Johann Heinrich (John H.) Koehnken (1819–1897) was an American organ builder in Cincinnati, Ohio who worked under Matthias Schwab (1808–1862) and with Gallus Grimm (1827–1897). Their organs remain in use (with restoration work) at the Isaac M. Wise Temple (formerly Plum Street Temple) and other locations.
Advertisement for Koehnken and Co., Organ Builders, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1871
Koehnken was born on September 14, 1819 on a farm in Altenbuhlstedt in the Lower Saxony area of Germany (not far from Bremen) and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker.[1] He worked as a cabinet maker for two years in Germany and two more in Wheeling, (West) Virginia, before coming to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1839 with his older brother, Johann Koehnken (1812–1872). Both brothers worked in the organ building trade. Johann Koehnken, the older brother, variously went by the surnames Conkey, Konkey, and Koenke and built organs in Cincinnati through the 1840s before relocating to Louisville, Kentucky. [2][3]
The younger of the two brothers, Johann Heinrich Koehnken, had worked under Matthias Schwab at his factory in Cincinnati. He obtained ownership of Schwab's factory on Sycamore Street in 1860. Here he was assisted by Gallus Grimm and the firm became Koehnken and Grimm by 1875. [1][2] The two worked together for twenty-one years until Koehnken retired in 1896.[1] In 1897, both Johann Heinrich Koehnken and Grimm died.[1]
The firm continued under the name of Gallus Grimm's son as Edward Grimm and Company until 1908, when it was purchased by Alfred Mathers.[4]
Grace United Methodist Church, Newport, Kentucky, built around 1866
St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Covington, Kentucky, built around 1868
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Chillicothe, Ohio, built around 1868
St. John's Unitarian Church, Cincinnati, built in 1868
St. Patrick Catholic Church, Covington, Kentucky, built around 1871
Calvary Episcopal Church, Cincinnati, built in 1871, rebuilt for All Saints Episcopal Church, Pleasant Ridge, Cincinnati
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church/Trinity Lutheran Church, Cincinnati, built in 1871
Central Christian Church, Cincinnati, built in 1872
St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Cincinnati, built around 1872, rebuilt by Mathers and removed 1973
St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Enochsburg, Indiana, built in 1873
St. George Catholic Church, Clifton, Cincinnati, built in 1874
First Baptist Church, Covington, Kentucky, built in 1875
Mother of God Catholic Church, Covington, Kentucky, built in 1875
St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio, built in about 1875
St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Sayler Park, Cincinnati, built around 1878
Assumption Catholic Church, Mount Healthy, Cincinnati, built in 1878
St. John's United Church of Christ, Madison, Indiana, built in 1879 [6]
First Unitarian Church, Cincinnati, built in 1879
St. John's United Church of Christ, Batesville, Indiana, built in about 1879
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hamilton, Ohio, built in 1880
St. Xavier Catholic Church, Cincinnati, built in 1882, rebuilt by Hilgreen-Lane and removed in 1973
St. Paul Congregational Church, Cincinnati, built in 1883
St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Hillsboro, Ohio, built in 1885
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Kenton, Ohio, built in 1887
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Sedamsville, Cincinnati, built around 1888, relocated to Holy Family Catholic Church, Price Hill, Cincinnati
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Cleveland, Ohio, built around 1890
Concordia Lutheran Church, Cincinnati, built in 1891
Asbury Third Methodist Church, Cincinnati, built around 1893, removed in 1971
Clifton Methodist Church, Cincinnati, built in 1893
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Louisville, Kentucky, built in 1893
Holy Cross Catholic Church, Mt. Adams, Cincinnati, built in 1895, relocated to Immaculata (now called Holy Cross-Immaculata), Mt. Adams, Cincinnati, in 1973
First Presbyterian Church, Newport, Kentucky, built around 1893
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Shawnee, Ohio, built in 1895, relocated to St. John Lutheran Church, Chehalis, Washington
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Newport, Kentucky, built around 1897
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Reading, Ohio, built around 1897
Church of the Nazarene, Delaware, Ohio
Covenant-First Presbyterian, Cincinnati
First Presbyterian Church, Glendale, Ohio
Mount Street Temple, Cincinnati
Phillipus United Church of Christ, Cincinnati
St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Bridgetown, Cincinnati
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Cold Spring, Kentucky
St. Paul Episcopal Church, Newport, Kentucky
St. Peter Reformed Church, Cincinnati
Chapel of the Holy Spirit / Harcourt Parish Episcopal Church at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
University of Dayton, Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, Dayton, Ohio
^Unless noted, the sources are [1] "Chronological Listing of Organs
Built in Cincinnati, 1808-1900," Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin 31 (Summer 1973): 99-103 and [2]
Pipe Organ Database
^"The minister, August Meuller, and a committee went to Cincinnati and bought a Koehnken & Grimm organ with a hand pump for $1,000.00; it was put in operation in 1879. It replaced a "parlor pump organ" they had purchased in 1851 for $300.00. This was more likely a small pipe organ, but of it no more is known. The Koehnken & Grimm was originally hand-pumped and later equipped with a water motor. Since the 1940s it has had an electric blower. At some point the swell shutters were relocated to the back of the swell box, and a solid plywood wall now fills the old opening, making the organ much softer than its builders intended." Organ history (Alan Miller Laufman, 1993 Organ Historical Society Handbook, Southern Indiana chapter of the American Guild Organists)
