Joseph Merklin

Joseph Merklin (17 February 1819 – 10 July 1905) was a Baden-born organ builder who later became a French citizen. By the time of his retirement in 1898, he was a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur and had built, restored, or repaired over 400 organs, primarily in the churches of Belgium and France.

Life and career Merklin was born in Oberhausen in Baden and was trained in his craft first by his father and then by Friedrich Hasse in Bern and Eberhard Friedrich Walcker in Ludwigsburg. He set up his own firm in Belgium in 1843 and later went into partnership with his brother-in-law, Friedrich Schütze, renaming the firm Merklin, Schütze & Cie. In 1855 he bought out the Ducroquet firm in Paris and began to work almost exclusively in France. Three years later, he reorganized the company as the Société Anonyme pour la Fabrication des Orgues, Établissement Merklin-Schütze. In 1867 the company's grand organ built for the Basilica of St. Epvre in Nancy received a Gold Medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and Merklin was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur.

Merklin retired in 1898 and died in Nancy at the age of 86. In his lifetime he had built, restored, or repaired over 400 organs. Many of the organs he built in France are now classified as historical monuments by the French Ministry of Culture. His grandson, Charles-Marie Michel was a promising organist and student of Louis Vierne, but died in 1897 at the age of 20.

Venues with Merklin organs

Churches with organs built or restored by Joseph Merklin include: Murcia Cathedral, Murcia, Spain Notre-Dame de Clignancourt, Paris, France La Rochelle Cathedral, La Rochelle, France Guadalajara Cathedral, Jalisco, Mexico Monterrey Cathedral, Nuevo León, Mexico O.L.V.-ten-Poel Church, Tienen, Belgium Saint-Barthélemy, Liege, Belgium Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile, Paris, France Saint-Georges, Lyon, France Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux, France St. Peter's Church, Vorselaar, Belgium Strasbourg Cathedral, Strasbourg, France Grand Synagogue, Paris, France Temple du Marais, Paris, France Temple Neuf, Strasbourg, France Trinità dei Monti, Rome, Italy Troyes Cathedral Troyes, France