Dietrich Kücherman, 11 September 1911 - 23 February 1976

Dietrich Küchemann was bom in Gottingen on 11 September 1911; he died, a naturalized British subject, on 23 February 1976. His family on his mother’s side had a history that could be traced back to the beginning of the 12th century, when the Archbishop of Bremen made over part of his estate, Stedingerland, giving rise to the family name of Steding, to those willing to drain and cultivate it, presenting him, in return, with one-tenth of their harvests. Later, many generations of Stedings became schoolteachers, or married schoolteachers, a tradition that was continued when Dietrich’s mother, Martha Egener, married Rudolf Küchemann in 1910. The maternal lineage also contained considerable musical talent and included accomplished organists and ’cellists. Indeed, from one of his ancestors, Johann Friedrich Steding, Dietrich inherited a clavichord built in 1791. As a schoolboy, he repaired the instrument, after having discovered that the strings had been removed by somebody who wished to make a zither with them. Proud of his success, he showed it many years later in England to a professional restorer, who declared the repairs to have been imperfect and undertook the work himself: only, in Dietrich’s words, ‘to make the instrument more difficult to play; His father, Rudolf, was a descendant of another line of schoolteachers. He was a forthright man, dedicated to teaching, outspoken in his radicalism: a characteristic that was to have a profound effect on Dietrich’s life. During World War I, Rudolf Kuchemann served as an infantry captain in the German army and took part in many engagements on the Western Front, including Verdun.