The mouth organ in Klingenthal

The chroniclers of Klingenthal, priest Karl August Wolf [3 and 4] and the teacher Kurt Erich Doerfel [2] also reported about the family Glier:

Most inhabitants of the parish didn't sell their self-produced goods on their own, but gave them to the traders, who sent them even to other parts of the world. The most considerable trade of this kind in Klingenthal was in the hand of Carl Friedrich Glier with his brother Christian Ferdinand under the name of "C. F. Glier sen. et. Comp." Beside of the instruments, most of the Klingenthal parish produced goods were traded trough C. F. Glier sen. et. Comp.. Carl Friedrich traveled many years, before he married in Klingenthal. When Johann Wilhelm Rudolph, the youngest brother of Carl Friedrich, came back from Italy in 1829 and was presented with a mouth organ from the Physical Society of Frankfurt/M., he let it being copied in his fatherly factory in Klingenthal. Therefore Johann Wilhelm Rudolf became the founder of the saxonian mouth organ-industry.

The Glier-brothers built their home, a factory house (Glierhaus) beside their parents one (the place of the town hall nowadays) - between the former "Todtengasse", now the Kirchstrasse, and the Gliersteig,  where the first mouth organs of Klingenthal were produced. [Note: The Glier building on lot 95 was torn down shortly before the town hall was build in 1913 / 14] The workers were bound by contract but the mutual enterprise dissolved and two new companies were founded, C. F. Glier sen. and Ferdinand Glier & son" [Note: the son was Carl Alexander Glier], which influenced the industry of Klingenthal for decades. In 1852 the production in these factories contained the manufactoring of mouth organs. The mouth organ workers of the "first" Glier factory began producing the mouth organ themselves after the factory was wound up. Soon after, the business was spreaded throughout the nowaday district.

  Klingenthal: Right of the place, where now the town hall stands, originally stood the house of the Gliers (right in the foreground)

A letter of Johann Wilhelm Rudolph of  11-08-1858 to his niece Emma Wolf (extracts of this letter even were released by the press) is a loving dedication to the brother Carl Friedrich, who had seemily been advisor, helping hand and teacher to his younger brothers and sisters. Right in the beginning of this letter it is mentioned: "As elder (born) son he took it as his duty, to protect and teach his brothers and sisters. To reach this he did not spare effort and sacrifice. He meant me [J.W.R.] to be an instrument maker, to go with him to America and to trade instruments on a large scale." Due to the continential barrier on entire Europe, which was ordered by Napoleon, a departure to America (1810) wasn't possible.

	Under well-informed guidiance of Manfred Gaebler, who I want to thank for all the support and two nice days in Klingenthal, one can find church chairs in the church " Zum Friedefuersten" which carry the name of the brother Glier.