Georg Emil Müller

Georg Emil Müller (born October 17, 1857 in Borna , † October 4, 1928 in Werdau ) was a German organ builder and harmonium manufacturer.

Kreutzbach organ in Bockau

Harmonium, around 1910

A pressure wind harmonium with an open rear wall. Below you can see the two bellows, above the magazine bellows, then the wind chest with the tongue chamber

Pedal harmonium, 1928 with a 30-note organ pedal and pedal stools or optionally an electric fan

Live and act

Childhood and teaching

Georg Emil Müller was born on October 11, 1857, the only child of a miller in Borna near Leipzig. He was a grandson of the organ builder Urban Kreutzbach . As a child he spent a lot of time in his organ building workshop. But he wanted, like his youngest uncle Julius Kreutzbach, to become a piano maker . So he took up the apprenticeship as a carpenter , but had to break it off because of his father's early death. As the only child, he had to work as a miller and baker since his parents ran a bread bakery in addition to the mill . He worked in these professions for about a year and a half, but he didn't enjoy them.

Apprenticeship and wandering years

One day Emil Müller had to help his uncle Bernhard Kreutzbach with organ tuning. His uncle encouraged him to come to his workshop in Borna and learn how to build organs. But his mother didn't want to know about it. So he left home without saying goodbye. Urban Kreutzbach's organ building workshop was continued by sons Richard and Bernhard Kreutzbach. Emil Müller accepted them as interns. But after almost two years his thirst for learning and knowledge was no longer satisfied, and he went abroad. He found a job with the organ builder Conrad Geißler in Eilenburg.

In the spring of 1876 he went to the organ builder Wilhelm Sauer in Frankfurt an der Oder , at that time the largest organ building workshop in Northern Germany, and learned how to make cone windchests . There he was entrusted with independent work. Among other things, he went to Lübeck to repair the organ in St. Mary's Church and to Kiel . There he set up a two-manual organ in the new university . But he didn't like the superficial way of working there, and in 1877 he went back to Borna.

Work as an organ builder

Richard Kreutzbach had meanwhile become the sole owner of the Urban Kreutzbach company. Emil Müller built several small cone-store organs and the three-manual organ in Roßwein here . In addition, repairs were also carried out, for example on two Silbermann organs in Rötha near Leipzig and on the organ of the Catholic Church in Leipzig, which his grandfather Urban Kreutzbach had built in 1848.

Since there was again a lack of work from the spring of 1879, Georg Emil Müller moved abroad again and found a job at GF Steinmeyer & Co. in Oettingen in Bavaria . He was mainly occupied with mechanical and assembly work. The mechanics of the organ in the Lorenzkirche in Nuremberg was partly his work. He was able to expand his knowledge of organ building considerably in Oettingen, and he had also seen and recorded many things in organ and harmonium building .

In the spring of 1881 he decided to take a position as a tuner at Orgelbau Goll in Lucerne . His time in Switzerland was one of his most beautiful memories. But his uncle Richard Kreutzbach brought him back to Borna in 1882, and he became managing director, with the promise that he would take over the business one day. From 1881 to 1888 he was self-employed and made designs for various organs in Leipzig and Gera . After that, Kreutzbach withdrew further and further from the business and let Georg Emil Müller carry out all the work without paying him accordingly. Shortly before Whitsun 1886, Müller and his assistant Mannborg went on the usual spring voting tour. On this journey his further life should be decided.

Time as a harmonium manufacturer in Werdau

On Ascension Day 1887, Emil Müller met Johann Gotthilf Bärmig from Werdau, a former student from the workshop of his grandfather Urban Kreutzbach, who wanted to give him everything that was available in terms of material and tools. After Pentecost 1887 he founded his company under the name of Emil Müller, Gotthilf Bärmigs Nachf. Orgelbauanstalt and spread it with a circular to the surrounding parishes .

Soon afterwards the first smaller orders were received and after a few months the larger order to build a new three-manual organ for the church in Irfersgrün in Vogtland . In the spring of 1888, Müller received an order for his second organ, was able to purchase a plot of land on the “Red Mountain” and work in his own rooms. In 1889 he started producing organ parts and in 1890 he enlarged his workshop. There he also built his first harmoniums. In 1895 he built a workshop building and in 1897 an organ assembly hall. From 1896 the orders for harmonium building increased, so that he largely gave up organ building. Around 1901 he celebrated the completion of his 1000th harmonium, and his instruments found buyers in Switzerland, France and Russia.

In 1903 Müller bought a factory building in Pestalozzistraße and converted it. Production started in September of the same year. Now he devoted all his energy to building the harmonium. In 1904 he shipped the first instruments to the “de Heer” company in Holland, which was followed by many orders. Around 1905 Müller built his last organ for the church in Fröbersgrün near Plauen. Its manufacture gained even greater momentum thanks to the "Harmonista" instrument. In January 1910, Müller withdrew from the business and handed it over to his son Kurt and his son-in-law Arwed Brandner as partners.

Retirement and death

Emil Müller retired in the villa village of Niederlößnitz and later in Pillnitz near Dresden . In 1913 he left the company, but remained a silent partner until his death on October 4, 1928. His burial took place on October 8, 1928 in the forest cemetery in Werdau. His tomb was placed under monument protection.

Addendum

60,000 Müller harmoniums had been sold up to the company's 40th anniversary. At that time, the company was the largest European company of its kind - the instruments had an international reputation. The products have been awarded medals several times at exhibitions and trade fairs. The Saxon king named the company the "court harmonium factory". In the years of stagnation during the Weimar Republic , furniture production was started as a second mainstay in 1931.

List of his organ works

Georg Emil Müller, his organ works (selection)
year	place	church	image	Remarks
1876	Kiel	Christian Albrechts University	- / -	- / -
1876	Mannheim	Trinity Church	- / -	Destroyed in an air raid on September 6, 1943
1878	Horse wine	St. Mary	- / -	- / -
1880	Nuremberg	Lorenz Church		Working mainly on the mechanics
1883	Lindenau	Castle Church	- / -	Drafts and drawings
1884	Leipzig	Luther Church	- / -	Drafts and drawings
1885	Gera	Johanneskirche	- / -	Drafts and drawings / Largest Kreutzbach organ
1887	Irfersgrün / Vogtland	Village church	- / -	first organ from his time in Werdau
1888 to 1904
	Langenbernsdorf	St. Nicolai	- / -	Repair and remodeling work
	Lauenhain	Village church	- / -	Repair and remodeling work
	Grimma	St. Augustin Monastery Church		- / -
	1905	Froebersgrün / Plauen	Village church	last organ work by Emil Müller
from 1906 Emil Müller devoted himself exclusively to the construction of the harmonium
- / - = not specified / This list does not claim to be complete

Individual evidence

1. ^ The story of Borna / personalities / Georg Emil Müller
2. ^ Organ and instrument making in Werdau by Sven Reithel
3. ↑ Journals Uni Heidelberg KulturGUT - From the research of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum: Bulky contemporary witness - A door of the Werzeit organ and harmonium factory Emil Müller