# Johann Michael Röder

Johann Michael Röder was a German organ builder in Berlin and Silesia from the first half of the 18th century. He was a pupil of Arp Schnitger.

## Life

Röder's year of birth and death are unknown. He was apprenticed to Schnitger for four years as a journeyman carpenter. In 1712, Vincent Lübeck described him in a letter to the Tangermünde council as a "big talker" who "greatly despises and contempts Herr Schnitger". In Röder's works, the influence of his teacher can be clearly heard, but he went his own way in the external design of the organs and moved further away from Schnitger than any of his students. Thus, he abandoned the Werkprinzip, did without a Rückpositiv [de] and built the pipe organ rather flat. His special technical skills earned him the name "Mechanicus" and led to all kinds of late Baroque such as kettledrum-beating angels, eagles, stars of orders, suns and others.
Johann Mattheson commented positively on Röder's organ in Breslau: "All emperors, kings and princes would be astonished if they saw the engraving of it and it consists of 56 sounding parts: 4 principals, as one a 32, one a 16 and two a 8 feet, a glockenspiel, which is tracted by the angels moving in the Gloria with their hammers in their hands with the help of the pedal as well as a pair of küpferner (visible) timpani, on which likewise two angels perfectly present everything that can be had on natural timpani with their mallets and can be played with the trumpet as well as intros and lifts.

## List of works (selection)

New organs by Röder are known in Orgellandschaft Brandenburg [de] and Lower Silesia. Some are partially preserved.

### New organ buildings

| Year | Location | Church | Picture | Manual | Casing | Notes |
| 1713 | Berlin | Alte Garnisonkirche | | II/P | 23 | Transferred to the Potsdam church St. Nikolai in 1724; burnt in 1795 |
| 1716 | Sydow near Bernau | Dorfkirche | | I | 8 | Positive, later replaced by Lütkemüller. |
| 1717 | Berlin-Dorotheenstadt | Dorotheenstädtische Kirche | | I/P | 19 | Transferred to the Stadtkirche Wesenberg in 1833, later redisposed several times; front, wind chests and pipes from 4 stops preserved. – Orgel |
| 1720 | Berlin | Alte Schloss- und Domkirche | | II/P | 32 | not preserved |
| 1720–1722 | Krosno Odrzańskie | St. Marien, heute St. Hedwig | | III/P | 55 | Front preserved, in 1930 new construction by Sauer. |
| 1721–1725 | Breslau | St Mary Magdalene Church, Wrocław | Engraving by FBC Strachowski | III/P | 56 | Reusing parts from the organ built by Martin Scheufler, Röder built the large pipe organ that adorns the nave. In the course of a new organ building in 1889-1891, the Röder organ was removed, the front went to the Silesian Museum (Katowice) and was lost after the Second World War. |
| 1726–1729 | Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra) | Gnadenkirche, today Kreuzerhöhungskirche | | III/P | 50 | Front and about 40 complete stops preserved, in 1905 Schlag & Söhne [de] rebuilt the organ pneumatically and extended the disposition to 70 stops, in this form the organ is completely preserved and restored in 1998 |
| 1729–1730 | Großburg (Borek Strzeliński) | Dorfkirche | | II/P | 22 | Front preserved. |
| 1733–1737 | Liegnitz (Legnica) | Ev. Marienkirche (Liebfrauenkirche) | | II/P | 34 | 1914 New construction by Friedrich Weigle with preservation of 5 stops, afterwards alterations and restorations, front and some pipes preserved |
| 1740 | Burg Stargard | Reformierte Kirche | | I/P | 29 | not preserved |
| 1742 | Greiffenberg | Dorfkirche | | I/P | 7 (oder 13?) | Attribution, 1842 reconstruction by Morgenstern, (I/P, 13), 1967 restoration by Schuke on I/P, 12. |
| 1743–1744 | Prenzlau | Heilig-Geist-Kapelle | | I/P | 15 | for 400 thalers, converted around 1899, today housing the Schlosskirche Buch [de]. |
| 1745 | Prenzlau | Marienkirche | | II/P | 20 | Replaced by Buchholz organ in 1847, destroyed in 1945 |
| 1746 | Groß Schönebeck | Dorfkirche | | I/P | 12 | New building offer by Joachim Wagner of 1746 not implemented, in the same year contract signed with Röder, who apparently resigned (or died) afterwards, completed by Gottlieb Scholtze in 1749, afterwards several rebuilds, case and some parts of the baroque organ preserved. |

### Further work and offers

| Year | Location | Church | Picture | Manual | Register | Notes |
| 1708 | Bernau | St. Marien | | | | Offer to repair and rebuild the Scherer organ of 1572 (III/P, 41), not considered, but carried out by Arp Schnitger instead. |
| 1711–1716 | Tangermünde | St. Stephan | | III/P | 32 | Repair and rebuilding of the organ from Hans Scherer d. Ä. (1624); received half of this – Orgel |