Schmerbach (organ builder)

Schmerbach is the surname of a German family of organ builders in the 18th and 19th centuries who, starting with Conrad Schmerbach , created organs in at least five generations in Northern Hesse , Eichsfeld and Thuringia . The family lived and had their workshop in Frieda near Eschwege in Northern Hesse. The three most famous members of the family are:

• Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Elder (1726–1789)
• Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Middle (1765–1831)
• Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Younger (1795–1872)

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Elder

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Elder, son of Conrad Schmerbach, was known for his abundant high-lying color registers in the manual , for which he also received criticism from church musicians. Among other things, he built the organs in the following churches:

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1763	Altenburschla	Ev. church		I / P	11	receive
1770	Gimme	Ev.-luth. church		I / P		unsecured; rebuilt several times; only leftovers received
1775	Niederbeisheim	Ev. church		I / P	11	1985 restoration by Werner Bosch organ building workshop ; two registers vacant
1777	Escherode	Ev.-luth. church		I / P	12	1913 replaced by the factory of P. Furtwängler & Hammer ; 2000 new building by Werner Bosch; Housing parts received
1784	Diemerode	Ev. church		I / P	10
1787	Braach	Ev. church		I / P	10	receive

He probably also created an organ in his home town of Frieda, but Conrad Schmerbach may already have built it.

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Middle

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Middle (* 1765 in Frieda, † 1831 in Kirchgandern during an organ repair), son of Schmerbach the Elder, already had a good reputation in 1804. When circular organ builders were officially assigned to the Electorate of Hesse , the Hofgeismar and Wolfhagen districts were assigned to him in 1825 , but he also built a lot in the Eschwege district . He built u. a. the following organs:

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1789-1790	Sattenhausen	Ev.-ref. church		I / P	13	Later extensively rebuilt several times
1794	Berneburg	Ev. church		I / P	10
1795-1796	Bischhausen	Martinskirche		I / P	14th	Originally built for the Gutskirche Groß Schneen , which was demolished in 1971, transferred to the Martinskirche in 1967; received three registers
1798	Mengershausen	Ev.-luth. church		I / P	15th	Side play; Manuals cannot be coupled to the pedal; old wind turbine with pedal device preserved
1804	Niederdünzebach	Ev. church		I / oP	9	Replaced by Bosch organ in 1970
1811	Niedergandern	Gutskapelle Niedergandern		I / P	12	Based on 4 foot principal; 6 full registers, one partially preserved, the rest reconstructed by Martin Haspelmath
1814-1815	Big snow	Michaeliskirche		I / P	16	New building in place of a Krebs organ from 1729, from which some registers were taken; largely preserved
1815-1818	Buehle (Northeim)	St. Oswald		I / P	12 (+ 2 vacancies)	New building using four older registers - whether from a previous local organ or from a workshop inventory (or from an organ that was demolished elsewhere) is not clear. The vacant loops were filled with pipes by Euler in 1848. 1981 restoration by Martin Haspelmath ; three registers reconstructed; largely preserved.
1817	Untergeis	Ev. church		I / P	11	1998 restoration by Orgelbau Waltershausen ; 7 full registers and one partially preserved
1820	Heilbad Heiligenstadt	St. Aegidien				Replaced in 1908 by the organ building workshop of Johannes Klais
around 1820?	Wahlhausen	Ev. church		I / P		1855 new factory by Knauf, 1928 new factory by Euler (in the old case)
1821	Mayes	Urban church		I / P	12	1999/2000 restoration by the Hillebrand Organ Builders workshop
1823	Duderstadt	St. Cyriac		III / P	41	Small rearrangement of the organ by Johannes Creutzburg (1731–1735); two registers from Schmerbach preserved → organ
1826-1827	Ballenhausen	St. Johannis		I / P	8th	Replaced in 1930; Prospectus received

The organs in Konnefeld and Orferode are also attributed to him.

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Younger

Johann Wilhelm Schmerbach the Younger succeeded his father in 1832 as a circle organ builder for the districts of Hofgeismar and Wolfhagen. The following organs are known from him:

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1832	Gerbershausen	Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist				1908 New building by Krell in the old housing
1835	Heimarshausen	Ev. church		I / P	11	Largely preserved
1838	Rengelrode	Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist		II / P	16	Largely preserved
1843	Frankenhain	Ev. church
1844	Schwebda	Ev. church		I / P	14th
1845	Herora	Ev. church
1850	Döringsdorf	St. Stephen's Church		I / P	10	restored in 1995 by Karl Brode , Heilbad Heiligenstadt
1854	Wilnsdorf	Ev. church		I / P	9	Replaced by Paul Faust's organ in the course of the new church building
1857	Niederdresselnorf	Ev. church		I / P	11

Individual evidence

1. ^ History of the church in Altenburschla , accessed on October 15, 2015.
2. ↑ Church in Gimte ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2016 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 October 15, 2015. 
3. ↑ Bosch organ building: Organ in Niederbeisheim , accessed on October 15, 2015.
4. ↑ orgel-information.de: Organ in Escherode , accessed on October 15, 2015.
5. ^ Bosch Orgelbau: Orgel in Escherode , accessed on October 15, 2015.
6. ↑ sontra-stadt.de: Diemerode district ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 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. , seen December 16, 2011. 
7. ↑ bildindex.de: Diemerode organ photo , accessed on October 15, 2015.
8. ^ Church in Frieda , accessed October 15, 2015.
9. ↑ Heiner Wedemeyer u. a .; Church council (ed.): The Schmerbach organ from 1796 in the Bischhäuser Martinskirche. Bischhausen 1996.
10. ^ Church in Mengershausen , as seen on December 15, 2011.
11. ^ Church in Niederdünzebach , as seen on December 16, 2011.
12. ^ Church in Niedergandern , as seen on December 15, 2011.
13. ↑ Niedergandern photo gallery ( memento from April 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), viewed December 15, 2011.
14. ↑ Organ in Groß Schneen , as seen on December 15, 2011.
15. ↑ Nds. Main State Archives Hanover, Hann. 74 Northeim No. 1377 u. 1386; Parish archives Bühle, file 513.1 (The following references are to be regarded as unreliable).
16. ^ Christian Kämmerer, Peter Ferdinand Lufen: Architectural monuments in Lower Saxony, Volume 7.1: District Northeim, southern part. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. CW Niemeyer, Hameln 2002, ISBN 3-8271-8261-1 , p. 280 f.
17. ↑ weserbergland.com: Oswaldikirche in Bühle , as seen on December 15, 2011.
18. ↑ Organ in Untergeis ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2016 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. , as seen December 15, 2011. 
19. ^ Organ in Heilgenstadt , seen on December 15, 2011.
20. ↑ Urbanikirche in Imsen seen on Dec. 15, 2011.
21. ^ Church council Imsen-Wispensten, Heinrich Schulze (ed.): Wilhelm-Schmerbach-Orgel 1821-2000. St. Urbani Church Imsen-Wispenstein. Alfeld 2000.
22. ↑ From the village history of Ballenhausen and Bodenhausen: Chronicle in Ballenhausen (PDF; 651 kB), viewed December 15, 2011.
23. ^ Church in Gerbershausen ( Memento from April 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), as seen on December 16, 2011 / July 12, 2020.
24. ↑ Church in Heimarshausen  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , seen December 16, 2011.  
25. ^ Organ in Rengelrode ( memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), as seen on December 16, 2011 / July 12, 2020.
26. ↑ Church in Frankenhain ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2010 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. , seen December 16, 2011. 
27. ↑ Church in Schwebda , as seen December 16, 2011.
28. Jump up ↑ Heldra Church , as viewed December 16, 2011.
29. ^ Organ in Wilnsdorf , seen December 16, 2011.
30. ^ Organ in Fischelbach , seen December 16, 2011.

literature

• Harald Vogel, Günter Lade, Nicola Borger-Keweloh: Organs in Lower Saxony. Hauschild, Bremen 1997, ISBN 3-931785-50-5 .