Sign in

Private company

Hoch Conservatory

Music school in Frankfurt, Germany

Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie is a musical conservatory and art school located in Frankfurt, Germany. It was founded on 22 September 1878, and funded by the estate of Joseph Hoch, who willed one million German gold marks upon his death to establish the Konservatorium-Musikakademie. Instrumental to the creation, prosperity and success of the conservatory was its establishing director, Joachim Raff, who created and administered the institution, set the entire curriculum, and hired all of its faculty.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1878Founded1
  • HeadquartersFrankfurt, Germany1
  • Websitewww.dr-hochs.de
  • Legal formprivate foundation1
  • Kind of organizationNonprofit organization1
  • LEI529900ZS8MCRLT2W9Y203
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressSonnemannstr. 16, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany3
  • Registered withHessian Ministry of the Interior and Sports3

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Hochsches Konservatorium Frankfurt
Photo: Eva K. / Eva K., GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons5

Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie is a musical conservatory and art school located in Frankfurt, Germany. It was founded on 22 September 1878, and funded by the estate of Joseph Hoch, who willed one million German gold marks upon his death to establish the Konservatorium-Musikakademie. Instrumental to the creation, prosperity and success of the conservatory was its establishing director, Joachim Raff, who created and administered the institution, set the entire curriculum, and hired all of its faculty. It has played an important role in the history of music in Frankfurt. Clara Schumann taught piano, as one of the distinguished teachers in the late 19th century, contributing to international renown for the conservatory. In the 1890s, about 25% of the conservatory's students were from other countries, with around 46 students from England and 23 students from the United States.2

The story

1857: 14 July: Dr. Joseph Hoch (1815–74) makes the 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.

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.

Read the full text

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 prep-school: Hans Pfitzner studies (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 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 downgraded to a prep-school.

1943: 4 October: the Conservatory building is 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 in a building constructed on the ruins at Eschenheimer Landstr. 4 (Volksbildungsheim). Chairman of the foundation also functions as city councillor.

1954: A board of directors installed for the Musikhochschule and the Conservatory.

1958: Philipp Mohler becomes director of the unified "Hochschule" and Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium.

1967: The Frankfurt Magistrate nullifies the 1937 contract.

1971: Plans for joining the conservatory with the Musikhochschule cause resistance. The conservatory becomes a stepping stone between a music school and the Musikhochschule.

1973: Philipp Mohler resigns as director of the conservatory. Klaus Volk becomes director of the unified Conservatory and Musikhochschule.

1977: Klaus Volk resigns. Prof. Hans Dieter Resch, rector of the "Musikhochschule", becomes provisional director, 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 9 February. Stadträtin Jutta Ebeling replaces Bernhard Mihm as chairperson of the foundation.

2002: Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium 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.

From Wikipedia’s article on Hoch Conservatory, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1878Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5