Funtsch

Funtsch was the name of a family based in Amberg , which produced several important organ builders.

Johann Baptist Funtsch

* March 2, 1674 in Bergrothenfels ; † January 1, 1743 in Amberg . He probably learned from Johann Jost Schleich in Lohr am Main and after his apprenticeship he teamed up with Jakob Berns (1678–1753) from Karlstadt. Both were in work at Zacharias Thayßner (Merseburg) until 1706 . From 1710 to 1722 Funtsch had a workshop in Bergrothenfels. In 1722 in Amberg, after the death of Johann Conrad Vogel, he obtained the electoral privilege to build organs for the Upper Palatinate . Berns returned "insalutati hospiti" to Karlstadt in 1735, where he had citizenship. In his workshop Funtsch trained his two sons Johann Konrad and Johann Adam Funtsch, who took over the business after his death in 1743.

Works from the Main Franconian creative period (Rothenfels), built together with J. Th. Berns

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
around 1700	Volkersbrunn	St. Rochus		I / P	6th	Repair? Sold in 1962 to Christian Gerhard (Boppard), is in a church in the Diocese of Trier
1710	On the mountain	School church				Repair? Not received. 1760 new building by Johann Konrad Funtsch, see there
1712	Remlingen (Lower Franconia)	Protestant church	Pictures of the organ in the video "Our Church"			First independent new building "based on mathematical reasons". Housing preserved, organ 1929 by Steinmeyer (15 / II / P)
1712	Bamberg	Our Lady (Upper Parish)		I / P	7th	Choir organ
around 1712	Gerolzhofen	Mary of the Rosary				Housing preserved, Winterhalter factory 1998 (36 / III / P)
1716	Stadtprozelten	St. Barbara and Georg		I / P	12	Not received. Current organ 1904 by Schlimbach (16 / II / P)
1717	Neunkirchen (Lower Franconia)	St. Peter and Paul				1822 demolition of the church.
1721	Billingshausen Lower Franconia	Protestant church	Seen here	I / P	9	Prospectus received. Darin Steinmeyer 1938 (11 / I / P)

Works from the Upper Palatinate creative period (Amberg)

year	place	church	Manuals	register	Remarks
1721	Vineyards	Assumption Day			Built as a test piece with Jakob Berns, replaced by a new building by Johann Konrad Funtsch in 1776, see there
1724	Give Bach	St. Martin			Built with Jakob Berns, new building by JC Funtsch in 1788, not preserved
1727	Lauterhofen	St. Michael			Built with Jakob Berns; 1789 new building by Johann Konrad Funtsch, see there
1727	Armesberg	Holy Trinity	I / P appended	6th	Built with Jakob Berns; the church was struck by lightning on May 22, 1819.
around 1729	On the mountain	St. Sebastian			Built with Jakob Berns, not preserved, after 1750 new building in Funtsch, 1955 new building by Ignaz Weise (7 / II / P), prospectus Hartmann 1991
around 1729	Eschenbach in the Upper Palatinate	Maria Hilf (mountain chapel)			In 1772 the chapel was replaced by the current mountain church. Until 1977 there was an organ case that was clearly of the type of Friedrich Specht (Amberg)
1731	Branch (forest munich)	Our Lady			Built with Jakob Berns; Replaced in 1771 by a new building by Andreas Weiß , Nabburg, factory preserved
1731	Penting	St. Nicholas			Built with Jakob Berns; In 1888 the vaulted ceiling collapsed and almost all of the interior furnishings were destroyed.
1733	On the mountain	Pilgrimage church Mariahilf	II / P	11	Built with Jakob Berns; Prospectus received, 1978 new organ building in Weise (25 / III / P)
1733	Simmelsdorf -Bühl, Nürnberger Land	Mariae Visitation			Built with Jakob Berns; Prospectus received, the later Funtsch prospectus type is already hinted at here
1734	On the mountain	Our Lady (Court Chapel)			not preserved, 1858 new building by Friedrich Specht , not preserved
1735	Ursensollen -Hohenkemnath	Assumption Day	I / P	8th	last organ built with Jakob Berns, not preserved
1738	Auerbach in the Upper Palatinate	St. John			Extension of the previous organ, 1755 new building by Johann Konrad Brandenstein (17 / II / P), prospectus preserved, 1971 new building by Steinmeyer (25 / II / P)
1741	Ursensollen	St. Vitus			Not received
1741	Lauterhofen -Trautmannshofen	Parish church Mariae names	I / P	11	Joh. Baptist and Joh. Konrad, prospectus received. Partly new building 1979 Mathis , Näfels (Switzerland)

Johann Konrad Funtsch

* January 10, 1710 in Bergrothenfels; † November 3, 1792 in Amberg. Son of Johann Baptist Funtsch. Together with his younger brother Johann Adam (see below) he continued the workshop of his father after his death in 1743 and is considered to be the most important organ builder in Upper Palatinate in the 18th century.

Proven works

year	place	church	Manuals	register	Remarks
1746	Lintach	St. Walburga	I / P	7th	Brochure received, 1901 new building GF Steinmeyer (8 / I / P)
1747	City of Kemnath	Assumption Day			not preserved, 1860 new building Weineck, 1950 new building Weise, 1998 new building Sandtner (26 / II / P)
around 1750	Hahnbach , Kreuzberg	Holy Cross	I / P	7th	Prospectus received, 1893 new building by GF Steinmeyer (6 / I / P) as opus 486
1750	Neumarkt	St. Anna			Prospectus received. Factory: Georg Jann 1978 (7 / I / P)
1750/63	Michelfeld	Monastery Church of St. John Baptist	II / P	18th	Prospectus received, 1941 new building in Weise (23 / II / P)
1751	Kohlberg	St. Nicholas	I / P	8th	Prospectus received, 1923 new building Holländer (7 / II / P), 1979 new building Walcker (10 / II / P), 2012 revision Maderer
1753	On the mountain	St. Katharina's cemetery church	I / P	9	Prospectus and manual wind chest with register action (swords) preserved, renovation and expansion of the inventory in 1990 by Hartmann (Regensburg), 2020 general overhaul after church restoration by Rainer Kilbert (Regensburg)
1753	Koenigstein	St. George	I / P	10	1905 new building by Johannes Strebel , the atypical prospectus has been preserved.
1754	Pursruck	St. Ursula	I / P	7th	Prospectus received, 1998 new building (9 / II / P) Johannes Schädler (Donaustauf)
1759	Mockersdorf	St Michael	I / P	10	Prospectus received, 1963 new Hirnschrodt building (14 / II / P), electric cone chest
1759	Kemnath	Franciscan monastery church	II / P	16	1802 transferred to the Assumption of Mary in Erbendorf , only modified case preserved → organ
1760	On the mountain	School Church of St. Augustine	II / P	19th	Prospectus received, 1993 new organ building Sandtner (26 / II / P)
1760	Stettkirchen near Hohenburg	Mariae Visitation	I / P	10	Prospectus and work preserved, signature JA Funtsch, 1972 restoration Hermann Kloss , 2013 revision by Helmut Kilger
1760	Büchenbach near Pegnitz	St. Vitus	I / P	9	Prospectus received, new building after 1888, use of Funtsch substance?
1761	Aschach				1898 New building by Binder and Siemann (9 / I / P) in a neo-baroque housing
1762	Ebnath				not preserved, 1902 new building Wolf (12 / II / P), 1995 new building Hey (25 / II / P)
1764	Hirschau	14 Church of the Holy Helpers	I / P	10	Prospectus and work preserved, signature JA Funtsch June 7, 1764, 1984 Rickert restoration (Regensburg)
1765	Pressath	St. George	II / P	14th	Prospectus received, 1977 new building in Nenninger (21 / II / P)
1767	On the mountain	St. George	II / P	22nd	The largest organ built by Funtsch. Prospectus preserved, 1903 new building Edenhofer (14 / II / P), 1913/1941/1961 extensions from Weise to (33 / III / P), 1981 new building (48 / III / P) Oberlinger . New building with additional choir organ in planning (2023)
1767	Habsberg near Velburg	Mary salvation of the sick	II / P	16	Prospectus and work preserved, 1972 Klais restoration , 2004 Kuhn revision (Männedorf, Switzerland)
1769	Hofstetten near Ensdorf				not received, April 2013 harmonium
1769	Hofenstetten near Neunburg v. W.				not received, April 2013 electronium
1769	Hohenkemnath				not received
around 1770	Erlheim	St. Laurence			Prospectus received, new building 1992, Weise (7 / I / P)
1770	Hahnbach	St. Jacob	II / P	16	Prospectus received, 1904 new building Binder and Siemann (23 / II / P), 2010 auxiliary Thomas Jann . The only Funtsch brochure that optically reflects the 2-manual nature.
1772	Church ping garden	St. Jacob	I / P	12	Prospectus received, 1891 new Edenhofer building (10 / I / P), 2004 reconstruction of the Schober
1773	Simple	St. George	I / P	10	Prospectus received, 1975 new building Hirnschrodt / Jann op. 1 (16 / II / P)
1776	Vineyards	Assumption Day	I / P	10	Prospectus received, 1976 new Kloss building, 2010 new Mathis building (18 / II / P)
1776	Paulsdorf	St. Peter and Paul	I / P	7th	Prospectus received., 1902 new building in Maerz (5 / I / P)
1777	Illschwang	St. Vitus (simultaneous church)			1878 new building GF Steinmeyer , neo-renaissance prospect, mechanical cone drawer (11 / I / P)
1778	Thurndorf	St. James Major			not received
1778	Zant at Ursensollen	St. Joseph	I / P	6th	Prospectus and work received
1782	Heldmannsberg	Assumption Day			Prospectus received, 1903 Bittner (7 / I / P)
1782	Mitterauerbach	Our Lady	I / P	7th	Prospectus and work preserved, 1982 restoration by Rickert (Regensburg)
1783	Pond near Hirschau	Sacrifice of the Virgin			not preserved, current work from 1860, transferred to the church in 1920
1783	Pölling near Neumarkt	St. Martin			Old church demolished in 1934, organ prospectus and work not preserved
1785	Hohenburg	St. Salvator Cemetery Church	I / P	8th	Prospectus and work preserved, signature JA Funtsch. 1897 Edenhofer renovation , 1984 Nenninger restoration
1787	Wutschdorf	St. Martin			Positive, not received
1788	Give Bach	St. Martin and Mausberg	I / P	8th	both not received
1789	Schnaittach	St. Kunigund			not preserved, 1935 new building GF Steinmeyer (26 / II / P) op.1588
1789	Kümmersbruck	St. Anton	I / P	6th	not received
1789	Lauterhofen		I / P	10	One of the last preserved Funtsch brochures (1984 new Thonius building (10 / I / P), almost within sight of Trautmannshofen (1741), and the preserved Funtsch am Habsberg (1767))
before 1792	Lauterbach near Burggriesbach	St. Willibald			Brochure received, factory 1907 Edenhofer (4 / I / P)
before 1800	Wiesau	St. Michael	I / P	10

Undated attributions

( Kilbert and Bayerische Orgeldatenbank 2009)

place	church	Remarks
On the mountain	Paulan Church	after 1750; 1813 to Dietkirchen (Dietkirchen near Neumarkt ?, at least not preserved there)
Pfaffenhofen near Kastl	St. Martin	Around 1750, prospectus received, 1979 new building Sandtner (I / P / 7)
On the mountain	St. Sebastian	after 1750, not preserved. 1955 new building in Weise (II / P / 7), 1991 Hartmann prospect with a Baroque style
Kaltenbrunn	St. Martin (former simultaneous church)	after 1750, prospectus preserved, work 1905 Franz Borgias Maerz (I / P / 10).
Waldkirchen (Petersberg)	St. Peter and Paul (sic!)	after 1750, prospectus preserved, Willibald Siemann factory 1923 (II / P / 12)
Dear	St. Nicholas	after 1760, prospectus preserved, plant Ludwig Edenhofer junior 1911 (II / P / 9)
Willhof near Altendorf	St. Jacob	ODB Bavaria: before 1800. The picture below can be seen in the church. But there are also similarities with the organ of the nearby Guteneck Castle Church (after 1823, attributed to Funtsch's successor Wilhelm Hepp )

Johann Adam Funtsch

* August 2, 1721 in Rothenfels; † October 1, 1810 in Amberg. Together with his brother Johann Konrad Funtsch, he learned the trade of organ builder in his father's workshop. The brothers took over the workshop after their father's death in 1743. After his brother's death in 1792, he continued to run the business on his own until 1796 and then handed it over to the former journeyman Wilhelm Hepp .

literature

Michael Bernhard, Organ Database Bavaria , Version 5, 2009
Hermann Fischer , Theodor Wohnhaas : The Funtsch family of organ builders in Amberg. In: Oberpfälzer Heimat No. 22, 1978, pp. 117–124
Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Organ monuments in Middle Franconia. Ulrike Schneider Rensch Orgelbaufachverlag, Lauffen am Neckar 2001, ISBN 3-921848-08-3
Rainer Kilbert : The organs of the city of Amberg . In: The Upper Palatinate. Laßleben, Kallmünz 1991, p. 228ff.
Rainer Kilbert : On the organ history of the Pursruck parish church. Festschrift for the organ consecration. 1991
Eberhard Kraus : Historic organs in the Upper Palatinate . Schnell and Steiner, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-7954-0387-1
Johann Ott, On the history of Eschenbach church music in: Heimat Eschenbach 2009 Ed. Heimatverein Eschenbach, 2010, pp. 24–26

Web links

OKB / Heike Nasritdinova: Funtsch family . Entry in the database of the Oberpfälzer Kulturbund (currently not available)