Gerhard Kirchner

Gerhard Kirchner, February 1931

Gerhard Kirchner (born March 19, 1907 in Markersdorf near Gera ; † March 29, 1975 in Weimar ) was a German organ builder . From 1935 until his death he worked as a master organ builder in Weimar.

Life

At the age of ten, Gerhard Kirchner was accepted into the St. Thomas Choir under Karl Straube . He completed his apprenticeship as an organ builder from 1927 at W. Sauer Orgelbau in Frankfurt (Oder), among others with Karl Ruther. From 1930 Kirchner studied acoustics in Berlin. In 1935 he passed the master craftsman examination and opened his workshop in Weimar. Here he succeeded Emil Heerwagen and Wilhelm Böttcher and continued to work as a representative of the Sauer company. After the war and imprisonment, he ventured a fresh start in 1947 and then worked as a master organ builder with his company throughout Thuringia and beyond.

Work as an organ builder

In addition to numerous repairs and organ conversions (for example the organ of the Bach site in Weimar ), he and his employees also carried out new constructions - including:

List of works (selection)

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1934/35	Crane field	St. Michael		II / P	22nd	Workshop representative for Walcker in Weimar; 2000 pneumatics used; Shutdown; Luther rose visible as a glass window behind the organ pipes
1935	Apolda	Martinskirche		II / P	10	Removed in 2003
1954	Weimar	Melanchthon Chapel		II / P	10	Replaced in 1982
1955	Eisenach	Chapel in the palace of the Wartburg		II / P	10	Replaced in 1983
1955	Weimar	Kreuzkirche		II / P	14th	Replaced in 1989
1959	Bad Blankenburg	City Church		I / P	7th
1963	Treppendorf	Village church		I / P	4th
1965	Jena	Volkshaus		I / P	11	1989 expansion after water damage
1971	Aken (Elbe)	Ev. Parish hall		I / P	7th

successor

Organ builder Günter Bahr, who had learned from Kirchner, worked parallel to him in his own workshop from 1966. He built new instruments in Drackendorf, Großschwabhausen and Jarmen, and carried out modifications and repairs. On January 1, 1979, master organ builder Norbert Sperschneider (born November 13, 1951 - January 11, 2020 ), who had received his training at Bahr, took over the company and continued to run it until 2002. New organs were built for the church in Sommersdorf and the gate chapel in the Museum Kloster Veßra , with the focus on repairs and restorations.

See also

• List of organ builders

swell

• Christhard Kirchner: New organs by Gerhard Kirchner, Weimar , typescript, Heerwagen organ building exhibition at Klosterhäseler
• Daniel Vogt: The organs of the Martinskirche , Apoldaer Heimat 2007
• Information from master organ builder Günter Bahr, Apolda
• Information from master organ builder Norbert Sperschneider, Weimar
• List of bells in the Weimarer Land district and in Weimar

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Kirchner  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Organ of the church in Schleiz (accessed November 4, 2012)
• Website organ building museum Klosterhäseler