Johann Christian Koehler

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Johann Christian Köhler (born July 31, 1714 in Groß Rosenburg ; † May 12, 1761 in Frankfurt am Main ) was an organ builder from Frankfurt am Main. He married into the Wegmann family of organ builders and continued their tradition. Stylistically, his works can be assigned to the late baroque and rococo periods . Characteristic for the design of his brochures are the side harp fields for the pedal work, the profiled cornices and the rich carving. Köhler preferred several registers in the 8 'position (equivalent position) and the use of numerous auxiliary registers . He is one of the most important representatives of organ building in southern Hesse .

Life

Köhler was the son of the master carpenter Friedrich Köhler († December 9, 1758) and his wife Maria Dorothea born. Wickert. He learned organ building from an unknown organ builder and then worked as a journeyman with Johann Conrad Wegmann in Darmstadt. He married Wegmann's widow Hedwig Maria Stamm on October 20, 1739 and took over his workshop and privileges in Hessen-Darmstadt. As early as 1729 he had received the privileges of the organ builder Weißhaupt for Nassa-Usingen. The son Johann Friedrich was born on July 18, 1740, but died in 1750. As a Darmstadt court organ maker, Köhler received a salary of 123 florins from 1740  and moved his workshop to Frankfurt. Here he took the Frankfurt citizen oath in 1753. When he died at the age of 46, his widow married the organ builder Christoph Jaeckel in Worms. Köhler was buried on May 12, 1761. His successor was his stepson Philipp Ernst Wegmann , son of Johann Conrad Wegmann, who learned organ building from Koehler and received his apprenticeship certificate in 1756. After Köhler's death, Wegmann took the Frankfurt citizenship oath in 1762 and took over the workshop. In the 1780s, Johann Benedikt Ernst Wegmann , son of Philipp Ernst Wegmann, supported by foreman Johann Friedrich Meynecke, continued the business.

plant

Köhler enjoyed an excellent reputation and was an important link in the Frankfurt organ building dynasty of the Wegmann family. His sphere of activity extended from Worms to Marburg and from Bamberg to Mainz. His works are one or two manual and are characterized by a relatively large number of eight-foot registers and numerous secondary registers. Reeds and mixed voices are often divided into bass and treble. Köhler built either with curved harp fields on the sides for the pedal mechanism or with a large central tower, two-storey flat fields and pointed towers on the side. The richly profiled cornices and ornate brochures are influenced by the Rococo. Even with small organ works, the pedal always appears independently, but sometimes only covers an octave and a half.

List of works

So far 39 works by Köhler have been documented. In addition to several brochures, 13 organs have been (partially) preserved.

Italics indicate that the organ has not been preserved or only the historical case has been preserved. In the fifth column, the Roman number indicates the number of manuals , a capital "P" indicates an independent pedal , a lower-case "p" indicates a pedal that is only attached. The Arabic number indicates the number of sounding registers . The last column provides information on the state of preservation or special features.

year place building image Manuals register Remarks
1738 Frankfurt am Main Barefoot Church III / P? 41 Completion of the organ by Johann Conrad Wegmann ; not preserved: dismantled and stored when the church was demolished in 1786, remains sold in 1808
1739 Woersdorf Ev. church I / P 11 Completion of the organ by Johann Conrad Wegmann after his death; underplayed; Replaced in 1875 by a new building by Gebr. Voigt
1741 Kaichen Ev. church I / P 10 New building; Replaced in 1852 by a new building by Johann Georg Förster
1744-1747 Frankfurt am Main Dominican monastery II / P about 25 New building; In the course of the abolition of the monastery in 1808 it was converted into the Leonhardskirche , replaced by a Walcker organ in 1867
1747 Hahnstätten Ev. Parish Church of St. Nicholas I / P 10 New building; Replaced by Walcker organ in 1913, prospectus preserved
1747 Oberweimar Martinskirche
Oberweimar Church 11.jpg
I / P 13 (15) New building, two more pedal registers were prepared for expansion; after some modifications and damage caused by the world wars, the Köhler prospectus and six registers have been preserved; Restored to its original condition by Gerald Woehl in 1971 and 2010/11
1747 Neunkirchen (Modautal) Ev. church I / P 11 New building; allegedly canceled in 1825; 1847 new building by Rothermel
1748 Frankfurt am Main Carmelite monastery Organ St Galluskirche Flörsheim.jpg III / P 29 Extension of the organ by Johann Jakob Dahm (II / P / 22) by an echo mechanism with 7 registers; 1809 after secularization of the monastery, sold to Flörsheim, St. Gallus Church (photo); Later, several modifications, in which the register inventory of Koehler was lost except for the Holzgedackt 8 ′.
1748 Pfungstadt Ev. church I / P 10 New building; Sold to St. Dionysius in Kelkheim-Münster in 1825 . Most of the work has been preserved there.
1749 Bischofsheim Ev. church I / P about 14 New building; Replaced by Weigle organ in 1910; Housing received
1749 Limburg on the Lahn Hospital Church of St. Anna I / P around 15 New building; Housing preserved; Replaced in 1918 by a new organ from Carl Horn, prospectus preserved
1749 Gundernhausen Ev. church I / P 9 New building? Attribution; Replaced in 1852 by a new Rothermel organ
1750 Graevenwiesbach Evangelical Church of Grävenwiesbach
Evang church Graevenwiesbach organ.jpg
I / P 15th New building; 1963 obtained by organ from Günter Hardt , prospectus
1750 Reinheim Ev. church I / P 16 New building; Replaced in 1929 by a new organ from Förster & Nicolaus, case preserved
1750 Frankfurt am Main Teutonic Order Church Organ gallery of the Deutschordenskirche Frankfurt aM@20170820.jpg II / P New building; Substructure designed as an echo work; Replaced by Walcker organ in 1881; Housing received
1750-1752 Limburg on the Lahn Limburg Cathedral III / P 36 1877 housing replaced (Gebr. Keller); In the course of further renovations / new buildings in the years 1911/12, 1935, 1960 and 1978 by Johannes Klais organ building , all Koehler registers were finally lost.
1752 Wiesbaden-Igstadt Ev. church I / P 14th New building; Replaced in 1904 by the Weigle organ
1752 Rückershausen Ev. church I / P 9 frontal new building; essentially preserved
1752 Trebur Laurentiuskirche Eppstein Talk Church, organ 110155.jpg II / P 20th Auctioned by the Eppstein Talk Church in 1843 ; Housing received
1753 Bechtheim Protestant church Bechtheim organ - geo.hlipp.de - 34990.jpg I / P 9 New building; 5–6 registers and housing preserved
1753 Allendorf Ev. church I. 7th New building, side-by-side and without pedal; Except for the wedge bellows replaced in 1822, completely preserved
1753 Frankfurt am Main Orphanage I / P 15th New building, donated by Köhler after he had received the citizenship of the city; Replaced by the Bechstein organ in 1910
1753 Unterliederbach Protestant church Evangelical village church Frankfurt-Unterliederbach interior.JPG I / P 8th New building; Replaced by Weigle organ in 1922, case preserved
1753 Ebrach Ebrach monastery , gospel organ Ebrach monastery church inside choir organ 2.JPG II / P 22nd It used to be assumed that the year of construction was 1759; largely, 2012 restoration by Klais
1753-1754 Villmar Catholic parish church of St. Peter and Paul
St. Peter and Paul Villmar organ loft.jpg
II / P New building; Replaced in 1886 by a new organ by Michael Keller, the prospectus preserved
1753-1754 Haintchen Catholic parish church of St. Nicholas Parish church of St. Nikolaus Haintchen, Johann Chiristian Koehler Barockorgel.jpg I / P 16 lateral new building; Originally trumpet with heads and boots made of oak; 1969 restoration by Johannes Klais; receive
1754 Wallau Ev. church I / P 16 New building; Attribution; and in 1979 brought back to the original disposition by Woehl
1754 Frankfurt-Bornheim Johanniskirche New building; Burned in 1767 with church
1754 Uelversheim Ev. church I / P 10 New building; largely preserved
1753-1755 Wurzburg Käppele Käppele (Würzburg) - IMG 6945.JPG II / P 26th New building; Reconstructed in 1991 by Vleugels behind the richly decorated, historical rococo brochure by Köhler and expanded by 4 stops → organ
1755 Nauheim Ev. church I / P 9 New building; Replaced in 1893 by a new organ by Gustav Raßmann
1755 Neunkirchen (Westerwald) Ev. church I / P 11 New building; largely preserved
1755 Klein-Karben Ev. church Evangelical Church (Heuchelheim, Hessen) 08.JPG New building? 1867 Brochure set up by Adam Karl Bernhard in Martinskirche Heuchelheim , behind it new organ; Prospectus received
1756-1757 Gabsheim Catholic parish church of St. Alban I / P 15th 1758 extended by two reeds; 1877 housing replaced; get some registers,
1758 Wetzlar Wetzlar Cathedral , choir organ II / P 21st New building; 1831 reconstruction by Johann Georg Bürgy , replaced in 1844 by a new building by Loos
1760 Ebrach Ebrach Monastery , Epistle organ Ebrach monastery choir organ-RM-20190425-02.jpg I / P 13 New building; 2012 restoration by Klais; receive
1760 Bamberg Upper parish Bamberg Upper Parish Organ.jpg II / P 24 New building; Prospectus received
1761 Sindlingen St. Dionysius I / P 14th New building; Replaced in the course of the new church building in 1829/30
1761 Idstein high school I. 4th New construction of a positive presumably by journeyman Koehler; 1802 in the cath. Wiesbaden church implemented, replaced in 1861

literature

  • Hans Martin Balz : organs and organ builder in the area of ​​the former Hessian province of Starkenburg. A contribution to the history of organ building (=  studies on Hessian music history . Volume 3 ). Bärenreiter second-hand bookshop, Kassel 1969.
  • Hans Martin Balz, Reinhardt Menger: Old organs in Hessen and Nassau (=  publication of the Society of Organ Friends . Volume 72 ). Merseburger, Kassel 1979, ISBN 3-87537-169-0 .
  • Franz Bösken : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 6 ). tape 1 : Mainz and suburbs - Rheinhessen - Worms and suburbs . Schott, Mainz 1967, ISBN 978-3-7957-1306-5 .
  • Franz Bösken, Hermann Fischer, Matthias Thömmes: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 7.1 ). tape 2 : The area of ​​the former administrative district of Wiesbaden. Part 1: A-K . Schott, Mainz 1975, ISBN 3-7957-1307-2 .
  • Franz Bösken, Hermann Fischer, Matthias Thömmes: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 7.2 ). tape 2 : The area of ​​the former administrative district of Wiesbaden. Part 2: L-Z . Schott, Mainz 1975, ISBN 3-7957-1370-6 .
  • Hermann Fischer : Johann Christian Köhler, organ builder in Frankfurt am Main . In: Acta Organologica . tape 31 , 2009, p. 217-275 .
  • Johann Ulrich Sponsel: Organ History . George Peter Monath, Nuremberg 1771, p. 129-134 ( online ).
  • Wilhelm Strube: Johann Christian Köhler, an unknown central German organ builder in Hessen-Darmstadt. In: Ars Organi . 13, 1965, issue 26, p. 885 f.

Recordings / sound carriers

  • Baroque Music for two Organs. Walter Opp and Wilhelm Krumbach play the historic Choir organs of the church of Ebrach in Upper Franconia . Approx. 1972, Peerless record Co Ltd. Bercourt House, Brentford, Middlesex. Oryx 1765 Stereo LP (works by F. Biumi, Th. Crequillon, Th. Tomkins, F. Rovigo, R. Trofeo, J. Blanco, CPE Bach, D. Steibelt and F. Danzi)
  • Monuments of baroque organ architecture. The choir organs of the Ebrach Abbey Church, built in 1753/60 by Johann Christian Köhler . 1997, ambitus musikproduktion and Bayerischer Rundfunk, Uffing, amb 97973, CD (Andreas and Werner Jacob with works by Gabrieli, Viadana, Pasquini, Piazza, Terreni, Lucchinetti, Soler, Blanco, CPE Bach and Cherubini)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas : Lexicon of southern German organ builders . Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1994, ISBN 3-7959-0598-2 , p. 207 .
  2. ^ A b Hans Martin Balz : Organs and organ builders in the area of ​​the former Hessian province of Starkenburg. A contribution to the history of organ building (=  studies on Hessian music history . Volume 3 ). Bärenreiter-Antiquariat, Kassel 1969, p. 180 .
  3. ^ Franz Bösken: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 6 ). tape 1 : Mainz and suburbs - Rheinhessen - Worms and suburbs . Schott, Mainz 1967, ISBN 978-3-7957-1306-5 , p. 33 .
  4. ^ Franz Bösken: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 6 ). tape 1 : Mainz and suburbs - Rheinhessen - Worms and suburbs . Schott, Mainz 1967, ISBN 978-3-7957-1306-5 , p. 34 .
  5. ^ Hermann Fischer: Koehler, Johann Christian . In: Frankfurter Personenlexikon , accessed on November 22, 2017.
  6. ^ Fischer: Johann Christian Köhler. 2009, p. 268.
  7. ^ Organ in Flörsheim , accessed on July 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Franz Bösken: Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 6 ). tape 1 : Mainz and suburbs - Rheinhessen - Worms and suburbs . Schott, Mainz 1967, ISBN 978-3-7957-1306-5 , p. 314 . pipe material partially reused for new construction by Oberlinger (1978)