• Accueil
• Orgues
• Information
• Liens
• Contact

Ladegast & Sohn

• The organ builder Friedrich Ladegast, together with Walcker and Sauer, was one of the most important builders of the nineteenth century in Germany. He was born on August 30, 1818 in Hoch-Hermsdorf near Geringswalde in Sachsen. He learned the trade from his brother Christlieb (1813-1890) in Geringswalde. During this period he built two organs, in Tanneberg and Halle, which he counted as opus 1 and opus 2. He also worked for Urban Kreuzbach (1796-1868) in Borna and Johann Gottlob Mende (1787-1850) in Leipzig. He then settled in Weißenfels in 1846 as an independent organ builder. Ladegast was also a pretty good organist, playing services in the Stadtkirche Sankt-Marien in Weißenfels.
  
• The company soon built large organs, with four manuals and more than 80 voices, including in Merseburg and Leipzig. After a trip to Paris in 1865, Cavaillé-Coll's influence also became apparent in his work. Friedrich Ladegast was always inventive, innovative and tried out new inventions. All that, however, combined with precise craftsmanship and high quality. From 1885 the company was called Friedrich Ladegast & Sohn. His sons Friedrich Ernst (1853-1937) and Oskar (1858-1944) also worked in the company. In 1898, Oskar took over the management of the company. However, he was clearly less gifted than his father. Friedrich died on June 30, 1905 in Weißenfels. The company survived until 1937, but no new organs were built after the First World War. According to John Maidment, Friedrich Ernst had emigrated to Australia in 1883.