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

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

• Homepage of Schumacher Orgelbau GmbH

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 60 years of organ building Schumacher - Belgium's largest organ building workshop , on ostbelgiendirekt.be from September 28, 2016
2. ↑ Valve pots for wind chests and relays' in pipe organs on the pages of the organ builder Thomas Erz.
3. ↑ Heinz Gensterblum: organ building Schumacher: 25,000 hours for Antwerp organ. In: Grenz-Echo from April 15, 2018