The OHS Pipe Organ Database

A. Gottfried & Co.

BuilderID 5

Builder Identification

Erie, Pennsylvania, 1895–1946; Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1946–1948; Roanoke, Virginia, c. 1949–c. 1950.

Additional Notes

  • From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders rev. ed. by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1997). —

    Pipemaker firm, established by Anton Gottfried, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890, partner with Henry Kugel 1892–1911; relocated to Erie, Pennsylvania, 1895; incorporated 1920; relocated to Charleston, South Carolina; sold to Standaart Organ Co. 1948; with Standaart firm, voicer.

    Staff: Max W. Beyer; Ignace Boegle; Harry Doyle; Frederick R. Durst; Val. P. Durst; Alfred Gautschi [Gautchi]; C. P. Gerrard; Henry A. Gottfried; Herbert R. Gottfried; Regina Gottfried; Fred Krebs; William Krebs; Henry Kugel; James H. Nuttall; Ferdinand Oechsner; Chester A. Raymond; Steven Roth; D. D. Symmes; Edward Wambsgans

    Sources:

    • The Diapason December 1909. [Page number missing in original source.]
    • The Diapason January 1948, 20.
    • David Junchen, Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, vol. 1 (Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985), 145.
    • David Junchen, Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, vol. 2 (Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1989), 806.

  • From the OHS Database Buildings Listing Editor, updated October 2015. —

    A. Gottfried & Co. was established by Anton Gottfried in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1890, as a pipemaking firm. Henry Kugel was a partner in the firm from 1892 until 1911.1 The firm relocated to the A. B. Felgemaker factory in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1895.2 The firm made entire pipe organs,3 rather than strictly pipes beginning around 1916, but was better known as a supplier of pipes;4 it was incorporated in 1920.5 The Gottfried firm also made pipes for the Hinners firm.6

    Founder Anton Gottfried relocated to Charleston, South Carolina at some point after World War II; and established a new business there; he sold that concern to Standaart Organ Co. in 1948. He continued working for Standaart as a voicer.7 He retired from Standaart and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida. He died there in 1954 at age 93.8 The company that he founded in Erie either closed or was sold to former staff member Frederick Durst who changed the name. The National Organ Supply Co. was also formed by former employees of A. Gottfried & Co. and may have acquired some part of the business. Organ Supply Industries (OSI) lists all three companies as part of its heritage.9

    Sources:

    1. "Gottfried, Anton" The National Cyclopædia of American Biography vol. 16, (James T. White, & Co. 1918), 312.
    2. Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Indiana University Press, 1975), 479.
    3. Booklet, The A. Gottfried Co., Erie, Pennsylvania: Builders of Gottfried Organs for Theatres, Churches and Residences (A. Gottfried Company, 1921).
    4. Ochse, History, 479.
    5. David Fox, A Guide to North American Organbuilders (Organ Historical Society, 1991), 139.
    6. Ochse, History 302.
    7. David Fox, Guide 139.
    8. Henry Gottfried, quoted by Ray Laprise, "Organ Tuner Has an Ear for Tunes from 2,063 Pipes" Daytona Beach Journal, May 1, 1960. [Henry was the son of Anton, he had a service firm in Jacksonville, Florida at the time this article was written. –Ed.]
    9. OSI website,(http://www.organsupply.com/about-osi/history/), Accessed October 2015.

Database Entries

There are 31 entries in the database that describe organs by A. Gottfried & Co.

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