Carl Mauracher (o/b)

[DaveHarries]

Hi all,

 

I realise that this is a touch out of season as it relates to a Christmas carol. But does anyone know where I can find more information on the Organ Builder called Carl Mauracher, who repaired the organ at Oberndorf, Austria in 1825 and, in the process, helped spread the carol "Silent Night" (written in 1816-1818 by Fr. Joseph Mohr - priest - and Franz Gruber - curate) by taking a copy of it with him?

 

I put his name past the German version of Wikipedia but can find nothing on him. I suppose it is possible that he wasn't well known in organ building but would be interested.

 

I also remember reading that the church of St. Nicholas was demolished in the 1890s. It would be interesting to know what happened to the organ after that, and also some of the hisotry behind the instrument.

 

Any information wil be gladly received with interest. Thanks.

 

Dave

[tiratutti]

Hello,

 

you will find some information about the organ at the site of the Pfarre Oberndorf:

http://www.pfarreoberndorf.at/

 

Check out the following link concerning the organs of Oberndorf:

http://www.pfarreoberndorf.at/upload/oOrgeln.html

 

The whole city was moved because of high water damage in 1899. A new church was built in 1906 and the old organ disappeared.

 

Cheers

tiratutti

[DaveHarries]

Hello,

 

you will find some information about the organ at the site of the Pfarre Oberndorf:

http://www.pfarreoberndorf.at/

 

Check out the following link concerning the organs of Oberndorf:

http://www.pfarreoberndorf.at/upload/oOrgeln.html

 

The whole city was moved because of high water damage in 1899. A new church was built in 1906 and the old organ disappeared.

 

Cheers

tiratutti

Hi, Tiratutti,

 

Thanks for those links. I had, however, already found them by following the link from the town's website. However, using Google's translation site, I put the second link into English.

 

From what I can understand (the translation is not 100% perfect) the 1825 organ was rebuilt in 1854, repaired in 1863 and rebuilt again in 1894 due to alterations within the church. The builder for the 1894 work was Mauracher's grandson, Johann Nep.

 

When the town was relocated following the floods of the 1890s (particularly the bad one of 1899) a new church was built. During the work of 1894 the organ must have gained a second keyboard for it was proposed, in 1904, to rebuild the double-manual organ into the new church. This, however, never happened. Parish archives in Oberndorf do not record the fate of the 1825 organ.

 

Instead, in 1904, a new organ was proposed and the contract was offered, again, to Karl Mauracher (probably a different one: son of the buolder of 1825?) but he could not build it because he was too busy. In 1912 the contract for a new organ was offered to Albert Mauracher, with the local population having raised over 8,000 kroner for a new organ. Albert Mauracher therefore built the organ and this was finished on 16-Nov-1913.

 

Albert Mauracher's organ lasted until 1982 when Reiger rebuilt it. It seems that the case of 1912/1913 was used for the 1982 instrument with little alteration, except that the three central pillars - which had previously been empty - had pipes put in them.

 

It seems that Austria does not forget its heritage. In Fügen, where Karl Mauracher came from, there is a road named "Karl-Mauracher Weg", Wagrain's school is named after Josef-Mohr and the house where he lived when priest there can still be found: there is an exhibition about him on the roadside leading to it. Both Wagrain and Oberndorf have "Josef-Mohr straße" (JM wrote the words for Silent Night) and Obderndorf also has a "Franz-Xaver-Gruber straße". The churches ar Oberndorf and Arnsdorf have memorial windows to Fr. Mohr & Franz Gruber respectively while the square on one side of Arnsdorf's church is called "Stille-Nacht platz". On Google Earth there is a building next to the church on that square: I can't help wondering if that is the one where Gruber, who was the schoolmaster, lived when he wrote that tune. It is probably listed.

 

It does, perhaps, seem strange that Oberndorf has no road named after Karl Mauracher who, although he would not have known it, made Oberndorf famous by taking a copy of Silent Night with him after completing his work on the organ in 1825.

 

I hope I might get round to making a trip to Arnsdorf, Oberndorf, Wagrain & Fügen in Winter 2010: I think it would be an interesting experience.

 

Dave

[tiratutti]

Hello Dave,

 

During the work of 1894 the organ must have gained a second keyboard for it was proposed, in 1904, to rebuild the double-manual organ into the new church.

one slight correction: The text says, that in 1904 they thought of rebuilding the organ with two manuals. It was still a one-manual organ.

 

Instead, in 1904, a new organ was proposed and the contract was offered, again, to Karl Mauracher (probably a different one: son of the buolder of 1825?) but he could not build it because he was too busy.

Probably a misprint. Elsewhere the text says not Karl Mauracher but Franz Mauracher for the rebuilt in 1904.

Please note that there are some organ builders named Mauracher. Probably the best known was Matthäus Mauracher.

 

Cheers

tiratutti

 

PS: I found another organ where Karl Mauracher was involved: in 1831 he refurbished the organ of the university church at Salzburg.

[tiratutti]

Hello again,

 

the following link presents the genealogy of the Mauracher family

http://orgeln.musikland-tirol.at/ob/Mauracher-Familie.html

It says that Johann Nepomuk Carl was the son of Karl, not the grandson.

 

Matthäus Mauracher was famous for his Philomela, a somewhat stringy flute.

 

Cheers

tiratutti