Friedrich Wilhelm Waeldner

Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner's creative highlight is his organ in Hallesches Dom

Memorial plaque for Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner and his son in the Salzstrasse in Halle (Saale)

Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner (born June 8, 1785 in Olbersleben , † March 14, 1852 in Olbersleben) was a German organ builder in Halle (Saale) who worked in Central Germany . His eldest son August Ferdinand Wäldner (1817–1905) continued the organ workshop until around 1897.

Career

Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner was born as the son of the businessman and trader Johann Philipp Wäldner and his wife Dorothea (née Kauffmann). In 1811 he was recorded as a journeyman organ builder in Halle. It is unclear whether Johann Friedrich Leberecht Zuberbier , Johann Carl Friedrich Lochmann (also Lohmann) or Johann Gottfried Kurtze was his teacher. On March 31, 1814 he was registered as a master organ builder and ran his organ building workshop in the city. He had been a citizen of Halle since 1815 and married Johanne Sophie Elisabeth (née Hummel) on May 28 of the same year. Friedrich Wilhelm and his wife had four children: August Ferdinand (1817–1905), Ludwig Wilhelm Wäldner (born 1822; death dates unknown), Pauline Wäldner (born 1823; death dates unknown) and Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner (born 1830; death dates unknown ).

The first verifiable one-manual new organs were built in Gnetsch and Winkel (Allstedt) in 1822 and in Zschernitz in 1823 .

The construction of two-manual organs from 1828 brought an upswing, such as the organ in the double church of St. Jakobus and St. Clemens in Brehna from 1835. The high point of his work was the new construction of the organ (33 registers) in the cathedral in Halle from 1847 to 1851, the he built with his son. The oldest large organ in Halle rang again for the first time after extensive restoration on Christmas Eve 2018.

meaning

In total, Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner created at least 28 organs (father and son together at least 75 organs), which can be documented today (see organ directory) - sometimes Christian Wäldner, probably a brother of Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner, is also named. The importance of the Wäldner lies in the remarkable quality and solidity of the craftsmanship, as well as the pronounced romantic sound style of the organs. Wäldner senior was the first master organ builder in the region who developed appropriate sound variants for his organs for the highly romantic music of his time. For the 19th century, Wäldner organs - in addition to the organs by Friedrich Ladegast, mostly in the Merseburg and Weißenfels area - are the most important in the region in their classic design.

List of works

This directory was created by Michael Wünsche in 2006. The list is sortable. It shows where organs by Friedrich Wilhelm Wäldner were originally located - which does not necessarily mean that the respective organ is currently still there and / or can be played.

year	place	building	district	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1822	Gnetsch	Ev. church	District of Koethen		I / P	7th
1822	angle	Andreas Church	Sangerhausen district		I / P	12	with Christian Wäldner
1823	Zschernitz	St. Gallus	Northern Saxony district		I / P	13
1826/1827	Pressel	Pressel village church	Northern Saxony district			12	with Christian Wäldner; Burned as a result of lightning in 1905
1828	Etgersleben	St. Michael village church	Salzlandkreis		II / P	10
1828	Act out	Ev. Church of St. Petri	Oschersleben district		II / P	13
1829	Wölp	Ev. Church of Heaven's Gate	Northern Saxony district		II / P	15th
1832	Höhnstedt	St. Lucia and Ottilie	Saalekreis		II / P	24
1833	Schlaitz	Ev. church	Anhalt-Bitterfeld district		I / P	10
1835	Brehna	St. Jakobus and St. Clemens / Autobahnkirche	Anhalt-Bitterfeld district		II / P	22nd
1838	Wettin	Ev. St. Nicolai Church	Saalekreis		II / P	22nd
after 1838	Kleinwusterwitz	Kleinwusterwitz village church	District of Jerichower Land		I / P	9	received, currently not playable
1839	Milow	Village church	Havelland district		I / P	10
1839	Bohne	Village church	Havelland district		I / P	10
1840	Pair	Ev. Village church	District of Jerichower Land		I / P	10
1841	Bützer	Bützer village church	Havelland district		I / P	8th
1841	Angersdorf	Ev. church	Saalekreis		I / P	10
after 1841	Beyersdorf	Village church	Anhalt-Bitterfeld district		I / P	7th
1843	Below farnstädt	Ev. church	Saalekreis		II / P	21st	with Christian and August Ferdinand Wäldner
1844	Bündorf	Bündorf village church	Saalekreis		I / P	10
1844	Graefenhainichen	Paul Gerhardt Chapel	Wittenberg district		I.	7th	with Christian and August Ferdinand Wäldner
1847	Reideburg	St. Gertraud	Halle (Saale)		II / P	16
1847	Kötzschau	Ev. church	Saalekreis		I / P	11	or August Ferdinand Wäldner
1847	Little Easter House	Ev. St. Stephen's Church	Mansfeld-Südharz district		I / P	9
1847-1851	Halle (Saale)	Evangelical Reformed Cathedral Congregation	Halle (Saale)		II / P	33	with Christian and August Ferdinand Wäldner
1850/1851	Morl	St. George	Saalekreis		I / P	10
1851	Burgkemnitz	Ev. church	Anhalt-Bitterfeld district		II / P	13
around 1853	Nißmitz	Ev. church	Burgenland district		I / P	10	or August Ferdinand Wäldner

literature

• Michael Wünsche: The organ building family Wäldner from Halle - life and work. 2006. Volume 1 - text part and Volume 2 - picture part (PDF files)
• Jiri Kocourek, Dirk Eule: Festschrift for the consecration of the restored Wäldner organ (1835) of the town and monastery church of St. Jakobus & St. Clemens in Brehna (November 8, 2015). Published by: Evangelical Church Community, Brehna 2015.

Web links

• Homepage The organ builder family Wäldner - life and work of Michael Wünsche MA - accessed on December 26, 2018
• The Wäldner organ in Halle Cathedral - a historical masterpiece is to be reconstructed. Kulturfalter , accessed December 26, 2018
• The organ builder family Wäldner on the website of the Rühlmann organ building institute - accessed on December 26, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.ekm-reformiert.de/waeldnerorgel-halle/ - accessed on December 26, 2018
2. ↑ Michael Wünsche: The Hallesche organ builder family Wäldner. Life and work. Vol. 1: Text part , Master's thesis, Halle 2006, pp. 75 ff, accessed on December 26, 2018 (PDF).