He was born in
Stargard, Germany, on February 19, 1859. He attended the music school in
Weimar, Germany. From 1880 to 1884 he worked as an opera conductor in
Göttingen and
Magdeburg. In 1884 he migrated to the
United States and became the conductor for the
New York Eichenkranz and then the conductor for the
Brooklyn Arion in 1890. Claassen moved to
San Francisco, California, in 1919. He was buried in
Mission Burial Park South in
San Antonio, Texas. ==References==