History
We create a platform for contact and action for people for whom the organs built in the company of the Barnim Grüneberg family are of extraordinary value, who care that the achievements of Grüneberg organ builders, which remain to our times, still serve the faithful and lovers of music in good condition.
We protect existing derived instruments
from the Barnim Grüneberg factory
1828
The teenage years
1843-47
Carl Barnim Theodor Grüneberg was born on December 27, 1828 in Szczecin 1 as the third of six children of August Wilhelm and Carolina Henrietta Rosalia Grüneberg
nee Breslich 2 . His father continued the more than a hundred years old tradition of the Grüneberg family in the field of organ construction, dating back to the Baroque period 3 .
Due to his father's premature death in 1837, it is difficult to say whether Barnim Grüneberg received any training from him - he was only 9 years old at the time of his father's death. In the years 1843-47 he apprenticed at the workshop of his uncle, Carl August Buchholz 4 in Berlin, who was then one of the most respected organ builders in Germany. It can be assumed that it was there that Barnim Grüneberg was liberated as a journeyman. In the following years, he wandered around the largest European organ workshops. At the present stage of research, it is impossible to determine how long it lasted, one can only assume that it took place between 1847 and 1854. The workshop of the deceased father was taken over by his widow and turned into a piano and piano shop 5 .
1854
Hike
During his wanderings, Grüneberg visited large European companies that build organs all over the world. Unfortunately, it was not possible to establish for how long he stayed in a given workshop, or what his responsibilities were there. The sheer number of workshops Grüneberg has visited is also uncertain. After analyzing the available literature, it can be taken for granted 6 that he stayed with Aristide Cavaillé-Colla 7 in Paris and Eberhardt Friedrich Walcker 8 in Ludwigsburg. According to Prost, he also visited the Friedrich Haas workshop 9 in Lucerne, the Kyburz company in Solothurn and an undefined workshop in London 10 . We also find information that Grüneberg visited an undefined workshop in Vienna 11 .
After an apprenticeship, in 1854 Grüneberg founded a new company under the name Orgelbauanstalt B. Grüneberg, Stettin 12 . Nevertheless, both in advertising and in the catalog of instruments, the word Gegründet was quoted: 1782, which means "founded in 1782". It was this year that Barnim Grüneberg's grandfather - Georg Friedrich - opened a workshop in Szczecin 13 . This fact shows how much Barnim Grüneberg was associated with the family tradition in the field of organ building, although it is possible that it was also a marketing operation.
The newly opened workshop was located in a tenement house at Große Domstraße 24 14 in Szczecin, where the workshop of Father Barnim Grüneberg was previously located. In the same year, the first instruments, purchased for the churches in Bonin (Łobez district, German Bonin), Kummerow (Demmin area) and Wielinie (Koszalin district, German Vellin) 15 . In the catalog of instruments they are marked as opus 1, 2 and 3, although at present they are not numbered 16 . It can therefore be concluded that the practice of numbering works appeared later 17 .
1863
The beginning of successes
1868
The organ produced by Grüneberg's workshop quickly gained a reputation. This is evidenced by numerous positive opinions contained in the audit protocols 18 . On the occasion of Grüneberg's application for a contract for the construction of an organ in the Zbawiciela church in Lębork, construction inspector Brecht from Szczecin indicates in one of the letters 19 that Grüneberg's instruments are technically better than the competing company of Friedrich Kaltschmidt 20 from Szczecin.
In 1863, Barnim Grüneberg married the daughter of the superintendent from Langenhagen - Clara Müller 21 . At the current level of research, it is known that the marriage gave birth to two sons - Georg and Felix Johannes.
The position of Grüneberg's workshop grew stronger each year. In 1868, Grüneberg was awarded a prestigious construction contract a new instrument in the main church of Szczecin - the church of St. James (now the cathedral basilica). The prestige of the place was also influenced by the fact that until 1865 the position of organist was held by Carl Loewe 22 . The Grüneberg family was closely related to the organs in this church. Both his father and grandfather performed various jobs there, ranging from service to extension 23 .
Completed in 1870, the instrument received many favorable opinions. Carl Adolf Lorenz 24 , then music director, describes Grüneberg's instrument in the audit report:
Der Meister hat mit peinlichster Genauigkeit und Sauberkeit den Bau bis in die kleinsten Details durchgeführt (…), es ist ein Genuss, das Werk zu besichtigen 25 .
Rivalry
In the era of the development of industrial organ production, the most important companies competed with each other in the attempt to build the largest organs possible. The existing limitations in the number of votes in the organs have been overcome thanks to the development of technology, i.e. thanks to new types of windchests or tubular pneumatics. Also, the possibility to buy prefabricated elements from other companies made the construction of large instruments much simpler and cheaper than before. Following these aspirations, it can be concluded that the position of the builder of the world's largest organs gave great prestige. Such organs became a place where music directors and organists came not only from all over the country but also from abroad to admire the wealth of voices and new technical solutions. The instrument became a symbol of the town where it was located. He even became the subject of literary works. It was therefore the most perfect form of advertising at the time.
Barnim Grüneberg also joined this competition, although his workshop was much more modest and more traditional than other competitors. As a result, the opus magnum was created - great organ in the church of St. Trinity in Liepaja (now Liepaja, Latvia, German Libau). They have 131 voices and 4 manuals. However, it was not an instrument built entirely from scratch. Grüneberg extended an already existing instrument, which already had 77 voices 26 . For Grüneberg, this was an extraordinary occasion. By adding only 54 registers and a Barker machine, he achieved a leading position. His pride in this regard is evidenced by the plate placed above the manuals of the Lipau organ: Grösste Orgel der Welt, Erbaut im Jahre 1885 von B. Grüneberg Orgelbau-Anstalt Stettin 27 . Soon the organ was visited by many organists - in 1893 Liepaja was also visited by the Polish composer and organist Mieczysław Surzyński 28 .
After just five years, Grüneberg lost his position as a builder of the world's largest organ when William Hill & Son built a 133-vote organ in the auditorium of Sydney Town Hall. However, it must be remembered that the organs built by Hill & Son are based on a pneumatic system, which greatly facilitates the construction of large instruments. Thus, the Liepaja organ is still the largest mechanical instrument in the world. It was only in 1979 that the organs of the Sydney Opera House (5 + P / 131) matched them.
1894
Court supplier
1907
In 1894, Barnim Grüneberg was awarded the title of court supplier of the Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Mecklenburg-Strelitz 30 . This title was awarded to the organ builder for building the organ op. 349, which the Grand Duke donated to the municipal church in Neustrelitz 31 . The instrument that has survived to this day contains many modern solutions, i.e. a mechanical playing pattern with the use of pneumatic register handling, pneumatic auxiliary devices and an 11-position crescendo system 32 . The organ also has a Barker lever.
At the end of the 19th century, the workshop in Große Domstraße produced about 10-15 organs per year 33 , but the modest premises did not allow the company to develop further. The turning point came in 1906. It was then that a completely new factory was built in Finkenwalde bei Stettin. It was located at Langestraße 61 34 . It had a large assembly hall, spacious workshop rooms, a wood drying room, and even its own 35 railway siding, and the drive was provided by a steam engine. The plant employed 65 people 36 . In the same year, the company built around 30 instruments. It must therefore be concluded that Grüneberg's plant has changed from an artisan workshop into a modern factory. Shortly after that, on August 28, 1907, Barnim Grüneberg died.
1911
Heritage
1918-39
The further fate of the plant is quite unclear. First, the property was taken over by the widow of the deceased owner - Clara Grüneberg 37 . The organ was built by the younger son Felix 38 . Around 1911, Georg Grüneberg, the older brother of Felix 39 , became the owner of the factory. However, after the end of World War I, he left the plant and started operating in a different industry 40 . The factory was taken over by Felix Grüneberg, who kept the former name of the factory B. Grüneberg Orgelbauanstalt, which could have been an expression of the father's desire to continue the work or the will of the family.
As a result of the post-war recession, problems with the Nazi authorities and problems with obtaining materials, only about 50 instruments were built in the years 1918-1939 - this is the result of the data added on the machine in the company's catalog 41 , although they may be imprecise.
The final end of the company's activity came on March 7, 1945, when Felix Grüneberg left Szczecin, escaping from the troops approaching the city 42 .
About 815 instruments were built under the name of B. Grüneberg, but this number is only an estimate, as the company catalog ends at position 773. However, it also contains about 20 instruments without a number, while the last known, numbered instrument by Grüneberg is opus 796 in Trzebiszewo. It is estimated that about half of them are currently located in Poland, mainly in the Lubuskie, Zachodniopomorskie and Pomorskie voivodships. However, the exact number of preserved instruments is unknown. It is still an open topic for research.