Wilhelm Sauer

The basics

Quick Facts

Gender
Male
Birth21 June 1843
Death4 April 1901 (aged 57 years)
Star signCancer
The details

Biography

Wilhelm Carl Friedrich Sauer (23 March 1831 – 9 April 1916) was a German pipe organ builder. One of the famous organ builders of the Romantic period, Sauer and his company W. Sauer Orgelbau built over 1,100 organs during his lifetime, amongst them the organs at Bremen Cathedral, Leipzig's St. Thomas Church, and Berlin Cathedral, which is considered to be "his final great masterpiece".

Early years

Wilhelm Sauer was born in Schönbeck, in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the son of blacksmith and self-educated organ builder Ernst Sauer (1799–1873) from Karlsburg in Pomerania, and his wife Johanna Christine, née Sumke (1800–1882). His parents married in 1822. He was the brother of Johann Ernst Sauer (1823–1842).

Organ from the Wilhelm Sauer Manufactory in Berlin Cathedral

When Wilhelm was seven years old, the family moved to the neighboring town of Friedland, where his father built a factory and started the commercial organ business. Wilhelm spent his youth there, attending school, with the idea that he would transfer to the Berlin Academy. However, when his older brother Johann died in December 1842, it was decided that Wilhelm would be the one to inherit his father's business and continue the work he had started building organs. Wilhelm received an early education about organ building from his father. He left home in 1848 to further his education in this business, including studying with E.F. Walcker (1851–1853) in Ludwigsburg and with Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in Paris.

Career

In 1855, Sauer took over the management of the German crown branch in his father's factory, which had been opened there for the Prussian market in order to avoid customs duties. On 1 March 1856 Sauer finally opened his own business as Wilhelm Sauer, organ builder in Frankfurt (Oder), which grew quickly with temporary branches in Königsberg (1860). International orders soon followed. By 1882, he had completed 380 organs. In 1883, Sauer was awarded the Distinction of Akademischer Künstler and the following year, on 18 April 1884, he was named by the cabinet as "Royal Organ Builder".

Sauer's tombstone

In his lifetime, Wilhelm Sauer and his staff built more than 1,100 organs. His largest and most famous organs are, amongst others, in Berlin Cathedral (1903, IV/113), Thomaskirche in Leipzig (1888/1908, III/88), and in Görlitz City Hall (1910, IV.72). Two of his 1897 organs are in Namibia: one in Windhoek's Christ Church and another in Swakopmund's Lutheran Church. In 1910, Sauer sold the company to his longtime manager and deputy Paul Walcker, son of E. F. Walcker.

At least ten of his organs were installed in Latvia.

Personal life

He married Minna Auguste Penske in 1859, the daughter of a cantor, and the couple had a daughter named Johanna (1859–1887); she died in 1876. On 7 September 1878, he married his second wife Anna Bauer (18 January 1848 – 11 August 1924). She was the daughter of a brewery owner and member of the city council in Potsdam. They had two sons: Wilhelm (1879–1962) and Franz Gustav Adolf (1883–1945 missing). His grandson, Wolfgang Sauer (1920–1989), went to the United States in 1964 and became a professor of German history at the University of California, Berkeley. Wilhelm Sauer's grave stone is now in Kleistpark in Frankfurt (Oder), where he died.

Notable works

YearOpusPlaceChurchPhotoManualsRegistersComments
1853Rechlin-BoekSt Johannis ChurchI/P6Oldest preserved work by Wilhelm Sauer. Pedalboard and bourdon added by Carl Börger about 1900. Restored by Christian Scheffler 1995–2003.
186494Marienwerder (present-day Kwidzyn)Cathedral ChurchIII/P49To be restored.
186995BerlinSt Thomas ChurchIV/P52Damaged by Allied bombing and dismantled in 1944.
1870Labiau (present-day Polessk)Town ChurchReplaced an older organ by Johann Josua Mosengel; demolished after 1945.
1872235Zeschdorf-DöbberinVillage ChurchI/P8
1874209Doberlug-KirchhainDobrilugk Abbey ChurchII/P26
1879248Frankfurt (Oder)St Gertraud ChurchIII/P36
1883401WernigerodeChurch of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche)II/P30Baroque organ facade.
1884419Lauchhammer-KostebrauVillage ChurchI/P7Built for the Protestant Church in Klettwitz, at present location since 1907.
1886Herne-EickelSt John's Church (Johanneskirche)II/P33Destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944.
1887475Frankfurt-GriesheimBenediction Church (Segenskirche)II/P28Built for the Protestant Church in Bochum-Laer (demolished in 1974), at present location since 1995.
1888GöttingenSt Nicolas' Church (University Church)II/P23
1889501LeipzigSt Thomas ChurchIII/P63Extended to 88 registers in 1908.
1889505AmsterdamBasilica of St. NicholasIII/P40Two Barker levers.
1890530Bad Freienwalde-BralitzVillage ChurchII/P13Restored in 2015.
1891554MühlhausenSt. Mary's ChurchIII/P61
1891Hötensleben-BarnebergChurch of Peace (Friedenskirche)II/P19
1891557Jacobsdorf-SieversdorfVillage ChurchI/P6
1893554BerlinGarrison ChurchIII/P70Then Berlin's largest church organ. Destroyed by a blaze in 1908.
1893BerlinImmanuel ChurchII/P29
1894620ApoldaLuther ChurchIII/P47
1894SaalfeldSt John's Church (Johanneskirche)III/P49Baroque organ facade. Reconstruction 1932. Restored in 1996.
1894BremenCathedralIII/P65Extended to IV/P/98 in 1926 and 1939.
1895661GehrenSt Michael's ChurchII/P23
1896PotsdamPentecostal Church (Pfingstkirche)II/P16Extended to II/P/28 in 1933. Dismantled in 2011.
1897Chorin-GolzowVillage ChurchII/P15Reconstruction 1911. Restored in 1994
1898731Wuppertal-ElberfeldCemetery ChurchII/P30Partial renovation 1995
1898755MoscowSts Peter and Paul Lutheran CathedralIII/P33
1903891Bad HarzburgLuther ChurchIII/P40Originally II/P/29, restored and extended by Christian Scheffler 1997–2001
1905945FuldaHeilig-Geist-Kirche (Church of the Holy Ghost)II161990, restored to the original version of 1905
1906981Neuzelle AbbeySt Mary's ChurchII/P24Reconstruction by Christian Scheffler, 2001
1907Kostebrau
1908PotsdamSt. Nicholas' ChurchIII/P49
1908Bad HomburgChurch of the RedeemerThe sound of the "Fernwerk" appears in the above the altar.
19091025Bad SalzungenStadtkirche Bad SalzungenIII41The organ was built according to the ideas of Max Reger, and restored from 1994 to 2000.
1910JerusalemAugusta Victoria HospitalThe Sauer foot blower is still operational. Unique in the Near East as of 2011.

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