Johann Dietrich Kuhlmann

Johann Dietrich Kuhlmann (c. 1775 – 1846) was a German organ builder. As son-in-law and successor of Johann Stephan Heeren, he worked in Gottsbüren.

Life and career
Kuhlmann became acquainted with the family business of Johann Stephan Heeren as an employee. Together with him, he created the organ in Adelebsen around 1800. After the death of Heeren's son-in-law Johann Friedrich Euler in 1795, Kuhlmann married Heeren's daughter Anna Elisabeth. Heeren's son Johann Christoph worked in the workshop during the last years of his father's life and took over the workshop together with Kuhlmann in 1804. As a result, the company now called itself "Heeren et Kuhlmann". When Heeren's grandson Balthasar Conrad Euler joined the business around 1815, it was renamed "Euler and Kuhlmann". His son Georg Carl Kuhlmann also became an organ builder and can be traced in Westphalia with several new organ buildings. Johann Dietrich Kuhlmann worked mainly in the Orgellandschaft Südniedersachsen. The family business was moved to Hofgeismar in 1910 and continued well into the 20th century. It is considered the oldest organ building company in Germany.