Christian Gottlob Hubert

Christian Gottlob Hubert (3 May 1724, Fraustadt {Wschowa, Poland} — 16 February 1793, Ansbach, Bavaria) was a Polish-German organ builder and maker of clavichords. Typical labels read: "von Christian Gottlieb Hubert hoch= · fürstl. Anspachischer Hof Orgel u · Instrumentenbauer Bayreuth anno 177_" or "Christian. Gottlob. Hubert · Orgel: et. Instrumentenmacher in Bayreuth fecit. Ao: 17_." His father was a baker, and it's unknown when and where Hubert learned the oeuvre. German musicologist Franz Krautwurst suggested Christian Gottlieb could've apprenticed with the renowned maker and inventor Gottfried Silbermann (1683—1753) in Freiberg — based on similarities in mechanical action and some tonal characteristics; however, no direct evidence of their relation exists. Most researchers agree that Hubert likely trained with Johann Gottlieb Näser, an organ builder in his hometown, Fraustadt. In early 1748, C.G. Hubert relocated to Bayreuth, completing his earliest-known organ at Spitalkirche before the end of the year. According to some organologists, Hubert couldn't obtain a necessary license to further build organs in Bayreuth, with the market monopolized by partners Johann Jacob Graichen (1701—1760) and Johann Nikolaus Ritter (1702—1782), essentially forcing him to switch to stringed keyboard instruments. Around the early 1760s, Christian Gottlob became the "Hoff-Orgel und Instrumentenmacher," titled instrument-maker at Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth court, renowned for its musical activities since Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709—1758), composer and patroness of arts. Circa 1769, Hubert relocated to Ansbach and continued working for the Margraviate court. Contemporary sources described C.G. Hubert as the maker of various instruments, including harpsichords and fortepianos, but none survived — unlike over twenty clavichords, dated between 1756 and 1789. That year, a 65-year-old Christian Gottlieb hired an assistant, Johann Wilhelm Hoffman (1769—1809), who subsequently took over his workshop. Hubert's instruments are preserved in several international collections, including Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Historisches Museum, Basel, Deutsches Museum in Munich, Händelhaus in Halle, Museum of Liverpool, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, and the University of Edinburgh's "Musical Instrument Collection" at St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh.