The son of a farmer, Heinrich Schachtebeck was born on August 6, 1887, in Diemarden, near Göttingen, in Lower Saxony. While still in school, he received private instruction in piano, organ, violin, and music theory. He began his career as a member of the orchestra of the Stadtkapelle in Göttingen. He began studying at the Leipzig Conservatory under Arno Hilf, Karl Heynsen, and Walter Hansmann in 1905 and joined the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1908. A year later, he became principal concertmaster of the orchestra of the Städtisches Theater, stepping into the same role with the city’s philharmonic orchestra in 1911. Alongside these engagements, Schachtebeck also performed frequently as a soloist. In 1915, he left the orchestra and founded a successful string quartet, with which he toured throughout Europe. His wife, Odessa-born Augusta Schachtebeck-Sorocker, was also a member of the ensemble. Schachtebeck served in World War I; little is known about his career in the immediate postwar years. In 1929, he was appointed lecturer for violin at the Leipzig Institute for Teacher Training, and in 1932 he was awarded the title of professor. That same year, he took up the position of principal concertmaster at the Landestheater Altenburg. Having already been invited three times to the Bayreuth Festival before World War I, he also performed in the festival orchestra from 1931 to 1934.
After the Nazis came to power in 1933, he and his wife became targets of persecution: Augusta Schachtebeck-Sorocker was classified as “half-Jewish”. As a result, Heinrich Schachtebeck lost his position at the institute in 1936, though he was able to continue working in Altenburg until 1944 under special permits that could be revoked at any time. Marriage to a non-Jewish man offered his wife some protection and spared her from deportation, but in 1944 she died as a result of illness. Heinrich Schachtebeck survived the war and in 1945 became acting director, and later director, of the State Academy of Music in Leipzig. He founded the academy’s symphony orchestra and also taught instrumental music at Leipzig University. Heinrich Schachtebeck died on March 12, 1965, in Leipzig.
1887 Diemarden
1965 Leipzig