Hey Orgelbau

Hey Orgelbau is a German pipe-organ building and restoration workshop based in Urspringen, a district of Ostheim vor der Rhön in Bavaria's Rhön region. The firm traces its roots to the Rhön organ-building tradition and to the workshop taken over by Wilhelm Hey in 1874, and it presents itself as carrying on more than 300 years of organ-building tradition in the region. It designs, builds and restores pipe organs, ranging from small church organs to very large instruments, and describes its guiding motto as "Tradition and Innovation embrace." The company is a family enterprise. Wilhelm Hey, originally a carpenter, learned organ building with Randebrock in Paderborn and worked on organs in Germany and, in 1870, in Detroit in the United States before returning home in 1874 to take over the workshop and clientele of Michael Katzenberger. Successive generations — Otto Hey, Erich Hey, and then Wolfgang and Gotthard Hey — continued and expanded the business. Wolfgang Hey built a new, modern workshop in Urspringen in 1972 with around 2,100 square metres of production, exhibition, storage, restoration, design and office space, and handed the flourishing firm to his sons in 1993. Today the workshop operates as Hey Orgelbau UG under Thomas Hey. Its instruments are known for their tonal and aesthetic quality, and the firm has gained international visibility, including with its "Vox Maris" organ at Expo Yeosu in South Korea. The company communicates in German, English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean, reflecting an international customer base, and maintains a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Hey Orgelbau is based in Urspringen, part of Ostheim vor der Rhön in the Rhön region of eastern Hesse/Bavaria, and builds on a Rhön organ-building tradition reaching back roughly 250 years. The firm's own founding date is 1874, when Wilhelm Hey took over the workshop and clientele of Michael Katzenberger. Wilhelm Hey was originally a carpenter in his father's workshop and switched to organ building on the suggestion of Michael Katzenberger. He learned the craft with Randebrock in Paderborn, Westphalia, where he rose to works foreman. In 1870 he travelled to the United States in the name of his teacher to install a large organ in Detroit. In Germany he worked on organs in Warburg, Werl, St. Walburga and Corvey. When Michael Katzenberger died in 1874, Wilhelm Hey returned home at the age of 34, took over the workshop and clientele, and founded what would later be celebrated as the firm's anniversary. He quickly won the trust of customers in the tri-border region of Thuringia, Hesse and Bavaria. His new organs were built with classicist rectangular or round-arch façades, and contemporary certificates and expert opinions attest to the high quality of his craftsmanship. Wilhelm Hey's son Otto Hey learned the trade from his father and took over the workshop in an economically difficult period. New-build commissions were scarce in the poor Rhön, so he mainly carried out conversions, repairs and tuning. Wilhelm's second son, August Hey, first worked as an organ builder with his father, later trained at a textile firm in Leipzig and made his fortune elsewhere. Wilhelm's daughter Ida Hey married into the Held mill in Heufurt. Erich Hey learned organ building from his grandfather Wilhelm and, after Wilhelm's death, completed his apprenticeship with his father Otto. He broadened his knowledge in 1925/26 with Steinmeyer in Oettingen and in 1926/27 with Paul Faust in Schwelm, Westphalia, and from mid-1927 worked again in the family business. On 8 July 1936 he passed his master's examination in Weimar and took over the organ workshop, which he later moved to today's Hauptstraße in Sondheim/Rhön. Erich Hey was regarded as a great musician who played seven instruments, served as cantor and choir director in Sondheim/Rhön, and gave music lessons in the evenings. Wolfgang Hey learned organ building from his father Erich and also trained with Steinmeyer in Oettingen. After his father's sudden death in 1962, he took over the workshop in exceptionally difficult times. Together with his brother Gotthard Hey — who had learned the craft from their father and with Kreienbrink in Osnabrück — he moved the workshop from Sondheim/Rhön to neighbouring Urspringen/Rhön. As orders and staff grew, Wolfgang Hey built a completely new workshop in 1972, with state-of-the-art production, exhibition, storage, restoration, design and office rooms covering 2,100 square metres, capable of building or professionally restoring organs of almost any size. He earned the trust of numerous organ experts and church congregations and considerably expanded the firm's territory despite the difficult economic situation in the border zone. Wolfgang Wünsch, official organ expert of the Bamberg archdiocese, praised the organs Hey built in the diocese from 1969, noting their mechanical action, tasteful voicing and reliability. In 1993 Wolfgang Hey handed the flourishing, economically healthy organ-building business to his two sons, who had already worked in it for years. Today the workshop operates as Hey Orgelbau UG under Thomas Hey. It designs, builds and restores pipe organs, from small church instruments to the world's largest sound sculptures with 10-metre pipes, and presents itself under the motto "Tradition and Innovation embrace." Its international reach is illustrated by the "Vox Maris" organ at Expo Yeosu in South Korea, and its website is offered in German, English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

• 2023

  Bavarian television broadcasts a report about the Rhön featuring the organ workshop.

• 2021

  The COVID-19 break from lessons is used at the vocational school for organ building.

• 2012

  The Vox Maris organ resounds at Expo Yeosu in South Korea.

• 1993

  Wolfgang Hey hands the flourishing organ-building business to his two sons.

• 1972

  Wolfgang Hey builds a completely new 2,100-square-metre workshop in Urspringen.

• 1962

  After Erich Hey's sudden death, Wolfgang Hey takes over the workshop; he and his brother Gotthard move it to Urspringen/Rhön.

• 1936

  Erich Hey passes his master's examination in Weimar on 8 July and takes over the organ workshop.

• 1874

  Wilhelm Hey returns home and takes over Michael Katzenberger's workshop and clientele, founding the firm.

• 1870

  Wilhelm Hey travels to Detroit, USA, to install a large organ for his teacher Randebrock.

Traditional family organ workshop combining craftsmanship, art and technical precision, with a motto of "Tradition and Innovation embrace."

• Vox Maris

  Organ that resounded at Expo Yeosu in South Korea.

• Custom church organs

  New pipe organs for churches, from small instruments to large concert organs.

• Restoration services

  Professional restoration of historic pipe organs.

• Large sound sculptures

  Instruments with pipes up to 10 metres, described as the world's largest sound sculpture.

1. 1Hey Organ Builders - 300 years of tradition in organ buildinghey-orgelbau.com
2. 2Hey Orgelbau: About ushey-orgelbau.com
3. 3Hey Orgelbau - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Hey Orgelbau - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org