built organs for clients in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan. Since he also included the restoration and reconstruction of historical organs as a further focus in his offer, the previous organ workshop with its approximately 400 m² became too small and the company moved to the neighboring town of Baelen in 1991 . A 1100 m² hall was available there, which was expanded in 1995 by a further assembly hall, in which a new modern pipe workshop was set up after the takeover of the pipe workshops of the Stahlhut company in Aachen and the Busch / Steffani / Gülke company in Roermond . Over the years, this location also turned out to be too small, and in 2011 Schumacher relocated his company back to the Eupen area in the Weser valley , where it relocated to a 2100 m² hall with the latest equipment. With around 15 employees, Orgelbau Schumacher rose to become the largest organ building company in Belgium and received the most significant order to date in 2014 with the restoration of the four-manual organ in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp .
Organ buildings
New products (selection)
year | place | building | image | Manuals | register | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | Kelmis , Belgium | Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary | II / P | 23 | ||
1970 | Sankt Vith , Belgium | Parish Church of St. Vitus | IUI / P | 39 | ||
1976 | Oostburg , Netherlands | Egilius Church | II / P | 12 | ||
1982 | Petersfield , UK | St. Laurence | II / P | 9 | ||
1985 | Donegal , Ireland | St. Agatha | II / P | 11 | ||
1987 | Middlesbrough , UK | Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin | II / P | 15th | ||
1988 | Aachen- Eilendorf | Church of Reconciliation | II / P | 16 | ||
1989 | Bastogne , Belgium | St. Pierre | III / P | 40 | ||
1989 | Lontzen , Belgium | St. Hubertus | II / p | 8th | ||
1990 | Beerse , Belgium | St. Lambertus | II / P | 13 | ||
1991 | Sint Kruis ( Sluis ), Netherlands | Hervormde Kerk | I. | 5 | ||
1992 | Krefeld | Sacred Heart Church | II / P | 21st | ||
1993 | Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek , Belgium | St. Albertus Church | II / P | 15th | ||
1995 | Itami , Japan | Sun City Concert Hall | II / P | 29 | Concert hall organ | |
1995 | Remscheid | Evangelical Christ Church | II / P | 16 | ||
1997 | Merzenich | St. Laurence | II / P | 25th | ||
2000 | Rostock University of Music and Theater | Catherine's Monastery | III / P | 16 | ||
2010 | Genk , Belgium | Saint Martin's Church | II / P | 36 | ||
2011 | Tallinn , Estonia | Methodist Church | II / P | 21st | "Hugo Lepnurm Memorial organ" |
Restorations / reconstructions of historical organs (selection)
year | place | building | image | Manuals | register | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Homburg near Plombières , Belgium | Parish Church of Saint Brictius | II / P | 22nd | Restoration of the Pereboom & Leijser organ (1879) | |
1995 | Sint-Truiden , Belgium | Church of Our Lady | III / P | 42 | Restoration / reconstruction of the Central German-inspired baroque organ (1821), 6 old registers preserved | |
1998 | Liege , Belgium | Saint-Jacques | III / P | 34 | Reconstruction of the Clerinx organ (1854) in the case by Nicolaas Niehoff (1600) | |
2004 | Hasselt , Belgium | St. Quintinus Cathedral | III / P | 34 | Reconstruction of the Rhenish-Maasland-influenced Binvignat organ (1793) | |
2004 | Esneux , Belgium | St. Hubertus | II / P | 27 | Restoration of the Clerinx organ (1856) | |
2005 | Rumst , Belgium | Saint Mary Magdalene | II / P | 25th | Restoration of the Penceler organ (1713) | |
2005 | Eupen , Belgium | Friedenskirche | II / P | 25th | Restoration of the Walcker organ (1907) | |
2005 | Maasmechelen , Belgium | St. Monolphus and Gondulphus | II / P | 32 | Reconstruction of the Clerinx organ (1854) | |
2012 | Poperinge , Belgium | Saint Bertinus Church | III / P | 46 | Restoration of the Flemish-Baroque Van Belle / Van Peteghem organ | |
2012 | Sint-Niklaas , Belgium | Church of Our Lady | II / P | 31 | Restoration of the Schyven organ (1891) | |
2013 | Antwerp , Belgium | Karl Borromeo Church | II / P | 28 | Restoration of the Carolus Dillens organ (1808) | |
2014 | Eupen , Belgium | Heidberg Monastery | II / P | 15th | Restoration of the Müller organ (1862) | |
2014 | Liege , Belgium, | Saint Barthelemy | III / P | 37 | Restoration of the Merklin organ (1851) | |
2018 | Antwerp , Belgium | Cathedral of Our Lady | IV / P | 90 | Restoration of the Schyven organ (1891) | |
2018 | Ophain-Bois-Seigneur-Isaac ( Braine-l'Alleud ), Belgium | Abbaye de Bois-Seigneur-Isaac | II / P | 30th | Restoration of the van Pethegem organ (1830) | |
2020 | Gdansk , Poland | Johanneskirche | II / P | 30th | Restoration of the Rhode organ (1760) |
literature
- Heinz Warny: Stefan Schumacher - gave the impetus for the country's largest organ builder. In: Lebensbilder aus Ostbelgien , Volume 1. Grenz-Echo-Verlag, Eupen 2017, ISBN 978-3-86712-131-6 , pp. 160–161.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 60 years of organ building Schumacher - Belgium's largest organ building workshop , on ostbelgiendirekt.be from September 28, 2016
- ↑ Valve pots for wind chests and relays' in pipe organs on the pages of the organ builder Thomas Erz.
- ↑ Heinz Gensterblum: organ building Schumacher: 25,000 hours for Antwerp organ. In: Grenz-Echo from April 15, 2018