Walther Schmidt (church musician)

Walther Schmidt (born January 17, 1913 in Hamburg , † October 9, 1991 in Lemgo ) was a German church musician .

Life

He attended school in Erfurt . His family roots on his mother's side also lie there: his great-grandfather, Karl Steinhäuser , was the organist and royal music director at the Church of St. Marien in Mühlhausen ( Thuringia ).

Walther Schmidt studied church music at the Protestant church music school of the Ev. Johannes-Stiftes Berlin-Spandau , u. a. with Ernst Pepping . From 1939 to 1945 he was a soldier in World War II .

In 1945 he became cantor and organist at the St. Marien church in Lemgo . At the Marianne Weber Grammar School there, he worked as a music teacher from 1948, initially as a teacher, from 1958 as a teacher and later as director of studies. Almost a year after starting his career as a cantor, he founded the Marien-Kantorei in 1946, with which he took numerous concert tours to other European countries, especially to the Netherlands , Switzerland , France and Italy , and to the USA . In the 1950s in particular, these trips made him contribute to reconciliation with his German neighbors.

In 1950 he founded the Lemgo International Organ Days , of which he remained organizer until his death. In 1964, on his initiative, a youth music school was founded in Lemgo, which he headed until 1985. He also worked as a municipal music officer until 1985.

In 1980 he was awarded the Lippe Regional Association's Culture Prize for his services ; In 1985 he became an honorary citizen of the old Hanseatic city of Lemgo and in 1988 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.

literature

• How everything weaves into a whole ...: Cantor Walther Schmidt and his life's work. Bielefeld: Verl. Für Religionsgeschichte 1992 ISBN 3-927085-57-X

Web links

• Works by and about Walther Schmidt in the catalog of the German National Library