Additions to the biography of Jan Hendrik Hartman Bätz by Jaap Jan Steensma

Articles

Jaap Jan Steensma Additions to the biography of Jan Hendrik Hartman Bätz
Het ORGEL 111 (2015), nr. 3, 34-43 [summary]

Thanks to research occasioned by organ restorations, more has become known in recent years about the work of Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz (1709-1770). Because both the archives concerning the organs and the instruments themselves regularly indicate that the ‘standard literature’ is incomplete, it seemed worthwhile to revisit some ‘basic sources’. Although the harvest cannot yet provide a complete rewriting of Bätz’s biography – for this there is much more (time consuming) research needed – it seems to be a good time to publish some of the recently discovered data. This article can be seen as a contribution to the completion of what Gert Oost published in his dissertation “De orgelmakers Bätz (1739-1849): een eeuw orgelbouw in Nederland (Alphen aan den Rijn 1975)”.
Various aspects are discussed, from Bätz’s housemates and employees to later legends. There is a new first signature (1740), and it appears that several of his employees came from the region of his birth, Sachsen/Thüringen. One of the most interesting employees is Nicolaus Zwartsburg, who was born in Eigenrieden and moved from Leeuwarden to Utrecht.

Certificate for J.H.H. Bätz from Chr. Thielemann 1 may 1733 Source: Bätz-Witte Archief, Library Utrecht University
Click at the image for a bigger size

A-pijp Fluyt 4′ from Hoofdwerk organ Petruskerk  Woerden with a signature of J.H.H. Bätz and the year 1767
Foto: Jan Smelik

First found signature of Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz (Henderick Hartman Beetz)