Michael Stiehr

Michael Stiehr (born November 30, 1750 in Kürnach , † March 14, 1829 in Seltz ) was a German organ builder in the classicist era , one of the most important organ builders in Alsace . He was the founder of the Stiehr and Mockers family of organ builders .

Life

Michael Stiehr came from the area around Würzburg . Together with the organ builder Ferdinand Stieffell , he went to Rastatt , where Stieffell opened his workshop. Through his work with Ferdinand Stieffell, Stiehr got to know the style of the Upper Rhine organ landscape influenced by Andreas Silbermann and Johann Andreas Silbermann . He introduced innovations to his instruments, which are still used today. The principals and dudes have side beards and round cuts, which were unusual in their time. Some instruments have soldered side beards as intonation aids even on the prospectus pipes. In 1777 Stiehr settled in Seltz (Alsace) on the left bank of the Rhine and worked for Stieffell as a foreman until 1780.

In 1781 Stiehr became self-employed. Stiehr and Stieffell share their field of work: From then on Stieffell worked on the right bank of the Rhine and Stiehr on the left bank of the Rhine on the Alsatian side. Stiehr reached Alsace at exactly the right time: Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712–1783) died just a few years later, shortly afterwards his successor Josias Silbermann (1765–1786). Stiehr was able to fill the gap with new ideas. From his Franconian homeland in Alsace he brought back registers that had been forgotten: gamba, salicional and wooden flutes. This made him superior to other organ builders who stuck to the Silbermann organ - such as Conrad Sauer.

In 1786 Stiehr built the organ in the Catholic Church of St. Remigius von Neuburg am Rhein . This is the oldest surviving and playable of his works. Earlier (1783) only the no longer existing organ was built in Salmbach near the border between Lauterbourg and Wissembourg. Other Stiehr organs in Alsace have been preserved in Roppenheim and Hoerdt. A total of more than 30 works by him have been proven.

Stiehr was married to Elisabeth Lang († September 7, 1824) and after her death married Ursula Mahler († 1829). The three sons Joseph (1792–1867), Ferdinand (1803–1872) and Xaver (1806–1873) continued the workshop, which was the most productive in Alsace at the time. Stiehr's son-in-law Xaver Mockers (1780–1861) and his son worked as employees in the company, which existed under the name Stiehr-Mockers until 1926.

Works (selection)

In the fifth column, the Roman number indicates the number of manuals , a capital "P" indicates an independent pedal and the Arabic number in the penultimate column indicates the number of sounding registers . The last column lists special features and additional web links on the left. Preserved historical cases (with modern organs) are indicated in italics.

year	place	building	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1783	Salmbach	Salmbach Church				not received
1786	Neuburg on the Rhine	St. Remigius		I / P	13	Restored in 2006/2007
1791	Roppenheim	St. Michael		I / P	13	almost completely preserved
1792	Hœrdt	Parish church		I / P	16
around 1800	Wintzenbach	St Gilles		I / P	11	receive
1808	Hœrdt	Parish church		I / P	16
1808	Rœschwoog	St Barthélémy		III / P	31	almost completely preserved
1815	Beinheim	Sainte-Croix church				Renovated in 1930, 1969 and 2002
1817	Eschau (Bas-Rhin)	St Trophime		I / P	18th	1967 in its original condition and extended by Echowerk with two voices; receive
1823	Grassendorf	St Trophime		I / P	10	largely preserved

literature

• Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Monument organs in the Palatinate . Evangelischer Presseverlag Pfalz, Speyer 1990, ISBN 3-925536-27-2 .
• Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Lexicon of southern German organ builders . Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1994, ISBN 3-7959-0598-2 , p. 406 .

Web links

• decouverte.orgue.free.fr: Organ building families Stiehr and Mockers (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bonkhoff: protected organs in the Pfalz. 1990, p. 345.
2. ^ Organ in Neuburg , accessed on January 4, 2014.
3. ^ Fischer, Wohnhaas: Lexicon of south German organ builders. 1994, p. 406.
4. ↑ List of works at: decouverte.orgue.free.fr: Organ building families Stiehr and Mockers (French), accessed on December 3, 2013.
5. ^ Arndt Chooses: Organ in Neuburg, St. Remigius / Pfalz. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013 ; Retrieved December 28, 2013 . 
6. ^ Organ in Roppenheim , accessed on January 3, 2014.
7. ^ Organ in Hœrdt , accessed on January 3, 2014.
8. ↑ Organ in Wintzenbach ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 3, 2014. 
9. ^ Organ in Hœrdt , accessed on January 3, 2014.
10. ^ Organ in Eschau , accessed on January 3, 2014.
11. ^ Organ in Eschau , accessed on January 3, 2014.
12. ^ Organ in Grassendorf , accessed on January 3, 2014.