Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau
Rudolf von Beckerath organ building is the name of a German organ building company based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1949 by Rudolf von Beckerath ( born February 19, 1907 in Munich, † 22 November 1976) was founded.
History
Rudolf von Beckerath was born in Munich in 1907 as the son of a painter and a pianist. Soon after his birth his parents moved on to Hamburg. There he went to school and began training as a mechanical engineer, but then changed her organ builders, with the buildings of Arp Schnitger have influenced his decision obvious. Finally, on a recommendation by Hans Henny Jahnn he went to France to get from 1929 in the Orgelbauanstalt by Victor Gonzales in Chatillon sous Bagneux in Paris the necessary finishing touches. After the end of his apprenticeship, he moved briefly to the company Frobenius & Co in Denmark, where he was involved in the construction of the great organ in the Frauenkirche in Copenhagen.
Gonzales brought him back, however, as early as 1931 and he became a partner of this company. In the course of sanctions in France against company officers and employees, however, in 1935 German he parted amicably from his Paris-based company and returned to Germany to here initially to work as a freelance consultant property in Hamburg. He also created the organ for Christ Church in Othmarschen.
In 1938 he was also the simultaneous " expert for the organ and bells being" in the Reich Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs and moved to 1939 to Berlin.
In 1941 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and got 1945 in American captivity. In May 1946, he was discharged and returned first to Munich. He then worked again as an organ expert. Documentary valuable are the records of Rudolf Beckerath, he has made after the war by numerous North German organs.
After many problems but he succeeded finally in 1949 to give up his master's certificate in organ building, so that he could become self-employed. From the 1950s, he began his international career.
From Beckerath died in 1976 and the company was converted into a limited company, which guided his wife and his closest associates. The managing director Helmut Kleemann and Herta Deichmann 1987 and 1990 went into retirement and Timm Sckopp, a former student of Beckerath took over the management. In 1995, of Beckerath Veronika the company continues; the field of organ building was handed over by Timm Sckopp to Rolf Miehl, the commercial division took over Holger Redlich. Both have held the Board since 1995. 2001 could be taken over by two with the help of the investor Whitney Reader the company.