Johann Gottfried Piefke

Johann Gottfried Piefke.

An 1844 advertisement for a musical event organised by Piefke

Johann Gottfried Piefke (9 September 1817 – 25 January 1884) was a German conductor, Kapellmeister and composer of military music.

Piefke was born in Schwerin an der Warthe in the Grand Duchy of Posen. In the 1850s, he was Bandmaster for the 8th Infantry Regiment in Berlin. His famous marches include Preußens Gloria (Prussia's Glory), Düppeler Schanzen-Marsch and the Königgrätzer Marsch (composed after the Battle of Königgrätz, 1866, the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War). Piefke arranged Franz Liszt's symphonic poem - Tasso for military band and may also have similarly arranged some of Liszt's marches. He died in Frankfurt an der Oder.

Honors

Piefke received the following medals:

• Düppeler-Sturmkreuz, 1864
• Golden Medal of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, 1865
• Royal Order of the House of Hohenzollern, 1869
• Iron Cross Second Class, 1870
• Prussian Crown Order, 1880

In popular culture

• "Piefke" persists as a derogatory nickname for Germans in Austria.
• Piefke's Königgrätzer Marsch can be heard playing during the book burning scene in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was one of Adolf Hitler's favorite marches and was often played during his public appearances.

See also

• Piefke (disambiguation)

References