Walcker, Eberhard Friedrich

Walcker, Eberhard Friedrich, German organ builder; b. Cannstadt, near Stuttgart, July 3, 1794; d. Ludwigsburg, Oct. 2,1872. Trained in the workshops of his father, Johann Eberhard Walcker (1756-1843), a skilled organ builder, he set up for himself in Ludwigs-burg in 1820 and won great renown by his excellent work and numerous inventions. After his death, the business passed to his 5 sons: Heinrich (b. Oct. 10,1828; d. Kirchheim, Nov. 24,1903), Friedrich (b. Sept. 17,1829; d. Dec. 6,1895), Karl (b. March 6,1845; d. Stuttgart, May 19,1908), Paul (b. May 31, 1846; d. 1928), and Eberhard (b. April 8,1850; d. 1927). In 1916, Friedrich- son Oscar Walcker (b. Ludwigsburg, Jan. 1, 1869; d. there, Nov. 4, 1948) became head of the firm; it was merged with W. Sauer of Frankfurt am Main in 1910, and then with Ziegler of Steinsfurt in 1932. His reminiscences, Erinnerungen eines Orgelbaumeisters,were publ. in Kassel in 1948. In 1948 his grandson, Werner Walcker-Mayer (b. Ludwigsburg, Feb. 1, 1923), took charge of the firm; its headquarters were moved to Murrhardt in 1975. Among the firm’s finest instruments are those in Ulm Cathedral (1841-56; 3 manuals, 100 stops), Festival Hall, Boston (1863; 4 manuals, 89 stops), St. Stephen’s, Mulhouse (1865; 3 manuals, 61 stops), Riga Cathedral (1881; 4 manuals, 122 stops), the Petrikirche, Hamburg (1884; 3 manuals, 60 stops), the old Gewandhaus, Leipzig (1884; 3 manuals, 54 stops), St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna (1886; 3 manuals, 90 stops), St. Michaelis, Hamburg (1909-12; 15 manuals, 163 stops), City Hall, Stockholm (1924-25; 4 manuals, 115 stops), Kongresshalle, Nuremberg (1936; 5 manuals, 220 stops), Stuttgart Radio (1951; 4 manuals, 72 stops), and the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart (1958; 4 manuals, 84 stops).

Bibliography

H. Walcker, Das Geschlecht der W. in sechs Jahrhunderten (Belser, 1925; 2^nded., 1940); J. Fischer, Das Orgelbauergeschlecht W. in Ludwigsburg (Kassel, 1966).—

—Niolas Slonimky/Laura kuhn/Dennis McIntre