Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig

Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig (born July 15, 1810 in Taubenheim an der Spree ; † unknown) was the youngest of 7 children of the organ builder Christian Gottfried Herbrig . Father and son built one- and two-manual organs (mechanical slider chest organs ) mainly in village churches between Bautzen and Dresden , intended in particular for liturgy and worship .

Life

Of 20 organ works (as of August 2007), 9 have been preserved in the Saxon region: in the old town near Stolpen , Langenwolmsdorf , Dorf Wehlen , Papstdorf , Langenhennersdorf (formerly in Helmsdorf ), Markersbach , Eschdorf , Schmiedefeld and Großdrebnitz . Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig built his last organ in 1861 for the church in Kötzschenbroda . This instrument was moved to Lohma in 1884 , today part of Nöbdenitz (City of Schmölln ) in Thuringia, it is still preserved, but in a desolate condition. It hasn't been played since the 1980s. The rescue of this historical organ is a special task and obligation in terms of monument protection.

Christian Gottfried Herbrig and his son Wilhelm Leberecht created a characteristic “organ landscape”. In addition to new constructions, the Herbrigs carried out maintenance work, repairs and modifications to many organs in Lusatia and Saxon Switzerland .

Gravesite of the organ builder's daughter and grandson in Minnesota

After the death of his father, Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig went to Klein- and later to Großdrebnitz . In 1871 he emigrated to America via Bremerhaven with his wife, daughter and grandson. Your arrival in New York is documented. The place and date of death of the organ builder are not known.

Daughter and grandson were buried in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery in Montgomery , Le Sueur, Minnesota (1924 and 1962).

The grandson Friedrich Alwin Herbrig did not work in organ building. The daughter Ernestine Wilhelmine Herbrig had two sons (half-brothers of Friedrich Alwin) born in Minnesota, one of whom was Charles Edward Herbrig, a well-known violin maker in St. Paul, Minnesota.

List of works

Continuation of the → list of works by Christian Gottfried Herbrig

The catalog raisonné only includes Herbrig's completely independent new organs. Major modifications to third-party instruments, which were then given a Herbrig character, were not counted. The directory may be incomplete.

year	place	church	image	Manuals	register	Remarks
1843/44	Langenwolmsdorf	Ev.-Luth. church		II / P	20th	1865 repair by the builder himself; 1923 Repair and redesign by Eule Orgelbau Bautzen : Aeoline 8 'instead of mixture in the 2nd manual, violoncello 8' instead of trombone 16 ', tuning up by a quarter tone, aluminized zinc prospectus; 1949 same company: Zimbel instead of Flauto amabile 8 ', mixture 4-fold instead of 3-fold; 1983 last review. The ailing instrument urgently needs to be rehabilitated (restored), especially since it is the largest of the remaining ones in the region. In May 2010 - the year of the 200th birthday of the builder - the organ day of the Silbermann Society took place in Langenwolmsdorf. 2016 extensive renovation of the historical instrument by the Johannes Lindner workshop, Radebeul
1845	Papal Village	Ev.-Luth. church		II / P	16	1986/87 general overhaul by Johannes Lindner, Radebeul and Hartmut Vetter, Bad Schandau. 2008 restoration by Benjamin Welde, Zittau (formerly A. Schuster & Sohn)
1846	Putzkau	Ev.-Luth. Church, Saint John the Baptist	no picture available	I / P	14th	Description of the prospectus by Fritz Oehme (1889–1897): "[...] prospectus pipes in 7 fields. 69. [...] casing simple, painted white [...]". 1938 Replacement of the Herbrig organ by a new one from A. Schuster & Sohn, Zittau
1848	Helmsdorf	Ev.-Luth. Church of St. Catherine		I / P	11	1969 Smoldering fire in the church. When the church was rebuilt, it was decided to downsize it. The organ would have been too big for the new church. 1971 Transfer of the Herbrig organ to the church in Langenhennersdorf by the organ builder Reinhard Schmeisser , Rochlitz. 2009 Restoration in the conservation sense by Johannes Lindner, Radebeul
1850	Stürza	Ev.-Luth. church		II / P	18th	Only the prospectus still reminds of the builder of the previous organ. 1933 Replacement of the Herbrig organ by a new one by Gebr. Jehmlich, Dresden
1855	Seeligstadt	Ev.-Luth. Martin Luther Church		I / P	11	1935 Replacement of the Herbig organ by a new one by Gebr. Jehmlich, Dresden
1856	Old town	Ev.-Luth. St. Lorenz Church		I / P	11	1971 Overhaul and repair of the instrument by Reinhard Schmeisser, Rochlitz 2006 Restoration in the conservation sense by Johannes Lindner, Radebeul
1861	Kötzschenbroda	Ev.-Luth. Church (today Friedenskirche )		II / P	22nd	Moved to Lohma / Thuringia in 1884 by Carl Eduard Jehmlich. 1963 Appraisal by the monument conservator Dr. Dähnert: "... since the work itself ... is very durable, it should not be interrupted ... 7 fields have been empty and covered with black cloth since 1917 ... The voices that are still preserved are by and large sonic not bad. ”The organ has not been played since the 1980s.

Herbrig-Orgelstrasse

Map of the Herbrig-Orgelstrasse

The Herbrig-Orgelstraße is a project of the Kulturwerkstatt Stolpen e. V. and the Ev.-Luth. Parish of Stolpener Land. It connects places in south-eastern Saxony in whose churches there are culturally and historically valuable organs from the Herbrig workshop (early 19th century). The Orgelstraße is being built primarily for cultural tourism and is being expanded step by step. In addition to small and larger concerts with informative discussions, guided organ tours are to be offered once. CD recordings and the creation of audio samples for sound documentation of the individual instruments are planned.

The logos of the Kulturwerkstatt Stolpen eV on information boards, posters, leaflets, signposts, in brochures and magazines draw attention to the locations of the instruments and events on Herbrig organs.

literature

• Wolfram Hackel: Acta Organologica . Volume 14. Merseburger 1980; personal communications.
• Klaus Mann: On the trail of the Herbrigs and their organs. In: Stolpner Hefte. Issue 12, published by Kulturwerkstatt Stolpen e. V., September 2006.
• Klaus Mann: The Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig organ in the St. Lorenz Church in Stolpen's old town. A documentation on the history and restoration of the instrument . Printing: Siegfried Körner, Stolpen 2006.
• Klaus Mann: The rescue of a cultural monument in a village church. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter . Vol. 53, 1/07, pp. 40-51. Publisher Klaus Gumnior. Dresden 2007.
• Klaus Mann: The end of the Herbrig workshop - the family's last signs of life . Annex to issue 12 of the Stolpner booklet. Edited by Kulturwerkstatt Stolpen eV Print: Siegfried Körner, Stolpen 2007.
• Klaus Mann: The organ builder Herbrig and the three faces of their organs. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter. Vol. 55, 1/09, pp. 21-27. Publisher Klaus Gumnior. Chemnitz 2009. ISSN  0486-8234 .

Web links

• Herbrig organs
• Kulturwerkstatt Stolpen e. V.
• Wilhelm Leberecht Herbrig ( Memento from January 23, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) in the Biographical Lexicon of Upper Lusatia