Foundation Musick's Monument
STIFTSKIRCHE ST. GOAR
Hans Meijer
Rheinfels
1605 – 1626: Strictly Reformed (Calvinist) After Landgrave Maurits made Calvinism compulsory, Lutherans were no longer permitted to gather in the church. The organ was dismantled and the frescoes were whitewashed.
1626 – 1649: Changes brought about by the Thirty Years’ War During the war, the Lutheran branch of Hesse-Darmstadt conquered the region. They temporarily reversed the situation: the church became Lutheran once more and Calvinism was banned.
1649–1740: Two Protestant congregations in one church (Simultaneum) From 1649, peace was signed and a very special arrangement came into being. As there were now many Calvinists as well as Lutherans living in Sankt Goar, both groups were granted the right to use the Stiftskirche. They held their own services there in turn.
The organ-less period (c. 1605 – 1740)
• The ban: After Landgrave Maurits had the organs dismantled around 1605, the Stiftskirche remained without an instrument for decades.
• No music at the wedding: When the young couple stood at the altar in 1733, the congregation still sang the psalms entirely a cappella. There was no organ at that time.
• The change only came after their wedding (1740): The call for the restoration of music in the church only really took shape around 1739. In 1740, the Stiftskirche finally received a magnificent new organ once more. This was built by the renowned Frankfurt-based German organ builder Johann Christian Köhler.
Between Castle and Church – The Background and Youth of Susanna Maria Knöpfel
To understand the world in which Susanna Maria Knöpfel grew up in 1706, we must look at the life and work of her father: Johann Konrad Knöpfel (1662–ca. 1720). As the son of a Protestant pastor, Johann Konrad was blessed with a sharp mind and a solid social network. In 1680, he enrolled at the University of Marburg, the intellectual and theological heart of Protestant Hesse. Armed with this academic background, he settled in the strategic Rhine town of Sankt Goar. Here, he built an impressive career that would make him one of the most influential citizens of the region.
A Protestant Key Figure Under Catholic Rulers
The political and religious situation in which Johann Konrad had to operate was highly complex. Sankt Goar and the massive Rheinfels Castle towering above it were historically Protestant territories. However, due to an inheritance within the princely house of Hesse, actual power fell into the hands of a strictly Catholic branch in 1693: the House of Hesse-Wanfried. First under Landgrave Charles (1693–1711) and from 1711 under his devout son Landgrave William II, Catholic rulers governed an almost entirely Protestant population.
Although this seemed like a recipe for religious warfare on paper, the practical reality was surprisingly pragmatic. Thanks to old treaties (such as the Regensburger Rezeß), the rights and properties of the Protestants were legally protected. The Catholic landgraves were allowed to practice their faith in the castle chapel on the fortress and in a new church built outside the town walls, but they had to leave the Protestant citizens in peace. To keep the region stable and secure tax revenues, the Catholic landgraves desperately needed reliable Protestant administrators who held the trust of the local people. Johann Konrad Knöpfel was the perfect man at the perfect place.
The Dual Role: Church Finances and Military Logistics
Johann Konrad held a crucial dual role in Sankt Goar. First, he was the Stift-Kellner (administrative manager/cellarer) of the Protestant Stiftskirche. In this influential position, he managed the administration, the extensive lands, and the tax revenues of the Protestant church chapter. The fact that a Catholic landgrave like William II left the control of this vital Protestant financial stream entirely to Knöpfel proves how deeply his integrity and business expertise were respected.
His second function carried even greater responsibility: Johann Konrad was also the Proviant-Commissair (provisions commissioner) of Rheinfels Castle. At the time, Rheinfels was one of the mightiest and most important military fortresses along the Rhine, built to withstand the constant threat of French invasions. As provisions commissioner, Knöpfel was responsible for the massive logistical operation inside the fort. He ensured that military supplies—from grain, meat, and beer to ammunition and gunpowder—were always sufficient to withstand a siege of several months. In an era of constant threat of war, this was an absolute position of trust. Landgrave William II knew that the survival of his strategic castle literally depended on the logistical precision of his Protestant commissioner.
Stability in a Respected Family
While Johann Konrad navigated daily between the interests of the Protestant citizenry down in the town and the Catholic court up at the castle, he built his own family life. On April 29, 1695, he married Regina Magdalena Dirx in the Stiftskirche (a daughter from a solid, local-regional Protestant background).
In this wealthy, highly educated, and well-respected family of the Stift-Kellner, their daughter Susanna Maria Knöpfel was baptized on September 11, 1706. She grew up in a world where culture, religious tolerance, administrative responsibility, and music went hand in hand. It was this specific, intellectual Protestant upbringing in the shadow of Rheinfels Castle that laid the foundation for her later life and her marriage in 1733 to the gifted pastor's son and harpsichord maker Johann Daniel Dulcken.
The son of Conrad Knöpfel, born in Wolfershausen in 1662 and enrolled at the University of Marburg in 1680, became quartermaster at the Hessian fortress of Rheinfels near St. Goar.
Conrad Knöpfel married Regina Magdalena Dirx on 29 April 1695. Conrad Knöpfel died before 1721.
Den 7. April. sind zum ersten mal proclamirt worden, Herr Jo- han Conrad Knöpfel, Proviant=Meister, Herrn Conrad Knöpfels, Metropolitani zu Milsungen, ehelicher Sohn; und Jgfr. Regina Magdalena, Herrn Dieterich Diepers, Rath= gängers eheleibliche Tochter. Den 29. April. copulati. Den 16. Jun. sind zum ersten mal proclamirt.
On April 7th, the banns were published for the first time for: Mr. Johan Conrad Knöpfel, proviant master (commissary of supplies), legitimate son of Mr. Conrad Knöpfel, metropolitan (chief pastor/superintendent) in Melsungen; and maiden Regina Magdalena, legitimate daughter of Mr. Dieterich Dieper, town councillor. On April 29th, they were married.
Taufeintrag Susanna Maria Knöpfel - transcriptie Dr. Johannes Burkardt
Complete
Den 11 t[en] [Novem]bris wurde Don[n]erstag Nachmittags zwisch[en] 12 u[nd] 1 Uhren
nach gehaltener
Beth=Stunde in öffentl[icher] Versam[m]lung getaufft Susanna Maria,
H[errn] Johann Conrad Knöpffels, Proviant-Com[m]issarii u[nd] Stiffts=
Kellners allhier Töchterlein. Gevattern waren Herr Oswald
Wollff, Nachgänger am hiesigen Hoch=Fürstl[ichen] Gesam[m]t-Rhein=
Zoll, u[nd] Fr[au] Maria Barbara, H[errn] Samuel Kellers, Stadt=
Lieutenants allhier ehel[iche] Hauß-Frau, wie auch H[errn] Pfarrers Geissel
Fr[au] Eheliebste von Wollroda
des H[errn] Vatters Schwester.*
* Die letzten 12 Wörter mit blasserer Tinte später nachgetragen.
Historical Reconstruction: The Living Environment and Social Transition of Susanna Knöpffel
Introduction
The youth of Susanna Knöpffel unfolded within the administrative and religious core of Sankt Goar. Her father, Johann Conrad Knöpffel, held two influential government posts: Stift-Kellner (chief administrator) of the chapter and Proviant-Commissair at the Rheinfels Castle. Consequently, the family belonged to the local governing elite.
Housing and the Stiftskellerei
As chief administrator, her father was responsible for tax collection, lease revenues, and the church's real estate. The official residence and office (the Stiftskellerei) were located directly within the complex. Historical maps indicate that the family resided in the buildings directly adjacent to the church, designated as the Clofter (Cloister) or Aptey (Abbey). This was not a quiet private sphere, but rather a functional administrative hub. There was a constant influx of farmers, merchants, and officials arriving to deliver tithes in kind, such as wine and grain.
Logistics and Infrastructure Surrounding the Home
The daily routine of the family was logistically shaped by the surrounding infrastructure. To the north, the Obere-Straße served as the town's primary thoroughfare for transport and travelers. The Heiligen Gasse on the western side bordered the cloister complex, providing a direct and quieter route toward the market and the Rathhauss (Town Hall) in the lower town. The Wacher (the town brook) ran directly alongside the abbey, serving the complex's water supply and drainage needs.
Religious and Social Obligations
The Grose Kirch. (the Protestant Evangelische Stiftskirche) stood at the center of the family's public life. Due to her father's high social standing, the family held a permanent, respected place within the church nave. They attended all official Protestant services and ceremonies. This weekly attendance defined Susanna's social interactions within the upper bourgeoisie of Sankt Goar.
The Relationship with Rheinfels Castle
Although the family's administrative base was located in the lower town, there was a direct functional link to the military leadership. The Alte Burg and the higher-situated fortress of Rheinfels were the sites where her father managed military provisions. This meant the Knöpffel family maintained close ties with both the ecclesiastical and military authorities of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel. Within this strictly organized administrative network, Susanna spent her formative years.
Socio-Political Shifts and the Transition Following the Death of Johann Conrad Knöpffel
The domestic circumstances underwent a profound transformation following the death of Johann Conrad Knöpffel prior to 1721. His passing not only left a personal void but most likely resulted in the loss of the family's official residence within the administrative cloister complex.
This domestic upheaval coincided with broader geopolitical and religious tensions within the region. Although Sankt Goar was traditionally a Protestant-Reformed stronghold, the local administration faced mounting pressure due to the ascension of Catholic authority within the House of Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. This centralizing and Counter-Reformation influence culminated in sweeping administrative reorganizations that persisted until 1731. The loss of their patriarchal protector, combined with this encroaching Catholic oversight regarding the management of ecclesiastical properties, drastically altered the social standing of the local Protestant elite. This heightened socio-religious friction provides crucial context for the subsequent marriage of his daughter, Susanna Maria Knöpffel, in 1733 within this very Grose Kirch. to the harpsichord maker Joannes Daniël Dulcken, and her eventual departure from Sankt Goar.
Married in Forbidden Time: The Hasty Advent Wedding of Harpsichord Maker Johannes Daniel Dulcken under Castle Rheinfels
SANKT GOAR – On December 17, 1733, the marriage vows of the young, talented harpsichord maker Johannes Daniel Dulcken and his bride Susanne Maria Knöpfel echoed through the Stiftskirche of Sankt Goar. It was a cold winter day, right in the middle of Advent. Marrying on this date at all was an absolute rarity and an act of pure necessity. The Protestant church strictly enforced the Tempore Vetito: an absolute ban on weddings during the pre-Christmas period of reflection. But the young couple had no time to lose. High above the church towered their former home, the mighty Castle Rheinfels, which had recently been violently stripped from them by a Catholic occupier.
A stolen youth on a Protestant stronghold
To understand the immense pressure behind this rushed wedding, one must look at the history of the castle and the bride's youth. Susanne Maria Knöpfel was born in 1706 at Castle Rheinfels. In those days, this colossal fortress along the Rhine was an unshakeable Protestant stronghold. Since the Reformation in 1528, the Calvinist main branch of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel had proudly held sway there.
Susanne's father, Johann Conrad Knöpfel, served as Proviant-Commissair and Stift-Kellner, making him the highest Protestant administrator of the castle's supplies. Susanne grew up in the safe, privileged seclusion of this Protestant garrison town.
However, this Protestant idyll came to an abrupt end when her father passed away before 1721, and shortly thereafter, a bitter noble succession dispute caused the castle to fall into the hands of the Catholic side branch, Hesse-Wanfried. When the devout Catholic Landgrave Christian of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels moved into the castle with his troops in 1731, Susanne's former home suddenly transformed into a hostile, Catholic island. The Protestant officials were expelled. The castle had literally been robbed from the Knöpfel orphans.
Flight during the Tempore Vetito
When Susanne found love in 1733 with the Protestant harpsichord maker Johannes Daniel Dulcken (the son of a pastor), the situation in the Rhine Valley had become untenable. With a Catholic Landgrave in the castle dominating the Protestant town of Sankt Goar, and the constant threat of approaching French troops, acute panic set in.
Waiting until spring was not an option, but the calendar was against them. Since the Middle Ages, the Church had enforced the Tempore Vetito (the 'forbidden time'). Because Advent was originally a period of strict spiritual sobriety, reflection, and fasting, joyful celebrations and marriages were strictly prohibited by law. Even after the Reformation, Protestant churches maintained this rigid period of quietude.
The couple requested — and due to the crisis, received — a rare ecclesiastical dispensation to bypass this law. Without the customary weeks of public wedding banns, they hastily exchanged their vows.
Heiratseintrag Johann Daniel Dülcken und Susanna Maria Knüpfelin transcriptie Dr. Johannes Burkardt
Compleet
17. [Decem]ber * Sindt H[er]r Johann Daniel Dülcken, Kauff- u[nd] Handels=mann,
H[errn] Pfarrers Dül=
ckens zu Winches=hausen (sic!) in der Graffschafft Berlenburg
Ehel[icher] Sohn, u[nd] J[ung]fer
Susanna Maria Knüpfelin, des weyland H[errn] Johann Conrad Knüpfels
gewesenen proviant=Com[m]issarii u[nd] Stiffts=Kellers allhie,
nachgelasene Ehel[iche]
Tochter, copuliret u[nd] den 23 t[en] augusti hui[us] anni zum
I stenmal p[ro]clamiret word[en].
* Darunter Eintrag mit blasserer Tinte, aber von gleicher Hand: „16. hui[us] de infra. N[ota] B[ene].“
While they sang Calvinist psalms below, they could see the Catholic castle guards patrolling high up on the Rheinfels. The wedding was not a grand celebration, but a strategic flight forward.
The escalation of the War of the Polish Succession in 1734 transformed the Rhine Valley into an unsustainable war zone. Although the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel managed to consolidate its control over Burg Rheinfels, French troop movements under commander Kleinholz and the fall of the nearby fortress of Philippsburg caused constant military threats and economic paralysis in St. Goar. For a newlywed couple from the administrative and merchant elite, this volatile borderland offered no secure foundation for the future. Consequently, they chose to relocate to Maastricht. As one of the most vital and heavily fortified garrison towns of the Dutch Republic, Maastricht provided the perfect safe haven. Politically and structurally stable, the city lay safely outside the immediate Rhenish theater of war while remaining superbly connected to international trade networks via the Meuse River. To survive, the families formed a strategic 'chain marriage': Johannes Daniel’s older brother, Johan Christian Dülcken, married Susanne's sister, Anna Christiana Knöpfel. The families lived side-by-side in a house/shop called "Het Gulde Cruijs" on the Munt, forming a united front.
Despite the help of unmarried sisters like Regina Magdalena Knöpfel, Johannes Daniel fell into deep financial trouble. The situation escalated in 1737 when he borrowed an astronomical sum of 600 guilders from the widow of the Maastricht mayor, Hesselt van Dinter. Since his income in Maastricht was insufficient to clear this massive liability, Johannes Daniel moved his family to Antwerp around the turn of 1737/1738 to seek his fortune there.
Although the Maastricht magistrate initially appointed a trustee over his left-behind property, Johannes Daniel proved his absolute integrity in Antwerp. His exquisite, masterfully built instruments found eager buyers. Time and again, they received letters from the receiver in Maastricht, and each time Daniël had to reply. This continued until mid-1740. It is not clear how the debt was repaid. His regained prosperity and success were permanently sealed when, on January 21, 1746, he purchased three adjacent houses in Antwerp’s Hopland, where he established his world-famous workshop and became a highly respected citizen of the city.
MAASTRICHT
History repeats itself in Munich
Nearly sixty years later, this religious and social struggle repeated itself in an uncanny way with their grandson, Louis Dulcken. Louis was born in 1761 at the Carthuijsers Kerkhof in Amsterdam, grew up until the age of thirteen in Protestant Hasselt (Overijssel), and later moved via Antwerp to Munich.
Just like his grandfather in the forbidden winter of 1733, grandson Louis had to navigate immense hurdles in 1799 within the strictly Catholic Electorate of Bavaria to marry the elite Catholic pianist Sophie Lebrun. Once again, a Catholic stronghold raised barriers for a Protestant Dulcken. And once again, family craftsmanship triumphed: Louis became Hofklaviermacher (Court Piano Maker) and bridged the religious divide with the universal language of music.
The circle of the Dulcken dynasty was complete: it began with a hasty Protestant vow in the forbidden Advent season under a robbed castle, led through an honorably settled debt in Maastricht to the ownership of three houses in Antwerp, and ended in the harmony of one of the most successful musical families of the nineteenth century.
"Nomina Sponsoru[m] Dies Mensis Decembris An[n]o 1799
Dülken, seu 27. Ludovicus Dülken churf[ürstlicher] Hof-Instrumen[ten]m
Dälken macher, acatholicus, des Ludovicus
dessen Dülken k[öniglich] französischen Instrumenten
Revalidation machers, dann Anna dessen Eheweib
m[a]t[ri]m[on]ii ____ beiden seelig, ehlicher Sohn, mit
Sophia Lebrun, des Ludovicus
x Lebrun churf[ürstlichen] Hofmusikus, dann
Lebrun Francisca dessen Eheweib seelig, ehelichen
Tochter. Testes: Theobald Marchand
churf[ürstlicher] Theater-Director, Franz
Danzi c[h]u[r]f[ürs]t[licher] Kapelmeister, tempore
vetito cum dispensatione denuntiationu[m]".
Louis Dulcken - Sophie Lebrun - Franz Danzi - Theobald Marchand
Transcriptie
[30verso?]
Notae
ad nuptias has Dülkanas
ex mandato celsissimi ordinis renovandas
quia antea Augusta Vindelicorum coram
Evangelico Pastore contractas, sunto.
[31recto?]
§ 1
Ludovicus, civis jam Monacensis, ob coëmptas
aedes sibi, homo*1 acatholicus suam magistra=
tui nostrati dissimmulaverat religionem, quia
neutiquam ab eodem senatu idcirco interogatus.
Mox discessit Augustam ad Pastorem Lu=
theranum (nescius Iurium Bavariae, semper
catholicae et immaculatae ab omni haeresi) atque
ibidem putatitio junctus matrimonio est.
Hanc copulam nullam ab initio, et irritam
omnino jussit more catholico renovare Dominus ordinis?*2
et quidem pro hoc casu solo, ob idoneas ratio=
nes v.g. (=verbi gratia) ob inscitiam contrahentium, ob
bonum prolis pp? et quidem sede pontificia
nunc vacante pp?
§ 2
Ad acta Parochialia, sub conubio Parochialia
in extenso jacent coetera omnia, una=
cum reversalibus Ludovici Dülken pro
se, proque posteritate sua.
§ 3
ad finem et calcem huius libri adnecto copiam
horum reversalium, ad perpetuam huius
casus memoriam, et informationem.
Sigilla mea ex officio meo
parochi etc.
sunt ad calcem libri huius
anno hoc copulati sunt 96.
In de marge [31r]
Can. Theol'g aul'ae
cons: frising. actae: ? = Freising?
Rav. de Scheser…?
Parochus scripsi
ad Iussum et Man=
datum celsissimi et Re=
verendissimi?*3 Ordinis
Ik, … , pastoor (Parochus), heb dit geschreven op bevel en verordening van de verheven en eerbiedwaardige (klooster)orde.
Vertaling
Opmerkingen
bij dit huwelijk van Dülken
dat op bevel van de verheven (klooster)orde herhaald / vernieuwd moest worden
omdat het eerder in Augsburg ten overstaan van
een Evangelische prediker gesloten was, …?*4
27 december 1799
§ 1
Louis, reeds een inwoner van München,*5 had, toen hij een huis ging kopen, als niet-katholiek, zijn geloof voor onze ambtenaar verborgen gehouden, omdat het bestuur hem hier ook niet naar gevraagd had.
Kort daarop vertrok hij naar een Lutherse prediker in Augsburg (onwetend van de wetten in Beieren, waar men altijd katholiek is geweest en onaangeroerd door enige vorm van ketterij) en daar dacht hij getrouwd te zijn.*6
De ordemeester? heeft verordend dat deze verbintenis, die vanaf het begin nietig en geheel en al ongeldig was, in dit uitzonderlijke geval, op de katholieke manier herhaald / vernieuwd moest worden, vanwege geschikte redenen, bijv. vanwege de onwetendheid van de betrokkenen, vanwege het welzijn van de kinderen (en omdat er momenteel geen paus is).*7
§ 2
Aangaande de Acta Parochialia (=Handelingen van de parochie), alle overige Parochialia zijn, samen met de repliek van Louis Dülken ten bate van hem en zijn kinderen, in hun volledigheid te vinden (in extenso iacent) onder het kopje huwelijk (sub conubio).
§ 3
Tenslotte en ten einde van dit boek voeg ik deze vele replieken toe, ter eeuwige herinnering aan deze zaak, en ter lering.
Mijn zegels overeenkomstig mijn ambt als pastoor etc. (parochus) zijn achterin dit boek te vinden.
Dit jaar zijn er 96 [mensen] getrouwd.
*1-ho’o = homo?
*2-Dominus ordinis? Het gaat om de hoogste functie binnen een bepaalde religieuze groep. Ik vertaal het maar letterlijk met ‘ordemeester’. De religieuze orde komt vaker ter sprake.
*3-reverendissimi’ is het eerste waar ik aan denk, maar of dat er staat weet ik niet zeker.
*4-sunto?
*5-Monacum, -ch(i)um = München, St., Bayern (Graesse, Orbis Latinus).
*6-Augusta [Vindelicorum] = Augsburg (Pinkster, Woordenboek Latijn-Nederlands).
*7-Augusta [Vindelicorum] = Augsburg (Pinkster, Woordenboek Latijn-Nederlands).
*8’-sedisvacatie’ van 29 augustus 1799-14 maart 1800, paus gevangengezet door Napoleon en in gevangenschap gestorven.
Transcriptie - Dr Verena Demoed
St. Goarer Taufeintrag Regina Magdalena Dirx vom 24. September 1676
(KB 149-1, S. 56)
1.
Heirat von Conrad Knöpfel und Regina Magdalena Dirx am 29. April 1695 (KB 149/1, S. 255);
2.
Taufe von Dietrich Conrad Knöpffel am 9. Februar 1696 (KB 149/1, S. 105);
3.
Taufe von Maria Sophia Christiana Knöpfel am 9. November 1697 (KB 149/1, S. 116);
4.
Taufe von Anna Margaretha Elisabeth Knöpffel am 24. September 1699 (KB 149/1, S. 125);
5.
Taufe der am 18. April 1701 geborenen Anna Getrud Henriette Knöpfel (KB 149/1, S. 130);
6.
Taufe von Johann Christian Ludwig Knöpffel am 21. Juni 1703 (KB 149/1, S. 137);
7.
Taufe von Johann Henrich Werner Knöpffel am 23. Dezember 1704 (KB 149/1, S. 142);
8.
Taufe der am 16. Mai 1709 geborenen Anna Christina Dorothea Knöpfel (KB 149/1, S. 158);
9.
Taufe der am 28. Februar 1711 geborenen Maria Elisabeth Knöpffel (KB 149/1, S. 162);
10.
Taufe von Johann Ludwig Knöpffel am 29. Dezember 1712 (KB 149/1, S. 168);
11.
Taufe des am 22. November 1714 geborenen Johann Wollrath Knöpfel (KB 149/1, S. 177).
