Theodor
Frobenius was born in a small
town Weikersheim in Bavaria
Germany in 1885. His father was
a wine keeper - wine cellar
manager. When Theodor was
thirteen years old he became an
apprentice at August Laukhuff
organbuilder (they still work
actively). The Laukhuff
organbuilder factory was located
just across the street from his
home. The apprenticeship was
four years, and after a further
year Theodor left
Weikhersheim to travel around
and work in other workshops.
Back then it was common for
young journeymen to travel
around in Europe work in
different places in order to
acquire a comprehensive
knowledge and skills. For
Theodor it was for three and a
half years in various German
workshops. Along the way he met
a Danish organ builder companion
A.C. Zachariassen, who later
take over an organ builder
workshop in Aarhus (Denmark) and
Theodor traveled to Denmark to
work with him. The plan was that
he stays for a year or two, but
it went quite different. During
the renovation of the organ in
Viborg Cathedral, he met his
future wife, and the plan to
travel back to Germany has
vanished.
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Opus
list:
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Ølunds
Mølle - København
Nørrebrogade 148.
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Theodor
Frobenius på
Aarhus 1908
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Establishing of the
company
In 1909 Theodor Frobenius took the
management of a new organbuilder
workshop as the Copenhagen piano
manufacturer Chr. Winther expanded his
business. The organ building was housed
in an old dismantled mill in Nørrebro,
Copenhagen. The first task was the
building of a six-voice organ for
Harboøre Kirke. This work had been
started by an accredited organ builder
but never finished, so in fact, it was a
whole new instrument. Winther and
Frobenius continued to work with two
smaller organs, and then they got a
contract for the construction of two
larger organs (17 and 22 voices) in
Godthåbskirken and Gustafskyrken (the
Swedish church in Copenhagen). This way,
a door was opened for new and larger
tasks, including organs to Aalborg Vor
Frue Kirke and Budolfi Kirke (Aalborg
Cathedral). The organs were all personal
victories for Theodor and within a few
years, the name Frobenius was associated
with high quality. In 1914, Theodor was
taken up as a partner in the firm, which
now was named Chr. Winther & Th.
Frobenius Church Organ Factory. The old
mill become too small, and the growing
company was therefore moved to larger
workshops in Classensgade, Copenhagen.
Already in 1917, it was clear that it
was natural to separate the organ
production from the piano company. The
administrative cooperation was
terminated, and Theodor Frobenius became
the sole owner. In 1926 the company was
moved to Kgs. Lyngby where it resided
for the next 92 years and made
more than 900 new organs. Since 2018
Frobenius Orgelbyggeri has resided in
our new, modern workshop in Birkerød
outside Copenhagen.
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| Mahikari
Grand Shrine, Takayama Japan
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Mahikari
Grand Shrine, Takayama
Japan- Original Concept Art
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The
Frobenius Family
Theodore Frobenius was happy about that
all three of his children chose to spend
their working lives as organ builders.
Under the leadership of Walther and Erik
the company was converted into a public
limited company and was named Th.
Frobenius & Sønner (Frobenius &
Sons) A/S. Erik was responsible for the
voicing and the tonal quality of the
instruments while Rita had over a
lifetime work with the financial
background of the production and
services. The generational change in the
company did not mean for Theodor leave
his profession, even in his very old age
he stood faithfully every day and often
late into the evening in the workshop
where he prepared the pipes for the
final voicing. With extreme care he made
the pipes ready for the final tonal
adjustment which took place in the
church.
Theodor Frobenius
died in 1972. Rita Schepeler died in
2001, Erik Frobenius passed away in
2002, and
Walther Frobenius followed him in
2007.
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Theodor
Frobenius - 1953
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Erik
Frobenius - 1952
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Rita
Schepeler -1953 |
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in June of
1952
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Erik
Frobenius (left)
- 1939
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Walter
Frobenius on the right,
with two
co-workers
-1952 |
Frobenius Foundation /
Leadership
Where succession after Theodor had
straightforward, there was no immediate
possibility for a third Frobenius
generation to take over the company and
family tradition. Rita and Erik
therefore created a foundation
'Frobeniusfonden' which, took over the
shares, and ownership of
the company. Organ
builder Henning Jensen (former founder
and owner of Fyns Orgelbyggeri) became
the CEO of Frobenius. Since
2017 organ builder Eskild Momme leads
the company as CEO.
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Opus 1000.
-1998
the Kirk of the Canongate,
Edinburgh's Old Town, in
Scotland
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World
Famous Frobenius organ in
Queen's College
Chapel
Oxford - England
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Oude Tonge,
Hervormde Kerk
Holland, 1966
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Jensen & Thomsen
In 1996 Frobenius took over the organ
builders Jensen & Thomsen, which
company was founded by two former
employees of Frobenius, Knud Jensen and
Richard Thomsen. The idea was to
complete the work that this organ
building was in order, but it turned out
that even after the acquisition were
many clients who loved and wanted Jensen
& Thomsen organs. So the production
continued so in the next 12 years the
company built a number of new
instruments until 2007 when the brand
was completely discontinued.
Organ Builder Carsten Lund
Frobenius took over the company in
2010. Like in the case of Jensen &
Thomsen, there was still demand for
organs from Carsten Lund. So the production continued, and in
the following 7 years, 6 new Carsten Lund instruments
were delivered in
Denmark and Norway. The last Carsten
Lund organ was delivered to Jevnaker
in Norway in 2017.
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on
the first
floor of the workshop
in Kongens
Lyngby where the
company was from
1926 until 2018
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Moving of the Company
After 92 years the company
moved the production and
headquarters from Kongens Lyngby.
The new place is not far away,
just 14 km (8.7
miles) more
to the north, in the
industrial area of the city of
Birkerød.
The production and
maintenance of the organs
continues according
to our traditions, as
our hi-quality
standards require.
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Part of
the wood
processing floor in Birkerød
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