Schmahl, a family of German organ and stringed keyboard instrument builders, active in the 18th and first half of the 19th century in southwestern Germany – Baden, Württemberg, and western Bavaria. The founder of the family was Johann Michael (1654–1725), an organ builder from Upper Lusatia, who worked in Heilbronn from 1693. The tradition was continued by his sons: Georg Friedrich (*15 November, 1700, †26 August, 1773), who started the line in Ulm (working in Augsburg from 1723 and in Ulm from 1729), Johann Friedrich (*12 March, 1693, †19 July, 1737), whose son, Leonard Balthasar (1729–1779), started the line in Zittau, and the most famous organ builder in the family – Johann Adam (*31 January, 1704 Heilbronn, †20 June, 1757 Heilbronn), who started the Regensburg line. He built organs in the South German style, but many of his instruments were rebuilt, modernized, or destroyed over time. His workshop played an important role in transferring the tradition of South German organ building to the American continent (including the American colonies); between 1750 and 1757, at least seven of his instruments were exported there. Johann Adam’s son, Christoph Friedrich (*10 June, 1739 Heilbronn, †15 May, 1814 Regensburg), was an outstanding builder. He did not continue his father’s tradition, but moved to Regensburg and began building clavichords, fortepianos (Hammerflügel) and square pianos (Tafelklavier). He apprenticed with F.J. Späth and married his daughter in 1772; in 1774, he became his partner in the Späth & Schmahl company. He also built tangent pianos (Tangentenflügeln) and experimented with the Tangenten-Clavierorganum, with an additional organ stop (one example survives in Eisenach). The Späth & Schmahl company was best known for building tangent pianos; surviving examples date from 1784 (Vermillon), 1790 (Leipzig, Hamburg) and 1793 (Berlin), with double string tension and knee (two) and hand (two to five) stops levers. Schmahl continued to build these instruments after Späth’s death until at least 1802. After his death, the factory was run by his sons: Christian Carl (*13 May 1782, †1815) and Jacob Friedrich (*14 March 1777, †1 October 1819). With the death of Christian Carl, the Späth & Schmahl company ceased operations. The most prominent representative of the Ulm line was Georg Friedrich’s son, Johann Matthäus (*1 May 1734 Ulm, †24 November 1793 Ulm), who built organs for churches in Ulm and Berghülen (partially preserved) and several rural churches in the vicinity of Ulm; after his father’s death, he took over his workshop and manufactured clavichords, harpsichords, and square pianos, including those in the shape of a horizontal harp.
Literature: H. Herrmann Die Regensburger Klavierbauer Späth und Schmahl und ihr Tangentenflügel, Erlangen 1928; G. Kleemann Die Orgelbauerfamilie Schmahl, „Acta Organologica” VII, 1973; O. Ochse The History of the Organ in the United States, Indiana University Press, 1975, 21988; S.K. Klaus Der Instrumentenmacher J.M. Schmahl (1734–1793) im Spiegel der Ulmischen Intelligenzblätter, «Musica Instrumentalis» I, Nuremberg 1998; M.F. Jehle Württemburgische Klavierbaur des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, “Das Musikinstrument” XXXIV, 1982; including Clinkscale Makers of the Piano 1700–1820, Oxford 1993; S. Rampe Mozarts Claviermusik – Klangwelt und Aufführungspraxis, Kassel 1995, 22006; S.K. Klaus Ein unsigniertes Clavichord von Chr. Fr. Schmahl im Deutschen Museum München, “Het Clavichord” IV/2, 1991; S.K. Klaus Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte besaiteter Tasteninstrumente bis etwa 1830: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Instrumente im Musikinstrumentenmuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Tutzing 1997; V. Förster Binz Rokoko vor Sichtbeton. Zum 300. Geburtstag von Georg Friedrich Schmahl, “Orgel International” V, 2000; W. Manecke, J. Mayr Zeitgenossen – Zum 300. Geburtstag der Orgelbauer Joseph Gabler (1700–1771) und Georg Friedrich Schmahl (1700–1773), “Ars Organi” 2000 no. 4; M. Latchmam Formy mieszane klawesynu i fortepianu w XVIII w., translation A. Knast, M. Niewiadomska, “Muzyka” 2002 no. 2; M. Latcham Franz Jakob Spath and the Tangentenflügel, an Eighteenth-Century Tradition, “The Galpin Society Journal” LVII, 2004; G. Crowell Clavichords in North America, 1: A Christoph Friedrich Schmahl clavichord in Toronto, „Clavichord International” XI/2, 2007; G.P. di Stefano, Tangentenflügel e altri pianoforti con martelletti non imperniati, dissertation, Rome, Universytet La Sapienza, https://iris.uniroma1.it/handle/11573/916805; G.P. di Stefano The Tangentenflügel and Other Pianos with Non-Pivoting Hammers, “The Galpin Society Journal” LXI, 2008; L. Bemmann An Early Nineteenth-Century Clavichord by Schmahl?, in: De Clavicordio X. Proceedings of the X International Clavichord Symposium, ed. B. Brauchli, A. Galazzo, J. Wardman, Magnano 2012; H.-M. Braunwarth Die Orgelmacherfamilie Schmahl und ihr Wirken in den Reichsstädten Heilbronn und Ulm und im Herzogtum Württemberg, “Württembergische Blätter für Kirchenmusik” V, 2012; M. Günther Der Ulmer Klavierbauer Matthäus Schmahl (1734–1793), “Ulm und Oberschwaben. Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur” LIX, 2015; M. Kather Another Clavichord by Schmahl: The Clavichord from Klausen, “Clavichord International” XIX/2, 2015; M. Damlund, M. Kather The Discovery and Restoration of a Schmahl Clavichord, “Clavichord International” XXI/1, 2017; E. Tremmel Neues Licht auf die “spättischen Clavier,” “Greifenberger Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft”, https://www.greifenberger-institut.de/fr/musikwissenschaft/spaet-mozart.php; Boalch-Mould Online: Schmahl https://boalch.org/instruments/makers.
