Petrus van Oeckelen

Petrus van Oeckelen (born August 15, 1792 in Breda , † August 13, 1878 in Glimmen ) was a Dutch organ builder and carilloneur .

Life

Petrus van Oeckelen was born as the son of watchmaker, organ and piano builder Cornelis van Oeckelen and Elisabeth Coenen. He learned his trade from his father. Around 1808 he was appointed to Breda as a municipal carillon player . In 1810 he moved to Groningen , where he was called to play the carillon of the Martinikerk . In 1837 he settled as an organ builder in Harendermolen near Glimmen. There he took over the workshop of the late organ builder Johannes Wilhelmus Timpe . Presumably he studied organ building with Timpe or Heinrich Hermann Freytag .

He married Joanna Maria Theresia Auwerda, seven years his junior, daughter of Christianus Auwerda and Margarita Elizabetha Paping, in Groningen on June 30, 1825. The marriage resulted in six children, three of whom learned their father's profession: Cornelis Allegondus (Aldegundis) (1829-1905), Henricus (1835-1894) and Antonius (1839-1918). Van Oeckelen died two days before he turned 86 and was buried in Noordlaren. Cornelis Aldegundis and Antonius continued their father's business. The last organ from the van Ockelen workshop was built in 1915 for the Hervormdekerk in Leek. With the death of the grandson Antonius van Oeckelen in 1918, the family business ended in the third generation. The journeyman master Harmannus Thijs (1862–1943) only carried out maintenance work until about 1933 and his apprentice Lukas Rinkema until the 1960s.

plant

Petrus van Oeckelen was the most important representative of the organ building family van Oeckelen. Although he was a Roman Catholic , he mainly supplied organs for the Protestant churches in the northern Netherlands. He created an organ for the Catholic Broerkerk in Groningen, which expressed its satisfaction with the instrument in an advertisement in the Algemeen Handelsblad .

In the 19th century, the family business, along with the van Dam company from Leeuwarden, was one of the most productive builders of church organs in the northern region of the Netherlands. This is due to his business acumen, his friendships with influential personalities, his diplomatic skills and standardization procedures in production (for the prospectus and organ parts). Nevertheless, van Oeckelen maintained a high level of craftsmanship. His string registers, especially the viola da gamba, are of particular quality . He introduced various innovations in organ building, but only used the mechanical action . Van Oeckelen's works are still in the Groningen sound tradition of the 18th century and are conservative with their mixed voices and tongue registers . Reeds and the Bourdun 16 ′ are often divided into bass and treble. In later works, romantic registers also found their way into the dispositions . The pedal is usually only attached, even with two-manual works.

The design of the prospectus is quite uniform, usually five-axis, with a raised central tower and flanking towers, with two-story flat fields in between. While van Oeckelen built occasional polygonal or pointed towers in his early days, he later always used three round towers. In the 1850s he built some works with a Rückpositiv , then with an upper work. The carving on the side widens towards the bottom. Above the organ case is crowned with musical instruments, often a lyre on the central tower, occasionally with large eagles, figures, vases or a halo. The lower square flat fields are closed off with a slope, the upper ones have a curved finish that clings to the central tower.

In addition to new buildings, van Oeckelen also rebuilt or relocated organs to other churches. In 1857, for example, he rebuilt the organ in the Groningen Aa-kerk . These measures are partly criticized today because organs with historical substance have been completely or partly adapted to contemporary tastes. On the other hand, van Oeckelen was relatively respectful of the organs that had been preserved, renewed missing bellows and action mechanisms and in this way preserved the instruments. His sons also concentrated on the provinces of Groningen , Friesland and Drenthe , but also occasionally created works outside of the northern Netherlands.

List of works (new buildings)

The Roman number denotes the number of manuals , a capital "P" indicates an independent pedal , a lower-case "p" denotes an attached pedal and the Arabic number indicates the number of sounding registers.

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1819	Aces	Kloosterkerk		II / p	17th	New building using registers and perhaps also the front by Heinrich Hermann Freytag ; Transferred to the Jozefkerk there in 1848 and to the Clemenskerk in Havelte in 1897 (photo)
1839	Strijen	St. Lambert		II / p	21st	Completion of the organ after the death of the father; 1948 extended to II / P / 33
1839	Smilde	Koepelkerk		II / p	20th
1841	Groningen	Academie of Broerkerk		II / p	21st	later transferred to the Rehobothkerk in Tholen; today extended to II / P / 29
1841	Hijkersmilde	Hervormde kerk		II / p	20th
1845	Tjamsweer	Hervormde kerk		I / p	8th
1847	Kloosterburen	Hervormde kerk		I / p	8th
1848	Kloosterburen	Catholic Church		I / p	8th	not received
1849	Breede	Breeder Church		II / p	11	Built in 1840 by van Oeckelen as a house organ, expanded in 1849
1851	Garmerwolde	Hervormde kerk		II / p	20th	largely preserved
1851	Saaxumhuizen	Hervormde kerk		II / p	14th
1852	Usquert	Hervormde kerk		II / p	16
1852	Veendam	Catholic Church		II / p	14th
1854	Zwolle	Sint Michaëlskerk		II / P	25th	with free pedal; 1927 transfer to the Noorderkerk / Alphen aan den Rijn and 1961 to the Salvatorikerk there (there until 2020)
1856	Akkrum	Terptsjerke		II / p	16	The organ builder's only new building with a Rückpositiv ; almost completely preserved
1857	Harlingen	Westerkerk		II / p	18th
1860	Steenwijk	Grote of Sint-Clemenskerk		II / P	26th	with free pedal
1861	Odoorn	Hervormde kerk		I / p		Burned in 1897
1861	Beerta	Hervormde kerk		II / p	17th
1861	Beetgum	Hervormde kerk		II / p	17th
1862	Groningen	Pepergasthuiskerk		II / p	20th
1863	Middelstum	Hervormde kerk		II / p	20th
1864	Muntendam	Hervormde kerk		II / p	15th
1864	Noorddijk	Hervormde kerk		II / p	15th
1865	Oude Pekela	Hervormde kerk		II / P	19th	with free pedal
1866	Tolbert	Hervormde kerk		I / p	8th
1867	Maurik	Hervormde kerk		I / p	9
1868	Nieuwe Pekela	Lutheran Church		I / p	8th
1869	Blijham	Hervormde kerk		I / p	8th
1869	Slochteren	Hervormde kerk		I / p	9
1870	Visvliet	Hervormde kerk		I / p	9
1870	Kolderveen	Hervormde kerk		I / p	9
1871	Noordwijk	Noordwijk Church		I / p	9
1871	Amsterdam	Oosterkerk		II / P	24	with free pedal
1872	Oenkerk	Mariakerk		I / p	9
1872	Ruinerwold	Ruinerwolder Church		I / p	12	Preserved unchanged
1873	Westeremden	Andreaskerk		I / p	9	neo-Gothic housing
1873	Westerlee	Hervormde kerk		I / p	10
1873	Westervoort	Hervormde kerk		II / p	14th
1873	Arnhem	Kruiskerk		II /	13	Much preserved
1874	Oosteinde	Nijkerkje		II / p	14th
1874	Empty men	Hervormde kerk		I / p	9	Burned in 1957
1875	Sappemeer	Koepelkerk		II / p	16	almost completely preserved
1876	Burum	Hervormde kerk		I / p	8th
1876	Veessen	Hervormde kerk		I / p	11	with forte / piano step; preserved unchanged
1876	Stadskanaal	Oosterkadekerk		II / p	15th
1876	Groningen	Waalse kerk		I / p	8th
1876	Noordlaren	Bartholomeüskerk		I / p	9
1877	Nieuw Helvoet	Hervormde kerk		I / p		Replaced in 1977, 4 registers preserved
1878	Houten	Pleinkerk		I / p	9	largely preserved
1879	Hardegarijp	Hofkerk		I / p	10	almost completely preserved

literature

• Peter van Dijk: De betekenis van de orgelmakerij Van Oeckelen . In: Het Orgel , vol. 100, no. 4, 2004, pp. 27-46.
• MAW Gerding (Ed.): Orgelbouwers . In: Encyclopedie van Drenthe . Koninklijke Van Gorcum, Assen 2003, ISBN 90-232-3932-6 , p. 696 f ( online ).
• J. Holthuis: Petrus van Oeckelen. Orgelmaker te Harenermolen near Groningen . Stichting Groningen Orgelland, Groningen 1985.
• Lex Gunnink: Repertorium van de orgels created by Petrus van Oeckelen, orgelmaker te Harendermolen (Groningen) . Gunnink, Zwolle 1990.
• Jan Jongepier among others: The organ in the kerk van Tolbert - Other activities of the organ makers Van Oeckelen in the Zuidelijk Westerkwartier . Stichting tot behoud van het Nederlandse Orgel, Elburg 2001.
• Peter Karstkarel: All middeleeuwse kerken. Van Harlingen dead Wilhelmshaven . Uitgeverij Noordboek, Groningen 2007, ISBN 90-330-0558-1 .
• Richard Kassel: Ockelen, van . In: Douglas E. Bush, Richard Kassel (Eds.): The Organ. To Encyclopedia . Routledge, New York, London 2006, ISBN 0-415-94174-1 , pp. 378 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Henk Kwakernaat: De orgelmakers van Oeckelen . In: De Orgelvriend . 1995.

Web links

Commons : Van Oeckelen organs  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• www.arpschnitger.nl: The organ builder Petrus van Oekelen (1792–1878)
• www.orgelsindrenthe.nl: De orgelmakers van Oeckelen (approx. 1790–1918)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} www.arpschnitger.nl: De orgelmakers van Oekelen (approx. 1790–1918) , accessed on May 7, 2019.
2. ↑ Stichting Dodenakkers: Noordlaren - Grabplatz , accessed on May 7, 2019.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Kassel: Ockelen, van . In: Douglas E. Bush, Richard Kassel (Eds.): The Organ. To Encyclopedia . Routledge, New York, London 2006, ISBN 0-415-94174-1 , pp. 378 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ^ Algemeen Handelsblad, May 24, 1842 , accessed May 7, 2019.
5. ^ Organ in Havelte , accessed on May 7, 2019.
6. ^ Organ in Strijen , accessed on May 7, 2019.
7. ^ Organ in Smilde , accessed on May 7, 2019.
8. ^ Organ in Tholen , accessed on May 7, 2019.
9. ^ Organ in Breede , accessed on May 7, 2019.
10. ↑ organ in Garmerwolde (PDF file, 1 MB), accessed on 7 May of 2019.
11. ↑ Organ in Akkrum , accessed on May 7, 2019.
12. ^ Organ in Steenwijk , accessed on May 7, 2019.
13. ^ Organ in Odoorn , accessed on May 7, 2019.
14. ^ Organ in Oude Pekela , accessed on May 7, 2019.
15. ^ Organ in Noordwijk , accessed on May 7, 2019.
16. ↑ organ in Oenkerk , accessed on 7 May of 2019.
17. ^ Organ in Ruinerwold , accessed on May 7, 2019.
18. ^ Organ in Arnhem , accessed on May 7, 2019.
19. ^ Organ in Sappemeer , accessed on May 7, 2019.
20. ^ Organ in Burum , accessed May 7, 2019.
21. ↑ organ in Veessen , accessed on 7 May of 2019.
22. ^ Organ in Stadskanaal , accessed on May 7, 2019.
23. ↑ Organ in Houten , accessed on May 7, 2019.
24. ↑ Organ in Hardegarijp (PDF file; 115 kB), accessed on May 7, 2019.