Lützel, Johann (Jakob) Heinrich 08/13/1823 - 03/09/1899

After attending the school in his hometown of Iggelheim, Lützel helped his teacher prepare his lessons and so built a foundation for a later career as a teacher himself. At 18 he began to study at the teacher’s college in Kaiserslautern, graduating in 1843 with high marks. He also obtained a basic education in music and the organ.


Lützel went on to become an assistant teacher in Edigheim (Ludwigshafen) and deepened his musical knowledge through private lessons from the organist Jakob Vierling in Frankenthal and the court music director Leppen in Mannheim. He led the Liedertafel men’s choir for two years and the Cecillian group for three. When he was 31 he founded the first Protestant church choir in Pfalz, which was quickly followed by others and from which the Protestant choir association in Pfalz grew in 1880.


With his friend Ludwig Heydenreich, the Liedertafel’s conductor, Lützel founded the Pfälzischen Sängerbund in 1869. In 1868 Lützel left teaching for health reasons and was instead placed in charge of maintaining the organ. As the head of various associations he was in charge of up to 87 groups with up to 4000 singers .When he was 60, the Ministry of Culture in Munich awarded him the title of “Royal Professor of Music”.