Karl Mühlberger

Karl von Mühlberger (born August 21, 1857 in Spitz an der Donau ; † March 15, 1944 in Vienna ) was the last Kapellmeister in the Imperial and Royal Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment No. 1.

Life

Sign on the house where Karl Mühlberger was born in Spitz

Karl Mühlberger received his first music lessons from his father. After completing his apprenticeship as a baker, Karl Mühlberger moved to Vienna, where he studied at the conservatory a. a. received music lessons from Josef Hellmesberger senior . There he was taught violin, trombone, piano and theory, among other things. Until he was called up for military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1878, he managed to get by as a musician and music teacher.

After completing his service in 1882, Karl Mühlberger played in the regimental music of the 84th Infantry Regiment under Karl Komzák junior and with the high and German champions under Carl Michael Ziehrer . In 1885 he became deputy regiment drum and conductor under Ziehrer. In 1890 Mühlberger moved as a regiment drum to the 47th Infantry Regiment in Graz; the regimental music there was conducted by Josef Franz Wagner . After Wagner left the regiment, Rudolf Benczur took over the management of the military music, whereby Mühlberger did a large part of the musical work and was referred to as Kapellmeister, although he did not hold this position. In 1895 Mühlberger married the bricklayer's daughter Karoline Theurer; the couple had a son who died in World War I.

In 1898, at the age of 41, Karl Mühlberger took over the leadership of the chapel of the 1st regiment of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger , which he quickly made into one of the best bands in the army; As a result, on the occasion of special anniversaries in 1908 and 1910, the Innsbruck Regimental Music was ordered to give a concert in front of the Kaiser in Bad Ischl and Vienna. For his great services to the Austro-Hungarian military music , Mühlberger was honored with the Golden Cross of Merit with the Crown .

Karl Mühlberger's grave at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Mühlberger remained loyal to the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger until the end of the First World War , when he was wounded in the battle of Rawa Ruska . From 1919 he worked as a civil bandmaster and music teacher. From 1928 to 1933 he directed the Seefeld Citizens Music Band . Innsbruck became his second home. His name had a legendary reputation in the Austrian KuK army. He died on the occasion of a visit to Vienna at the age of 87 and was buried in an honorary grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Group 15 F, Row 1, No. 14).

The Kaiserjäger March

Of his around 50 compositions, the world-famous Kaiserjägerjägermarsch has remained alive to this day, making the name Mühlberger immortal. This regimental march of the 1st regiment from 1914, to which the lieutenant colonel in the 1st regiment of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Max Depolo wrote a text, very quickly became "the" march of the "soldiers of the mountains" and was consequently named HM II, 141 also included in the German soldiers' marches, where he had long since made his home.

Works (selection)

• Innsbruck cadets march op. 13
• Speckbacher March op.36
• Kruis March op.37
• Colonel Novak of Arienti march op. 41
• Kaiserjäger March op.42
• Archduke Albrecht Franz March op.43

literature

• E. Rameis:  Mühlberger Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 6, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-7001-0128-7 , p. 406.
• Wolfgang Suppan , Armin Suppan : The brass music lexicon . 5th edition. HeBu-Musikverlag, Kraichtal 2010, ISBN 978-3-9806925-9-5 , p. 543 .
• Friedrich Anzenberger , Walter Schwanzer : All that remained was the Kaiserjäger march . Walter Schwanzer Music Publishers, Rohrendorf 2017.

Web links

• Works by and about Karl Mühlberger in the catalog of the German National Library