Wolfgang Manecke

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Wolfgang Manecke (born April 17, 1938 in Berlin ; † July 17, 2017 ) was a German journalist and organologist . His special merit lies in the first comprehensive research and documentation of the organ landscape of Upper Swabia . His five works of the series "Historische Orgeln" published between 1995 and 2014 are among the standard works of German organ literature.

life and work

Wolfgang Manecke was born in Berlin in the spring of 1938. His childhood was overshadowed by flight and displacement during the Second World War . Ultimately, Manecke settled in Mettenberg in the Biberach district of Baden-Württemberg . He was a commercial clerk, then from 1964 to 1982 a contract and professional soldier, from 1983 a freelance entrepreneur and then again as an employee.

Although he grew up in a musical family, Manecke could not play the organ himself. Nevertheless, this instrument fascinated him so much that it had a major impact on his life from the 1990s onwards. Manecke was best known for his decades of research and documentation work on historical organs in Upper Swabia , which he researched in local archives and churches together with the church musician Johannes Mayr and later also with the organ builder Mark Vogl (* 1975). As a result, five richly illustrated reference works on historical organs were created between 1995 and 2014, containing detailed and systematically recorded information on organ builders, workshops and instruments for each district. They have become much-cited reference works in professional circles and can be found in libraries around the world.

Manecke was a long-time member of the Society of Organ Friends . He published articles on historical organs and organ builders in the specialist journal Ars Organi and in the local history sheets for the Biberach district . In 1999 he was one of the founding members of the non-profit association “Historische Orgeln in Oberschwaben e. V. ”, which was dissolved at the end of 2015 after the publication of the fifth volume in the“ Historical Organs ”series.

From 1998 to 2011 Manecke worked as a freelance journalist for various local newspapers, with a focus on reporting on music events; He was particularly interested in brass music and was known as a "brass music reporter" for the Schwäbische Zeitung . This activity resulted in his book "Polka, March and Symphony Brass Music Between Ulm and Lake Constance."

On November 20, 2015, Wolfgang Manecke was honored with a Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon in recognition of his services to documenting the history of the organ in Upper Swabia . The Upper Swabian Society for History and Culture awarded him the “Price for Local History” on June 11, 2016 in Bad Schussenried . The laudation at the award ceremony was held by the musicologist Michael Gerhard Kaufmann .

Wolfgang Manecke was 79 years old. He died after a long illness on July 17, 2017 and was buried in his home town of Mettenberg.

Honors

  • 2015 Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon
  • 2016 Prize for Local History

Publications (selection)

  • Historic organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Biberach. (with Johannes Mayr), Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-7954-1069-X .
  • Historical organs in Ulm and Upper Swabia: pipe organs in the Alb-Donau-Keis, in Ulm, Hayingen and Zwiefalten (with Johannes Mayr), Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Ulm 1999, ISBN 978-3-88294-268-2 .
  • Historic organs in Upper Swabia. The district of Ravensburg. (with Johannes Mayr and Mark Vogl), Kunstverlag Fink, Lindenberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-89870-250-8 .
  • Historic organs in the three-country district of Sigmaringen. (with Mark Vogl), Gmeiner, Meßkirch 2010, ISBN 978-3-8392-1152-6 .
  • Polka, march and symphony: brass music between Ulm and Lake Constance. Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach 2013, ISBN 978-3-943391-28-2 .
  • Historic organs in the Lake Constance district. (with Mark Vogl), Gmeiner, Meßkirch 2014, ISBN 978-3-8392-1639-2 .
  • 50 years of the southwest state: Biberach votes with a large majority for the new federal state . In: Local history sheets for the Biberach district . 1999 22/25 (1999), pp. 72-75.
  • A dreamy dreamer: Johann Matthäus Schmahl and his organ in the Evangelical Parish Church in Berghülen. In: Orgel international , 2000, pp. 333–335. [1]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerd Mägerle: On the death of Wolfgang Manecke. In: schwaebische.de. Retrieved September 27, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Historical organs in Upper Swabia. In: historical-orgeln-oberschwaben.de. Retrieved December 15, 2019 .
  3. ^ Federal Cross of Merit for Wolfgang Manecke. Society of Organ Friends, August 22, 2017, accessed December 15, 2019 .
  4. ^ Laudatory speech on the awarding of the prize for local history to Wolfgang Manecke in Bad Schussenried on June 11, 2016. LEO BW, June 11, 2016, accessed on December 15, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Manecke, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist, organologist and non-fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 17th July 2017