Hoch Conservatory - Chronology

Chronology

• 1857: 14 July: Dr. Joseph Hoch (1815–74) makes the Hoch Conservatory foundation the main heir of his fortune.
• 1874: Dr. Hoch dies on 19 September.
• 1876: The foundation is officially recognized (16 March).
• 1877: 16 February: Recognition of the foundation's governing body by the Frankfurt Magistrate, Chairman Dr. Heinrich Mumm von Schwarzenstein (until 1890).

  June: Joachim Raff elected first director of the Hoch Conservatory.

• 1878: 22 September: Opening ceremony in the Frankfurt Saalhof.

  20 October: Clara Schumann's 50th anniversary as a performer.

• 1879: 10 February: first internal student concert.

  9 June: Frankfurt visit by Franz Liszt.

• 1880: Differences between Raff and Julius Stockhausen, who resigns on 1 September.
• 1882: Joachim Raff dies on 24 June. His successor, Bernhard Scholz, appointed on 11. November.
• 1883: 21. January: Secession of the followers of Raff, which leads in April to the opening of the Raff-Konservatorium.

  21. March: Bernhard Scholz takes over as director.

• 1884: Julius Stockhausen resigns for a second time (1 April).

  September: Opening of the Seminar (Director: Iwan Knorr).

• 1886: September: Opening of the pre-school: Hans Pfitzner studies at the Hoch Conservatory (with scholarship) until 1890.
• 1888: 29. April: Inauguration of the new Conservatory building.
• 1890: Dr. Theodor Mettenheimer takes over the chairmanship of the governors. State subvention for 2 scholarships. Engelbert Humperdincks begins teaching (1890–97).
• 1892: Clara Schumann retires. The Hoch Conservatory takes over the training for the scholarships of the Mozart-Foundation.
• 1896: Clara Schumann dies on 20 May.
• 1901: Heinrich Hanau becomes chairman of the governors (until 1904).
• 1904: Emil Sulzbach called to be chairman (until 1923).
• 1908: Bernhard Scholz resigns. Iwan Knorr becomes director. Opening of the Orchestra School.
• 1909: Paul Hindemith receives a scholarship and is accepted as a student of Rebner.
• 1916: Iwan Knorr dies 22 January. In September Waldemar von Baußnern takes over as director.
• 1918: Opening of the Singing School Seminar.
• 1921: Tension between the governors and director. Inflation forces the foundation to ask for subventions from the city and the state of Hesse. Plans for a "Hochschule" for Frankfurt (Leo Kestenberg).
• 1923: 27 April Waldemar von Bausznern retires. Hermann Scherchen applies for the job of director. Resignation of Emil Sulzbach.
• 1924: Bernhard Sekles appointed director. Opening of the Opera School. Dr. Oswald Feis becomes chairman of the foundation.
• 1926: Seminar for private music teachers and »Conservatory for listeners of Music« opened.
• 1928: Opening of the first academic Jazz classes anywhere under the direction of Mátyás Seiber. Concerts held in the "Volksbildungsheim" (Hermann von Schmeidel).
• 1931: Courses in Children's Musical Pedagogy.
• 1933: Dismissal of the director Bernhard Sekles and all Jewish and foreign teachers (10 April).

  Dr. Hans Rumpf becomes chairman of the foundation and Bertil Wetzelsberger director.

  17 October: Opening of the »Hochschule für Musik und Theater der Stadt Frankfurt am Main« without permission of the Ministry of Culture. Growing influence of Artistic Director Hans Meißner.

• 1936: Hermann Reutter becomes director.
• 1937: 19 October: Contract between the City of Frankfurt and the foundation Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium concerning the establishing of a state "Hochschule" for Music.
• 1938: 1 April: Opening of the state "Hochschule". The Conservatory degraded to a pre-school.
• 1943: 4 October: Conservatory building hit by aircraft bombing. Move to the Passavant-Gontard'sche Palais.
• 1944: February: Passavant-Gontard'sche Palais also destroyed.
• 1947: Reopening of the Department of Church Music in April and the Department of School Music in the autumn.
• 1950: Walther Davisson becomes Artistic Director of the "Hochschule".
• 1951: Recommencing of teaching at the Hoch Conservatory in a building constructed on the ruins at Eschenheimer Landstr. 4 (Volksbildungsheim). Chairman of the foundation also funktions as city councillor.
• 1954: A board of directors installed for the "Hochschule" and Conservatory.
• 1958: Philipp Mohler becomes director of the unified "Hochschule" and the Hoch Conservatory.
• 1967: The Frankfurt Magistrate nullifies the 1937 contract.
• 1971: Plans for joining the Conservatory with the Music School meet with resistance. The Conservatory becomes a stepping stone between the Music School and "Musikhochschule".
• 1973: Philipp Mohler resigns as director of the Hoch Conservatory. Klaus Volk becomes director of the unified Conservatory and Music School.
• 1977: Klaus Volk resigns. Prof. Hans Dieter Resch, rector of the "Musikhochschule", becomes provisional director of the Conservatory, and in 1978 Alois Kottmann.
• 1979: Frank Stähle becomes director. Under his direction the Conservatory is restructured and again becomes an institute for training professional musicians.
• 1986: Alterations begin at the Philanthropin, a former Jewish school in Frankfurt's North End. Move to the Philanthropin takes place in stages: 1986-1989.
• 1989: Move to Philanthropin completed. Opening ceremonies on February 9. Stadträtin Jutta Ebeling replaces Bernhard Mihm as Chairperson of the foundation.
• 2002: The Hoch Conservatory is given the status of Music Academy.
• 2005: Move to the newly built Education Center Ostend (BZO).
• 2007: Frank Stähle retires and Werner Wilde becomes provisional director for one year.
• 2008: Mario Liepe is appointed director.