Organ landscape Upper Swabia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The organ landscape of Upper Swabia dates back to the 17th century in the way it is today. A total of around 200 organs with historical regional ( organ landscape ) properties are protected as monument organs in Upper Swabia .

17th century

Choir organ in the parish church of St. Maria at Zeil Castle

In Augsburg there is talk of an organ for the first time around 1060; Weltenburg Monastery on the Danube owned such an instrument around 1077. In the Weingarten Monastery, founded in 1056, the earliest records of organs in Upper Swabia can be found under Abbot Conradus de Wagenbach around 1242–1266: "Item ad Organa VIII lib .." In the Romanesque monastery church of Salem an organ sounded from 1250 after Pope Innocent started singing with organ accompaniment. The history of the Ulm Minster's organ begins in 1414, when an "organ master" was liable for tax in the city. In 1433 Master Ludwig from Breslau completed two organs in the Liebfrauenkirche (Münster).

The oldest organ in parts of Upper Swabia is now the choir organ of the Catholic parish church of St. Maria at Zeil Castle . Around 1609 "Master Daniel because of the organ" received 36 guilders and 38 kreuzers. It is probably Daniel Hayl from Irsee , who worked in the region several times.

18th century

The heyday of Upper Swabian organ building is the 18th century. Magnificent organs were built here in the monasteries, six of which have largely been preserved in their original form.

These are the two Gabler organs in Weingarten and Ochsenhausen , three organs by Johann Nepomuk Holzhey in Obermarchtal , Rot an der Rot and Weißenau (two other Holzhey instruments have been preserved in Neresheim and Ursberg ). In addition, there is the aforementioned choir organ in the Zeil Castle Church. In addition, two instruments from the Schmahl family ( Jungingen 1770/1771 by Georg Friedrich Schmahl and Berghülen 1780–1784 by Johann Matthäus Schmahl ) have been partially preserved. There are eight organs from the 18th century, plus three or four instruments in the former Hohenzollern part of the Sigmaringen district (e.g. in the monasteries of Inzigkofen and Wald ).

In the Lake Constance district , which has not yet been investigated in more detail, there is probably no organ from the 18th century with a case and pipework.

That is at most a dozen largely completely preserved organs from the 18th century in the whole of Upper Swabia, plus around three dozen brochures with modern pipework (with a few old remains) behind them.

19th century to early 20th century

Organ in the parish church of Wuchzenhofen (case by Peter Paul Braun, 1845/1846)

The secularization abruptly ended the heyday of the Upper Swabian organ building. With the abolition of the monasteries, the organ builders lost their most important clients. The workshop of Johann (Nepomuk) Holzhey, which was still overloaded with orders in 1798, had to keep its head above water after 1803 with carpentry work.

The abolition of the monasteries was followed by a period of about 30 years of "wild" organ builders. "Half-trained piano makers or other individuals who for some time worked the planes in the workshops of real organ builders", it is said in an Augsburg publication from 1848, are by no means up to the business of organ building and bring "the greatest pecuniary damage" to the communities.

In Upper Swabia, these decades are associated with the names of amateur and “backpack organ builders” such as the brothers Joseph and Kaspar Speidel, who worked on organs from Upper Swabia between 1800 and 1830. Franz Anton Ruef and his son Friedrich also belong to them; the latter would rather sit in the pub than do his work.

After the Württemberg administration had established itself in Upper Swabia, the royal administration appointed organ inspectors due to the many complaints. These were proven experts, including as one of the first in the “Danube District” the Ulm cathedral organist Friedrich Dieffenbacher. He and his colleagues did not mince their words in their reports and gradually brought about order. No new purchase or repairs could be commissioned without their approval.

When the continuous rail link Stuttgart – Ulm – Friedrichshafen was completed in 1854, the trained organ builders Carl Gottlieb Weigle (1810–1882), Eberhard Friedrich Walcker (1794–1872) and the brothers Paul (1821–1891) and Johann ( 1821–1871) Establish link in Upper Swabia. Weigle has preserved the organ built in Altheim / Alb (Alb-Donau district) in 1856 (op. 31) , the instrument built in Lonsee in 1861 (Alb-Danube district) and the organ built in Baltringen (Biberach district) in 1863 . Several organs from Weigle in Upper Swabian town churches - for example in Biberach , Ehingen , Saulgau and Ravensburg - were demolished in the course of modernizations in the 1960s to 1970s.

In Bolstern (town of Bad Saulgau, district of Sigmaringen), Walcker built an organ in 1881/1882, which is almost completely original. This also applies to his work, which was built in Boms (Ravensburg district) in 1883 ; His organ from 1887 in Erlau (Ravensburg district) has hardly changed .

A number of works by various masters have been preserved from the organs built in Upper Swabia in the 19th century. In 1839 the Ennetach organ builder Vitus Klingler installed an organ in the (old) parish church of St. Mauritius in Langenenslingen (Biberach district), followed by a work in Magenbuch (Sigmaringen district) in 1845 ; both instruments are essentially preserved.

An organ with ten registers was built in 1841/1842 by the Ulm organ builder Franz Sales Hechinger for the parish church of St. Blasius in Attenweiler (Biberach district); it is largely in its original condition. The eight-register organ by Friedrich Schaefer, which has now been restored and installed in the village church of Michelwinnaden (Ravensburg district) in 1859, is also well preserved . In the same year, the Rottweiler organ builder Ferdinand Benz delivered an organ with 10 registers to the Catholic. Zwiefaltendorf parish church , in 1993 the Späth workshop restored the instrument. The Reutlingen music director Jacob Adam Seitz rated the new building by Wilhelm Blessing in the Catholic Church, completed in 1864, as “excellent”. Parish Church of St. Martin Unteressendorf (Biberach district); the organ is preserved in playable condition; At the moment, people are collecting in the community for a restoration suitable for listed buildings.

In the Upper Swabian part of the Alb-Donau district, two well-preserved Link organs should be noted. In 2003 the restoration of the organ built in 1887 in the parish and pilgrimage church of Our Lady in Ehingen was completed, in the nearby Nasgenstadt there is a Link organ from 1877. In Schmalegg (Ravensburg district) there is an organ built by Link in 1864, which was made Restored in 1991 by the builder company.

The great times of the Späth organ building dynasty began in the last third of the 19th century. Franz Xaver, the son of the company's founder, Alois Späth, installed an organ in the Liebfrauenkapelle in Bad Saulgau from 1880–1890. In 1988 it was completely overhauled.

As "court organ builders", the Späths created a number of works. The organ built in 1907 in the former Habsthal monastery (Sigmaringen district, completely overhauled) has been preserved, a work in need of overhaul in the former Hedingen monastery in Sigmaringen from 1912, and the organ in the small village of Wuchzenhofen (town of Leutkirch, Ravensburg district), in 1915 Housing built in by Peter Paul Braun (1845/1846).

Finally, the organ built by Walcker in the Martin Luther Church in Ulm in 1928 is also considered "historic" ; the work was restored in 2008–2009.

Organ builder in Upper Swabia 1500–1900

Preliminary remark: During this period there were several hundred organ builders working in Upper Swabia, many are only mentioned once. The important masters were not only active on a limited regional basis, but also worked in Vorarlberg and Switzerland. The following list is incomplete.

The Aichgasser organ on the nun's gallery in the Wald monastery
  • Johann Georg Aichgasser (1701–1767) is one of the most important masters in the Bodensee-Allgäu-Oberschwaben-Switzerland area. Some of its organs - for example in the Wald Abbey or in Fischingen Abbey in Switzerland - have been preserved heavily modified. Numerous records of repairs can be found in the archives - around 1735 in Wangen / Allgäu.
  • Chrysostomus Baur (1662–1729) can be regarded as an important master at the turn of the 18th century. He worked in the Ulmer Land and Swabia between 1690 and 1729. His greatest work in 1699 was the rebuilding of the Ulm cathedral organ . The prospectus of his organ in Altheim / Alb has been preserved. Georg Friedrich Schmahl continued the workshop.
  • Wilhelm Blessing (1832–1870), organ builder from Esslingen , worked several times in Upper Swabia, around 1870 in Baindt (Ravensburg district). His organ, built in Unteressendorf (Biberach district) in 1864 , has been modified (by Link).
  • Peter Paul Braun (1807–1888) was a carpenter and “at some point came up with the unfortunate idea” to work as an organ builder. From 1841 he worked on many organs in the Leutkirch -Wangen-Isny area. The case and a pedal register of his organ in Wuchzenhofen , built in 1845/1846, is preserved with a work by Späth (1915). Peter Paul Braun has nothing to do with the Braun organ builders from Spaichingen; the latter was also active in Upper Swabia - for example in Haslach (Biberach district).
  • Hans Buchner , citizen of Ravensburg , organist and organ builder in personal union, was employed there for life in 1493. He had "also to take care of the work against damage". His son of the same name, Hans Buchner , in Constance from 1506, was a well-known composer.
  • Jörg / Jerg Ebert / Eberhardt (around 1500 – after 1573) is considered to be "famous and artful", but also very idiosyncratic organ maker. He became a citizen in Ravensburg in 1542 after building the new organ in the Liebfrauenkirche a year earlier. Ebert - in Wangen he is called Eberhardt in the council minutes - built organs in Weißenau , Ottobeuren and Wangen im Allgäu , among others . The organ maker was a sought-after master who also worked in Austria and Switzerland. Its organ in the Innsbruck Court Church has been preserved. In 1573 Jörg Eberhardt was accepted as a citizen in Wangen together with his son Matthias. After that his trace is lost, in 1574 he is - unlike his son Matthias - no longer mentioned in the council minutes.
  • Johann Husband († 1670), a citizen of Ulm since 1649 , built an organ in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Ulm from 1639 to 1641 . In the Ravensburg district, he worked in Wangen and Leutkirch.
  • Franz Xaver Engelfried (1805–1881) worked in Weißenau in 1827, and from 1849 to 1852 he built an organ in the Steinhausen pilgrimage church (today the town of Bad Schussenried). Allegedly for political reasons - probably also because of his debts - he emigrated to the USA in 1853. There he and his sons continued to build organs.
  • Johann Georg Fux / Fuchs (1651? –1738) was one of the leading South German masters at the time. He was in discussion in 1734 for the construction of the main organ in Weingarten; In 1735 he built a choir organ in Isny. The organ in Fürstenfeldbruck (1736) has been preserved from his numerous new buildings in Swabia and Bavaria.
Game table of the Gabler organ in Weingarten
  • As early as 1812, Joseph Gabler (1700–1771) was described in a music lexicon as “one of the most excellent organ builders of our time”. His two largely preserved organs in Weingarten (63 registers, 1737–1750) and Ochsenhausen (his first work built from 1728 to 1734, rebuilt from 1750 to 1753, 45 registers) are cultural assets of European standing.
    Gabler learned from his father, the carpenter Hans Gabler, and from 1719 he was trained as an organ builder in Mainz, presumably by Anton Ignaz Will or Johann Jacob Dahm. After his failed application to take care of the cathedral organs, Gabler returned to his hometown, and in 1728 he began building his masterpiece. In addition to the organs in Ochsenhausen and Weingarten, Joseph Gabler built a number of new buildings and conversions, of which the organ in Maria Steinbach has been preserved in major changes.
    In his book Joseph Gabler Orgelmacher (Biberach 2002), which has now become a standard work , the church musician Johannes Mayr has presented the life and work of the master in an exhaustive manner and provided a comprehensive source section. There are also insights into the personality of Joseph Gabler: the ingenious inventor, technician and inventor faces a man who acted chaotically in business matters. With his chronic lack of punctuality and the constant financial demands he made his clients desperate.
  • Johann Andreas Goll (1751–1823) and his son Ludwig Friedrich Goll (1785–1853) worked several times in the “Ulmer Land”. In 1809 Johann Andreas rebuilt the organ built by Schmahl from 1742 to 1743 in Laichingen; In 1833/1834 Ludwig Friedrich applied in vain for repairs in St. Martin, Biberach. Christoph Ludwig Goll (1824–1897) worked at Weigle and Schaefer (Heilbronn), was temporarily associated with Gruol. After Goll's death, Friedrich Schaefer (1861–1920) continued the workshop. The organ built by Schaefer in 1859 in Michaelwinnaden (Ravensburg district) has been preserved. Goll / Schaefer built around 130 inexpensive organs throughout Württemberg.
  • Benedikt Grieser (1754–1838) from Uttenweiler (Biberach district) was a long-time journeyman of Johann (Nepomuk) Holzhey and worked with him, among other things, in Rot an der Rot and Obermarchtal.
  • Haaser / Haser, organ builder family in Stiefenhofen and Immenstadt:
    • Franz Anton Haser (1763–1825) built numerous organs a. a. in Treherz (reconstructed), Gebrazhofen, Roggenzell and probably also in Merazhofen (all districts of Ravensburg).
    • the son Remigius Haaser (1797-1860) and Franz 'grandson Fidel Haaser probably did not work in Upper Swabia.
  • Johann Christoph Hagemann (1735-1819) came from Magdeburg and married in Tübingen in 1764. After 1800 he made an association with Georg Christian Knecht (1779–1820), the son of the Biberach composer and music director Justin Heinrich Knecht.
  • The organ builders Hanser come from Singenberg, a hamlet near Wangen. Franz Xaver Hanser (1697–1750) was a “teacher and organ builder”. The sons Raymund Hanser (1734-1810) and Mauriz Hanser (1737-1817), as well as Raymund's son Franz Xaver Hanser , worked in the Allgäu. From 1770 to 1836 they worked several times in Wangen (1770 two new organs were built in St. Martin, Wangen). There were family ties to Franz Anton Kiene .
  • Johannes Hauber (1697–1750) from Stiefenhofen worked in Leutkirch and Isny, and there is evidence of a new building in Esseratsweiler (Ravensburg district).
  • Johann Carl Sigmund Haussdörffer (1714–1767) was a busy organ builder to whom 18 new structures have been ascribed to date. From 1753 to 1754 he built a work with a "preform of the cone chest " in the Protestant town church in Blaubeuren , and in 1759 he set up a used organ in Mundingen (Alb-Donau district). Apparently the small organ in the Protestant hospital church in Biberach came from him.
  • Daniel Hayl (life data unknown) was resident in Irsee near Kaufbeuren by 1591 at the latest. Activity records are available between 1591 in Ravensburg and 1630 in Altshausen (Ravensburg district). Hayl was in demand nationwide and worked in Ochsenhausen from around 1599 to 1603. In 1609 he ("Master Daniel") probably built an organ in the Zeil Castle Church.
  • Anton Hechinger (1755–1835) took over the workshop of his stepfather Joseph Martin . The son Franz Sales Hechinger (1800–1887) settled in Ulm or Wiblingen (today Ulm-Wiblingen) around 1830 and perhaps took over the orphaned workshop of the organ builder Schmahl. He worked in Zwiefalten and in the Laupheim-Illertal area. His organ in Attenweiler (1841/1842, Biberach district) has been preserved, as has the case of his new building built in 1835 in Grundsheim (Alb-Donau district). Hechinger emigrated to the USA in 1855. There, the workshop “Francis Hechinger and son” operated jointly with his son Eduard was able to establish itself in New York ; it can be traced back to 1883.
Organ case by Jacob Hör in the parish church of St. Katharina , Wolfegg
  • Jacob Hör (1702–1741) was an organ maker in Reinstetten near Ochsenhausen. The case and some registers have been preserved from his organ building in Wolfegg (1736, Ravensburg district). He was also active in the nearby Kisslegg.
  • Joseph Höß (1745–1797), organ maker in Ochsenhausen. Allegedly he is said to have spent his journeyman time in Saxony (with Schmahl, Zittau?). After Gabler and Holzhey, Höß is considered to be the most important organ builder in Upper Swabia at the end of the 18th century. In addition to the preserved organ in Dischingen , extensive parts of his choir organs have been preserved (reconstructed) in Neresheim, Kaisheim and Ochsenhausen. Höß expanded the choir organ in the Zeil Castle Church from 1782 to 1785.
  • Johann Georg Hofer (1680–1731) worked in Leutkirch and built an organ in the pilgrimage church (Bad) Wurzach.
Holzhey organ in Weißenau
  • Johann Nepomuk Holzhey (1741–1809) was one of the most productive and important organ builders of the 18th century. A considerable number of his large organs have been preserved, such as the works in the monastery churches of Neresheim, Rot an der Rot, Obermarchtal, Weißenau and Ursberg. In total, the construction of 28 organs has been secured. After secularization, the workshop kept afloat with carpentry work, and two village organs were created - 1803 in Kirchbierlingen (Alb-Donau district) and 1809 in Dürmentingen (Biberach district).
  • Martin Kettinger can only be found with a repair in 1595 in Schussenried; his life dates are unknown.
  • Franz Anton Kiene (1777–1847) is the progenitor of an important organ building family from Amtzell near Wangen in the Allgäu. The trained carpenter trained as an organ builder from 1802 to 1804 with the Hanser brothers in Singenberg. From 1808 to 1828 he had his workshop in Kißlegg, then in Langenargen. Kiene was the busiest organ builder in the Allgäu and Upper Swabia in the first half of the 19th century with around 70 new buildings and conversions - 18 of them in the Ravensburg district. The remains of a Kiene organ from 1843/1845 have been preserved in Hochberg / City of Saulgau. Franz Anton carried on the Upper Swabian baroque tradition in a peculiar way.
  • The son Johann Nepomuk Kiene (1812–1902) took over the workshop. Ten of his more than 30 new buildings and conversions were made in the Ravensburg district.
  • Johann Nepomuk's son Johann Franz Anton Kiene (1845–1908) opened a workshop in Waldkirch, which in turn was continued by his son Rudolf Kiene (1888–1971). Wolfram Stützle (* 1956) reopened the company that had been closed for years.
  • Joseph Klingler (1805–1878) and Vitus Klingler (1810–1877) from Hart near Haigerloch were busy organ builders in Upper Swabia and Hohenzollern around the middle of the 19th century. The brothers can be traced back to Emerfeld (Biberach district) for the first time in 1828 . While Vitus often worked on Upper Swabian monastery organs, for example in Zwiefalten and Schussenried, Joseph Klingler's main area of ​​work was Hohenzollern. An organ built by Vitus in 1839 in Langenenslingen (Biberach district) and a small work in Magenbuch (1843, Sigmaringen district) have been preserved. The oeuvre of the two well-trained organ builders who love to write includes around 100 new buildings, conversions and major repairs.
  • Marinus Köck (1666–1721) became a lay brother with the Franciscans in 1685. His stepfather Ursus Neinlist trained him as an organ builder. Between 1687 and 1718 he was traveling from the “Order Province of Tyrol” to Swabia in the Upper Austrian region. At times he was a member of the Ehinger and Waldsee convents. In Waldsee he built an organ; it is believed that he also worked several times in other monastery churches in Upper Swabia.
  • Marinus Köck's nephew Gaudentius Köck (1691–1744) also worked as an organ builder for the Franciscans and was also sent to southern Germany. He was a member of the Ehingen convent from 1725 to 1727 and possibly built an organ in the Franciscan church in Ehingen, which was consecrated in 1725.
  • Johann Kuhn (1766–1806) comes from Muttensweiler (Biberach district). He has nothing to do with the Swiss organ builders Kuhn. In 1797 the "Kleinmeister" repaired the organ in Riedlingen, in 1804 he worked in Bolstern (Sigmaringen district), and in 1805 he built an organ (not preserved) in Hochberg / City of Saulgau. Kuhn has been identified with repairs several times in the Saulgau-Ostrach region (Sigmaringen district).
  • Johann Nepomuk Kuhn (1827–1888) was the founder of the Orgelbau Kuhn company in Männedorf, Switzerland . The former Weigle employee was perhaps at Weigle's organ building in Waldsee in 1853. The company has made a name for itself in Upper Swabia primarily through the restoration of the Gabler organs in Weingarten and Ochsenhausen (there together with Klais).
  • Josef Lang (1703–1773) built two organs in the Ravensburg district in 1739 (Berg) and 1766/1767 (Bergatreute). His son Johann Baptist Lang (1747-1816) was Aichgasser's workshop successor in Überlingen. His organ in Inzigkofen (1780) has been modified. Other instruments with little original substance have been preserved in Reichenau-Niederzell and Kehlen , for example .
  • Joseph Laubekh (1713–1770) may have received his training from Josef Gabler. He married the widow of the organ maker Jacob Hör and took over the workshop in Ochsenhausen. After his death, Joseph Höß succeeded the workshop. Organ buildings in Steinhausen / Rottum (1745) and Ziegelbach near Bad Wurzach (1746) are known from Hör.
The console of the Link organ in Schmalegg
  • The Link workshop in Giengen is one of the oldest organ building companies in southern Germany. Founded in 1851 by the brothers Paul and Johann Link, the workshop established itself in Upper Swabia in the last third of the 19th century. A few utility organs, for example in Schmalegg (1864, Ravensburg district), Nasgenstadt near Ehingen (1877) and in Ehingen (1886) have been preserved. Eugen Link's three sons continued to run the company. In 1995, under its owner Christoph Naacke, the workshop had built well over 1000 organs, and in 2001 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary. Now the "Giengener Orgelmanufaktur Gebr. Link GmbH" is managed by Thomas Wohlleb, the website now shows an inventory of over 1060 organs built.
  • Christoph Löw / Leu, "the elder" (around 1640 - around 1710), left his hometown Clausthal in 1661 and settled in Augsburg. Although evangelical - fuit lutheranus, sed vir bonus (“he was a Lutheran, but a good man”) - he built an organ in monk's red from 1669 to 1671. In addition, it is proven between 1669 and 1690 with work in Biberach, Schussenried and Steinhausen (?). The large organ in the monastery church in Rheinau (Switzerland) has been preserved by his son Johann Christoph (1675–1749) .
  • Joseph Martin (around 1740 - before 1807) was the successor to Aegidius Schni (t) zer in Hayingen. He became famous for his monumental organ in Zwiefalten, built from 1771 to 1777, and in 1765 he signed a new building contract in Altshausen (Ravensburg district). New buildings are still known in Ringingen and Pappelau (Alb-Donau district), in 1786 he repaired both organs in the parish church of Ehingen. Like Gabler, Martin had to endure the ridicule of the self-confident Johann Andreas Silbermann.
  • Gottfried Maucher (1740–1830) from Konstanz was a Gabler employee. He was involved in numerous organ projects in what was then Upper Austria, including in Altshausen, Aulendorf, Reute Abbey and (Bad) Waldsee. A few of his pianos have survived, but no organs.
  • Xaver Mönch (1843–1907) was the founder of the organ building workshop in Überlingen. The sons Franz and Otto traded as "X.Mönch Sons, Orgelbauanstalt". The grandson Karl-Otto Mönch won Horst Prachtel as a partner in 1972, and the company was then called "Mönch und Prachtel". Today Peter (* 1952) and Hans Mönch (* 1956) run the business. The organ built by the company's founder in 1893 has been preserved in Herdwangen-Schönach (Sigmaringen district), and the workshop has rebuilt or rebuilt numerous organs, especially in the Bodensee-Meßkirch-Pfullendorf area.
  • Anton Neuknecht († 1609/1610) worked in Innsbruck in 1576 and moved to the Bavarian court in Munich in 1586. From 1596 he worked in Salem and Überlingen, and in 1603 Neuknecht expanded the organ in Weißenau. In 1604 he received "Beisitz" in Ravensburg, 1608 citizenship; It is not known whether he worked on organs there.
  • Sebastian Ochsenreiter / Ochsenreuter (life data unknown) signed a new building contract in Isny ​​in 1714. In 1730 he delivered a positive to Weingarten, from 1732 to 1735 he worked in Schloss Zeil.
  • Paul Prescher (1628–1695), like the organ builder Schmahl, comes from Zittau and is one of the most important southern German organ builders of the 17th century. He mainly worked in the Aalen, Nördlingen, Heidenheim region. For Ochsenhausen Monastery he delivered a positive with five registers from 1688 to 1693. His son Nikolaus (approx. 1670–1712) probably also worked in Ochsenhausen. Johann Michael, the father of Georg Friedrich Schmahl, learned from Paul Prescher.
Reiser organ in the parish church of Hauerz
  • Albert Reiser (1874–1947) learned from Mönch, Späth and Schlimbach and in 1906 took over the orphaned workshop of Adolf Schefold, the son of Johann Baptist Schefold (1843–1901) in Biberach. In addition to solid and inexpensive utility organs, he created works of excellent craftsmanship, such as his opus 1 in Bach / near Erbach (Alb-Donau district) in 1906 or an organ in Hauerz (town of Bad Wurzach, Ravensburg district) in 1916. His sons Albert, Hans and Josef continued the workshop as " Gebrüder Reiser " and made it one of the big organ building companies in southern Germany. Hans Peter Reiser (* 1943) has been running the business since 1983.
  • Urban Reitter / Reütter (1672–1730) was the first master to be designated as an organ builder in Hayingen (Reutlingen district). He worked in Marchtal from 1696–1702 and set up an organ in 1699 in the Wald monastery (Sigmaringen district) and in Laupheim (Biberach district) in 1721.
  • Aaron Riegg / Riekh (1573–1654) was probably a student of Schneider / Sartorius. He received a seat in Ravensburg in 1611 and built an organ there in the Protestant city church and in Leutkirch in 1615. Works by his son Tobias Sigmund († 1684?) In Dietenheim (Alb-Donau district) and at Zeil Castle have been documented.
  • Karl Joseph Riepp (1710–1775) was born near Ottobeuren, but worked mainly in France. In his home country he built several organs for the important imperial abbeys Ottobeuren and Salem.
  • Martin Rück / Ruck from Worms built an organ in the Weingarten Monastery from 1554 to 1559 for an allegedly 5800 guilders. Rück died on January 10, 1559.
  • Franz Anton Ruef (1776–1840) from Waldsee repaired numerous organs in the Waldsee-Biberach region; two new buildings of him in Ebersbach (1830/1831) and Ziegelbach (1834 to 1837) - both places in the Ravensburg district - are known.
  • His son Friedrich Ruef (1811-after 1852) had a rather dubious reputation - although he worked temporarily for Aug. Laukhuff and Walcker. He couldn’t walk past an inn and left behind botch and debts. Well-known new buildings: Reinstetten b. Ochsenhausen 1841, Hürbel (Biberach district) 1843, Zußdorf and Pfrungen (Ravensburg district) 1848/49.
  • Samuel Ruff (1820–1890) and his son Theodor (1859 to after 1904) from Sigmaringendorf were mainly involved in repairs in today's Sigmaringen district. Samuel Ruff tried to build new buildings (e.g. Krumbach near Sauldorf 1855/1860; preserved), but the assessments of the experts about his work were not very flattering.
  • Friedrich Schaefer (1825–1892?) Delivered some organs to Upper Swabia around 1860, of which the work, which was built from 1857 to 1859 in Michelwinnaden (Ravensburg district) - restoration 2005 - has been preserved.
  • Joseph Schefold (1764 – after 1837), a carpenter in Betzenweiler (Biberach district), was the progenitor of the Schefold organ builders in Biberach, Ehingen and CH-Beckenried. His eldest son Clemens Schefold (1796–1868), at times associated with his brother Konrad Schefold (1804–1868), was sharply criticized by the organ revisionists for his extremely poor work. After 1855 he disappeared from the scene and probably moved back to his son Ludwig (1830-1883) in Beckenried on Lake Lucerne . There is nothing left of his work in Upper Swabia.
    Brother Konrad Schefold started his own business in Biberach in 1838 and worked as an organ and instrument maker. In addition to five proven new buildings in Upper Swabia, he mainly dealt with repairs.
    Konrad's son Johann Baptist Schefold (1843–1901) worked for Walcker for eight years and was involved in some of his projects. Between 1878 and 1884 he was well employed with ten employees and carried out numerous repairs on Upper Swabian organs; they were judged largely benevolently by the auditors. Some of his surviving village organs - for example in Uigendorf (1875/1876) and Walpertshofen (1888/1889, both in the Biberach district) - speak for the solid craftsman Schefold.
    After his death, his son Adolf Christian Schefold (1873–1905) continued the workshop, but because of his chronic unreliability he spoiled all sympathies and orders. In 1906 Albert Reiser took over the orphaned workshop.
Organ of the Roggenburg monastery church with the prospectus by Georg Friedrich Schmahl
  • Georg Friedrich Schmahl (1700–1773) was a Protestant contemporary but not a competitor of Gabler. On the occasion of his organ building in Aalen (1769) he was even referred to as the "Swabian silver man". There were hardly any points of contact between the two masters, because the Protestant Schmahl was mainly active in the “Ulmer Land”. His prospectus in the Roggenburg monastery church is considered to be the "most elegant in southern Germany and also completely unique of its kind". Schmahl left behind 45 organs, some of which have been partially preserved in the Ulmer Land.
    His son Johann Matthäus Schmahl (1734–1793) was less ambitious, it took him four years (1780–1784) to build his (preserved) organ in Berghülen (Alb-Donau district). His younger brother Georg Friedrich Schmahl the Elder. J. (1748–1827) continued to run the workshop. After him, his son, Christoph Friedrich Schmahl (1787–1839) took over the workshop. A few instruments and repairs are assigned to him. With his death, the Ulm line of the Schmahl organ building family came to an end. The workshop successor was most likely Franz Sales Hechinger.
  • Andreas Schneider / Sartorius (approx. 1550 - approx. 1620) from Luckau worked in Weingarten in 1613 and made an organ on the gallery in the monastery church. He was very busy and also worked in (Ober) marchtal, Reutlingen, Rot an der Rot, Wiblingen Monastery and Ulm, among others. Sartorius also worked in Italy, Holland and Prague.
  • Aegidius Schni (t) zer (1693 – after 1756) was Reitter's workshop successor in Hayingen. In 1726 he built a large organ with 30 registers for 700 guilders in the Siessen monastery, in 1730 he built a new organ in Marchtal and worked in Ehingen, Ravensburg and Inzigkofen, among others.
  • Johann Michael Schultes (1776–1858) was a journeyman at Holzhey and together with Benedikt Grieser built an organ in Val Gardena / South Tyrol on behalf of Holzhey. He carried out several repairs in the Biberach district; 25 new buildings are known of him.
The console of the Schwarz organ in Salem Minster
  • Wilhelm Schwarz (1848–1912), trained by Joseph Braun in Spaichingen, is the founder of a Wilhelm Schwarz & Sohn workshop in Überlingen that has been active for decades . In 1902/1903 he built the preserved organ in the pilgrimage church of Engelswies (Sigmaringen district). The workshop was hardly active in Upper Swabia.
  • Julius Schwarzbauer (1873 – after 1940) was an organ builder in Ochsenhausen and Mindelheim. He built around 50 works in Upper Swabia, mostly of poor quality; his organ in the Kreuzberg chapel in Schönebürg (Biberach district) has been preserved. Schwarzbauer's company went bankrupt during the inflationary period, and he emigrated to the United States in 1928.
  • In 1753, Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712–1783) was urgently asked to build the new organ in Zwiefalten. He refused and made fun of Joseph Gabler and Joseph Martin several times in his diaries.
Organ by the Späth brothers (op.152) in Ringgenweiler (Gde.Horgenzell), 1907
  • Alois Späth (1825–1876) is the progenitor of an important family of organ builders in southern Germany. Alois Späth learned organ building from Vitus Klingler and took over his workshop in Ennetach in 1862. It is proven several times with repairs, its 1870 built organ in Allmannsweiler (Biberach district) has been preserved.
    His son Franz Xaver (1859–1940) worked for various organ builders (Benz, Mönch, Branmann), in 1882 he reopened the workshop that had been orphaned by the death of his father. In 1912 Späth became court organ builder, in 1927 papal purveyor to the court. Alongside Walcker and Klais, the company was one of the leading organ building workshops in southern Germany.
    Numerous instruments have been preserved from the company's heyday, such as the organs in Habsthal Abbey, Sigmaringen district (1907), in the Sigmaringen-Hedingen crypt church (1912) and the village organ in Wuchzenhofen (town of Leutkirch), built in 1915. In four generations, the Gebr. Späth Orgelbau workshop in Oberschwaben and Hohenzollern built around 250 organs up to 1985, the works from the 1960s were not always of first-class quality. In 2002 the Ennetach location was closed, and Hartwig Späth from March-Hugstetten near Freiburg took over the business. The fifth generation is represented by Hartwig's son Tilman (* 1984).
  • The brothers Joseph Speidel and Kaspar Speidel (1783–1875) immigrated to Upper Swabia around 1818. You probably belonged to those half-trained and "wild backpack organ builders" and in 1817 probably took over the orphaned workshop of Evermod Schmid in Schussenried. The two of them mended numerous Upper Swabian organs. Kaspar Speidel's son Karl Anton (born 1815) was examined by appraiser Dr. Kocher from Stuttgart called "the most outspoken botch"; he emigrated to the USA in 1853.
  • Hieronymus Spiegel (1699-after 1778), organ maker in Rottenburg and Waldsee left behind a number of smaller organs, for example in Haigerloch, Kaiseringen and Mühlheim an der Donau. His main work is the organ in Beuron Abbey (Sigmaringen district), built between 1741 and 1749, the prospect of which has been in Pfullendorf since 1807. Spiegel also applied in Biberach in 1775.
  • Johann (1862–1924) and his brother Josef Stehle (1873–1946) founded an organ building workshop in Haigerloch-Bittelbronn in 1894. The company - today Stehle-Orgelbau GmbH - mainly works in the former Hohenzollern and Baden parts of the Sigmaringen district. In Ablach / Gem. Krauchenwies (Sigmaringen district) has a cone shop organ from 1904/1905, some Stehle organs are also in the Upper Swabian part (Saulgau district) of the Sigmaringen district.
  • Kaspar Sturm (around 1540 to after 1604) built an organ in Ulm Minster from 1576 to 1578, and before 1575 he was allegedly also active in Blaubeuren.
  • Gilg Taiglin / Teuglin repaired the cathedral organ in Ulm in 1521, and in 1533 the Abbot Gerwig Blarer from Weingarten recommended him as a good organ maker and master “who understood his art”.
  • Father Christoph Vogt (1648–1725), Benedictine father in Ottobeuren, worked as an architect and organ builder. An organ attributed to him in the Holzen monastery (built in 1682 or 1687) had the only spring-loaded drawer known in Swabia . The design of the organ case in Ummendorf (Biberach district) - the pipework is by Weigle / Reiser - probably came from him.
Walcker organ in the former garrison church St. Georg in Ulm
  • Eberhard Friedrich Walcker (1794–1872), son of the organ maker Johann Eberhard Walcker (1756–1843), founded a company in Ludwigsburg in 1820, which became world-famous. Some of his organs have been preserved in Upper Swabia - for example Betzenweiler, Sulmingen (Biberach district) or in Bolstern / Bad Saulgau (1881). The introduction of the cone drawer (1842) is associated with the name Walcker. The company delivered monumental organs all over the world; three instruments alone in the Ulm Minster (1856, complete renovation in 1889, new building in 1969, opus 5000). In addition, two Walcker organs are in Ulm in the cath. Parish church of St. Georg (1904) and in the Martin Luther Church (1928) preserved. The company's history ended in 2003 when the workshop finally had to cease operations. Gerhard Walcker-Mayer (* 1950) currently runs a workshop under his own name in Saarland; there is an independent company in Guntramsdorf near Vienna, run by Michael Walcker-Mayer (* 1957).
Bergatreute parish church, organ with the neo-baroque prospect by CG Weigle, 1860
  • Carl Gottlob Weigle (1810–1882) was trained by his uncle Eberhard Friedrich Walcker. In 1845 he started his own business in Stuttgart. In the series of around 100 organ works he built, he built several large instruments in town churches in Upper Swabia, including his first Upper Swabian organ in 1853, opus 22, in Waldsee. All city church organs - Biberach, Ehingen, Ravensburg, Saulgau - were demolished in the 1960s. Smaller organs have survived, such as the work built for Baltringen (Biberach district) in 1863 or the prospectus of his organ in Bergatreute (Ravensburg district) from 1860. Weigle's
    sons (including Friedrich Weigle ) and grandchildren developed numerous technical innovations, the company was still in Active Upper Swabia. Why great-grandson Fritz Weigle (* 1925) gave up his business in 1985 for op. 1381 is unknown, as the workshop book still contained three new building orders. Fritz's son Joachim F. Weigle runs his own workshop in St. Johann-Upfingen (near Bad Urach, Reutlingen district).
  • Xaver Wetzel (1871–1923) came from Rot near Laupheim (Biberach district). From 1908 he was in a management position at Link and ran a branch of the Giengen company in Namur. In 1918 he returned to Rot with his family and settled there as an organ builder. The organs made for Rot and Großschafhausen (Biberach district) have been preserved. Wetzel's brother Xaver emigrated to the USA between 1910 and 1920 and opened a workshop there, which his son Markus Wetzel (1904–1984) ran until his death.

literature

  • Otto Beck, Ingeborg Maria Buck: Oberschwäbische Barockstraße . 6th edition. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-7954-1124-6 .
  • Hermann Fischer : Organ building around Lake Constance . In: Ars Organi . 56th year, issue 1, March 2008, p. 1–12 ( gdo.de [PDF]).
  • Wolfgang Manecke, Johannes Mayr: Historical organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Biberach . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-7954-1069-X ( content ).
  • Wolfgang Manecke, Johannes Mayr: Historical organs in Ulm and Upper Swabia. Pipe organs in the Alb-Donau district, in Ulm, Hayingen and Zwiefalten . South German Verlagsges., Ulm 1999, ISBN 3-88294-268-1 ( content ).
  • Wolfgang Manecke, Johannes Mayr, Mark Vogl: Historical organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Ravensburg . Josef Fink, Lindenberg 2006, ISBN 3-89870-250-2 ( content ).
  • Wolfgang Manecke, Mark Vogl: Historical organs in the three-country district of Sigmaringen . Gmeiner, Meßkirch 2010, ISBN 978-3-8392-1152-6 ( content )
  • Wolfgang Manecke, Mark Vogl: Historical organs in the Lake Constance district . Gmeiner, Meßkirch 2014, ISBN 978-3-8392-1639-2 ( content )
  • Josef Edwin Miltschitzky: Ottobeuren: a European organ center. Organ builders, organs, and traditional organ music . Dissertation, University of Amsterdam 2012 ( full text )
  • Bernd Sulzmann: Information about the work of Swabian organ makers in Baden from the 16th to the 19th century . In: Alfred Reichling (Ed.): Mundus Organorum. Festschrift Walter Supper . Merseburger, Berlin 1978, p. 322-361 .
  • Helmut Völkl, Eugen Gröner, Wolfgang Rehfeldt: Organs in Württemberg . Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-7751-1090-9 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, B 515 Volume 9,10,15,66,75,86 and Bü 15. ("For the organ eight pounds [paid]")
  2. ^ Peter Nicola: Salem organ history. In: Münsterpfarrei Salem (ed.): Music in Salem. Owingen 2005, pp. 28-43.
  3. ↑ Donat Müller: Brief description of the individual parts of the church organ ... a necessary handbook. Augsburg 1848, pp. 40/41. ( Digitized version )
  4. ↑ The contract with Buchner is quoted in: Ingeborg Rücker: Die deutsche Orgel am Oberrhein um 1500. Freiburg 1940, p. 164.
  5. ^ Hermann Fischer , Theodor Wohnhaas : Historical organs in Swabia. Regensburg 1982, p. 212

Web links