Johann Koehnken

Who was Johann Koehnken?

Johann Koehnken was an American organ builder in Cincinnati, Ohio who worked under Matthias Schwab and with Gallus Grimm. Their organs remain in use at the Isaac M. Wise Temple and other locations.

Much of Matthias Schwab's personal life remains a mystery. He arrived in Cincinnati in 1831 and in 1860 he apparently relinquished ownership of his factory at Sycamore and Schiller to Johann Heinrich Koehnken who was assisted by Gallus Grimm.

Koehnken was born on a farm in Altenbuhlstedt in the Lower Saxony area of Germany and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. He worked as a cabinet maker for two years in Germany and two more in Wheeling before coming to Cincinnati in 1839. He "found his way to the door of Matthias Schwab", who had trained as an organ builder in Germany and operated a "highly regarded organ works in the fast-growing river town of Cincinnati."

When Schwab retired in 1860, Koehnken and Grimm, a German-trained organ builder, continued the tradition and the firm became Koehnken and Company. Grimm partnered with Koehnken from 1875 and the firm became Koehnken & Grimm. They worked together for twenty-one years until Koehnken retired in 1896.