Paul Prescher

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Prescher (* 1628 ; † March 25, 1695 in Nördlingen ) was a Swabian organ builder .

Organ by Paul Prescher in Assumption of Mary (Niederschönenfeld)

Life

Paul Prescher came "from Sittau from Lausitz" and may have learned the trade in his own family, because his father was a carpenter and in 1673 an organ builder from Zittau is called Prescher. Paul Prescher left his home country a few years after the end of the Thirty Years' War . His work began in 1654 with the branch in Burtenbach , where he opened a workshop in the New House . On June 26, 1654, he married Anna Maria Saugenfinger (1626–1693) from Nördlingen . Already on April 24, 1657, Prescher and his wife were granted citizenship in the then imperial city of Nördlingen and now ran his organ workshop here.

Prescher built numerous organ works in northern Swabia and the neighboring Franconia, of which around twenty have been documented. He was the teacher of Benedikt Eismann in Ansbach , who married a daughter of Prescher, and of Johann Michael Schmahl in Ulm (later in Heilbronn ). His four sons were also organ and piano builders, including Georg Friedrich Schmahl . Johann Friedrich Macrander completed his organ builder apprenticeship with Prescher from 1684 to 1688.

In 1669, when the Georgskirche in Nördlingen was changed, the old organ was dismantled and Prescher built a new one using the pipework. For this he received 410 guilders; two master carpenters were his assistants, and sculptors and painters contributed to the overall appearance of the instrument. In the 18th century his descendants carried out four major repairs there.

Paul Prescher supplied the organ for the Wettenhausen monastery church (prospectus dates from 1679). In 1901 the organ was replaced by a romantic work with 21 stops.

One of the cultural assets that has been preserved to this day is the organ marked "1683" in the former Cistercian monastery church in Niederschönenfeld, today the Catholic parish church of the Assumption of Mary . It is a relatively small and uniquely arranged organ. Its special features are the front and rear organ prospectus as well as the playability on both sides. The cost of production, the duration and the client are still unknown. This instrument was inaugurated again on October 27, 2019 after around one year of renovation work.

Ten years later he finished the organ in Mönchsdeggingen . These are the only evidence of Paul Prescher that has survived to this day.

family

Prescher had two sons, both of whom are described as very skilled organ makers. His son Nikolas (born 1670) married in 1693 and took over the father's workshop in 1695. Around 1712 he made the organ for the pilgrimage and monastery chapel of St. Kreuz Niederschönenfeld (from which there were 12 new buildings) , which has since been rebuilt several times and - as part of the complex of the Niederschönenfeld correctional facility - can only be viewed on special occasions.

In 1719 two family members of Prescher appear for the first time in the tax books of the city of Nördlingen, whom Beyschlag describes as Paul's sons, but were more likely his grandchildren. Johann Paul died in 1761; with his brother Johann Wilhelm († 1777) the family in Nördlingen died out again. Johann Wilhelm's son, named Daniel Wilhelm, came to Gaildorf as a cantor . His son was the historian and theologian Johann Philipp Heinrich Prescher , who attended the Lyceum in Nördlingen.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Origin literally after Daniel Eberhardt Beyschlag, 1801; Families of the same name still live in Zittau / Oberlausitz today
  2. ↑ The award was made with the expectation "that when you need your organ at his place, he should be present".
  3. ^ Martin Balz: The organ maker Macrander in Frankfurt am Main. As well as the circle of friends at Niederschönenfeld.
  4. ^ Former Augustinian canons imperial provost Wettenhausen.
  5. ↑ see Literature reference; due to the age range, it is very unlikely that they are sons.
personal data
SURNAME Prescher, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swabian organ builder
DATE OF BIRTH 1628
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 1695
Place of death Nordlingen