page_title: Wilhelm Sauer
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Wilhelm Sauer / Career
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Grabstein für den Orgelbauer Wilhelm Sauer im Kleistpark in Frankfurt (Oder)
context_page_description: Wilhelm Carl Friedrich Sauer 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".
context_section_description: 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".
  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 10 of his organs were installed in Latvia.
caption: Sauer's tombstone
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