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This post is the second in a series that features annotated bibliographies on performing arts inscribed in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. To promote open knowledge and preserve these traditions through scholarly writings, a monthly post is curated for Bibliolore over the course of the year.
The organ is a truly global instrument. Over the centuries, it has crossed seas and lands, finding a place in ceremonial contexts, in churches and synagogues, and later on in concert halls and movie theaters. Its earliest known ancestor, the hydraulis, was developed in Alexandria during the Hellenistic period. From there, the organ and the knowledge of organ building spread across the Mediterranean and beyond, as communities found new uses for the instrument, adapted its design, experimented with its possibilities, and responded to its distinct sound. By the eighth and ninth centuries, the organ reached Western Europe, where it was sometimes given as a gift to dignitaries, a gesture to establish or mend diplomatic ties among nations. In the medieval Islamic world, too, organs were known and used in centers such as Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba.
By the Middle Ages, the organ had become increasingly important in the Catholic churches of Europe. Its incorporation into liturgical practice developed over several centuries, with important early evidence emanating from Anglo-Saxon England as well as on the European continent. In the German-speaking lands, monasteries became important sites for the construction and development of organs. By the 15th and 16th centuries, numerous cities had emerged as centers of organ building and innovation. In the centuries that followed, German organ builders and craftsmen continued to make significant contributions to the instrument’s development, establishing a living tradition of craftsmanship. Even as this tradition remains deeply rooted in the region’s heritage, German organ builders transmitted their knowledge across borders, sharing their mechanical precision and musical artistry with the world.
RILM Abstracts includes tens of thousands of references to scholarship on the instrument’s music and construction in 51 languages, reflecting how this truly global instrument was adopted and adapted across geographies throughout the centuries. The database also includes rare sources featuring 80 references to the hydraulis organ, 313 to the theater organ, 40 to portative organs, and lesser-known references in Chinese, Japanese, and Afrikaans.
This annotated bibliography celebrates UNESCO’s inclusion of organ craftsmanship and music on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012 by presenting selected writings on German organ building from the 442 entries on the topic found in RILM Abstracts.
Check out a map of pipe organs in Germany and elsewhere. (https://pipeorganmap.com/map)
Annotated bibliography
Fidom, Hans. “Nederlandse orgelbouw in de vroege 20ste eeuw: Duite achtergrondeng” [Dutch organ building in the early 20th century: German backgrounds], Het orgel: Uitgave van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Organistenvereniging 97:5 (2001) 27–40. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2001-23570].
Dutch organ building traditionally followed developments in Germany and France. At the end of the 19th century, the German moderne orgel was particularly influential. Consequently, understanding Dutch organ building in this period requires examining developments in Germany. The roots of the German moderne orgel can be traced to the early 19th century, when organ building became rationalized. Georg Joseph (Abbé) Vogler presented his system of simplification, and Johann Gottlob Töpfer published his Lehrbuch der Orgelbaukunst. Organ builders such as Walcker followed Vogler, while others, including Ladegast, followed Töpfer. At the end of the 19th century, the modern organ appeared to be an instrument with one basic pitch (represented by the 8’ stops) and one basic tone color (which could be varied endlessly). Electro-pneumatic action and stop channel chests made this organ type possible. After 1900, the modern organ was modified by Oscar Walcker according to the ideas of Emil Rupp and Albert Schweitzer (Rupp named this the Alsacian Organ Reform), resulting in giant organs with relatively more pipes and mixtures and larger swell boxes than the modern organ. Following World War I, the Orgelbewegung, oriented toward Baroque organ culture, became important: Its leader, Christhard Mahrenholz, hoped to develop a contemporary organ type based on historical principles. In the Netherlands, however, the Alsacian Reform was not very influential. After the 1930s, the organ builder Flentrop seemed to make a strong Orgelbewegung-related statement with his new organs with slider chests, tracker action, and Baroque-like dispositions, but in the 1950s the Danish firm Marcussen received the important Dutch projects. After 1970, the “Scandinavian episode” made way for the historicism of many Dutch organ builders. Meanwhile, a contemporary organ style was developed abroad, based on the Alsacian Reform interpretation of the modern organ and some of the principles of the Orgelbewegung. Because these builders depend on research, they are related to historicizing organ builders: Both are rationalists.
Fischer, Hermann, and Theodor Wohnhaas. Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer (1819–1901) und sein Werk: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des bayerischen Orgelbaues im 19. Jahrhundert [Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer (1819–1901) and his work: A contribution to the history of Bavarian organ building in the 19th century], Das Musikinstrument (Frankfurt am Main: 1978). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1978-5827].
Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer, a pupil of Eberhard Friedrich Walcker in Ludwigsburg, founded his own organ workshop in Oettingen in 1847. Steinmeyer’s biography, the development of his workshop into a factory, the constructional features of his organs, their specifications, and the Steinmeyer facades are discussed. His co-workers, surveyors, and architects are also named. Steinmeyer’s oeuvre up to 1899 included 676 organs; they are arranged alphabetically and described briefly. Tables, sketches, and drawings of the facades are included. Special attention is given to Steinmeyer’s position in Bavarian organ building and to the history of 19th-century organ facades. A list of Bavarian builders is included. (abstract by Hermann Fischer)
Biographical organs in Germany: https://www.organ-biography.info/organs.php?id=vSPB
Frühauf, Tina. The organ and its music in German-Jewish culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2009-235].
Examines the presence of the organ in synagogue music and the musical life of German-speaking Jewish communities, chronicling the history of the organ in Jewish culture from the earliest references in the Talmud through the 19th century, when it had established a firm and lasting presence in Jewish sacred and secular spaces in central Europe. The introduction of the organ into German synagogues was part of the significant changes which took place in Judaism after the Enlightenment. Indeed, the organ became a symbol of the division of the Jewish community into Orthodox and Reform congregations. Newly composed organ music for Jewish liturgy, after this division, became part of a cross-cultural music tradition in the 19th- and 20th-century Germany, when a specific style of organ music developed, which combined elements of Western and Jewish cultures. Concluding with a discussion of the organ in Jewish communities in Israel and the U.S., the book presents in-depth case studies (analyses of selected organ works by Deutsch, Lewandowski, Samuel, and Würzburger), which illustrate how the organ has been utilized in the musical life of specific Jewish communities in the 20th century. The original German edition, Orgel und Orgelmusik in deutsch-jüdischer Kultur (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2005), is indexed in RILM Abstracts as well.
Hofner, Hans. “Der ostfränkische Orgelbau. Geschichte und Ausstrahlungen auf andere Orgellandschaften” [Organ building in East Franconia. Its history and effects upon other organ districts], Archiv für Geschichte von Oberfranken 52 (1972) 7–116. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1976-1476].
Traces the history of organ building in the former margravate of Bayreuth and illustrates how this style spread to Saxony, Thuringia, Coburg, Lower Franconia, and Württemberg. The biographies of the following organ builders are provided: Matthias Tretzscher of Kulmbach (1626–86), Tobias Dressel of Falkenstein/Buchholz (1635–1717), Johann and Adam Heinrich Gruber of Hof/Adorf (1690–1725), Daniel Felix Streit of Kulmbach (1619–1730), the Puruckers of Marktleuthen im Sechsämterland (1670–1730), the Leubes and Hollbeck of Hof/Zwickau (1650–1700), Graichen and Ritter of Hof/Erlangen (1739–65), Gottlob Hubert of Bayreuth/Ansbach (1714–93), and the Heidenreichs of Hof/Bayreuth (1741–1860). Thirty photographs of organ facades, documents, and seals, as well as 120 descriptions of dispositions, are included.
Kaliberda, Sergej. “Органы немецких колоний Причерноморья, или еще одна органная ‘Атлантида’” [The organs of the German colonies at the Black Sea, or, another organ Atlantis], Organ: Žurnal ob organnoj kul’ture 3-4:19:20 (2013) 21–27. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2013-17438].
Discusses the history of organs in the German colonies located between the Pìvdennyj Bug and Dnìpro rivers, which appeared after the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) with permission from Empress Ekaterina II, Emperor Pavel I, and Emperor Aleksandr I. The history and disposition of the late–19th- and early–20th-century organs of the German firms Walcker and Steinmeyer in the Mykolaiv and Odesa areas, and in Ekaterinoslav are examined. Facsimile documents of the organ-building firms are included.
Kocourek, Jiří. “Orgelland Böhmen” [Organ country Bohemia], Ars organi: Internationale Zeitschrift für das Orgelwesen 57:1 (March 2009) 5–18. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2009-1111].
Traces the history of organ building in Bohemia from the 13th to the 20th century. The exchange between Czech and German organ building is considered, and the names of towns in the border region are given in both Czech and German. Characteristics of Bohemian organs are described, and an overview of known organ builders is provided.
Ladegast, Walter. Friedrich Ladegast: Der Orgelbauer von Weißenfels [Friedrich Ladegast: The organ builder from Weissenfels], Weidling (Stockach-Wahlwies: 1988). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1998-17613].
Friedrich Ladegast was one of the preeminent 19th-century organ builders. After a difficult start, he established himself in Weißenfels, where he built organs that still testify to his exceptional sense of sound and craft. Famous Ladegast organs are still to be heard in Merseburg, Köthen, Ronneburg, Wernigerode, Schwerin, Biederitz, Parum, Hermsdorf, Leipzig, Weißenfels, and Wittenberg, to name just the most important surviving instruments. All current information about Ladegast is presented in this first monograph on the subject. The many illustrations of his organs also reveal the visual variety of the instrument. In addition, a survey of Ladegast organs built before 1888, a map of locations, and a glossary of organ registers are included.
Lampl, Sixtus. “Orgeldenkmalpflege in Bayern” [Preservation of organs in Bavaria], Jahrbuch der bayerischen Denkmalpflege 38 (1990) 161–179. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1990-2058].
A survey of the development of organ building in southern Germany from the 17th to the 20th centuries, the builders and their workshops or factories, and the various mechanical systems and problems of their conservation and restoration. This is an enlarged version of a report given on the occasion of the inauguration of the St. George organ in Munich (Obermenzing) in July 1985.
Prost, Dietrich. “Der norddeutsche Orgelbau des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts auf dem Gebiet der DDR: Bestandsaufnahme, charakteristische Merkmale, Probleme der Werterhaltung” [North German organ building of the 17th and 18th centuries in East Germany: Inventory, characteristic features, and problems of conservation], Bericht über das 5. Symposium zu Fragen des Orgelbaus im 17.-18. Jahrhundert [Report on the 5th symposium on questions of organ building in the 17th and 18th centuries], ed. by Eitelfriedrich Thom. Kultur- und Forschungsstätte Michaelstein (Blankenburg: 1985) 19–123. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1985-5172].
Provides examples of instruments from the three periods of North German organ building during the 17th and 18th centuries. The 17th century was characterized by construction corresponding to antiphonal musical practice, while the following century was characterized by the concertato style, and the third by the Empfindsamer Stil.
Vlagsma, Auke H. “Andreas en Marten de Mare: Orgelmakers van de Renaissance. I: Inleiding en werken van Andreas de Mare” [Andreas and Marten de Mare: Organ builders of the Renaissance. I: Introduction and the works of Andreas de Mare], Het orgel: Tijdschrift van de Nederlandse Vereniging van Organisten en Kerkmusici 109:6 (2013) 36–41. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2013-12076].
After the Reformation in the 16th century, many organ builders left the Netherlands to seek work in Germany. One of these was Andreas de Mare from Gent, who had previously had enough work in the northern Netherlands because the Spanish troops, who hindered the Reformation, stayed in control there much longer—in Groningen, even until 1594. Andreas worked both in the city of Groningen and in the province. His work is known in the city (1558, the Der Aa-Kerk), in Midwolda between 1564 and 1566, and in 1578 in Zuidbroek. From 1566 to 1567, he expanded his work area to include the Lutheran region of Ostfriesland, where he built his first organ at St. Ludgeri in Norden. In 1577 to 78, he rebuilt the organ in the Grote Kerk of Emden with his son Marten. Later, they worked together in Verden, Bremen, and then in Hannover, Stadthagen, and Loccum. Andreas died in 1599. Marten became a citizen of Bremen in 1595. When the opportunities for work in Ostfriesland also diminished, the De Mares moved to Hannover. A list of Andreas de Mare’s works is provided.
Vogt, Franz-Josef, and Gabriel Isenberg. “Der Kölner Orgelbauer Ernst Seifert und sein Werkverzeichnis” [The Cologne organ builder Ernst Seifert and his catalog of works], Acta organologica 38 (2024) 179–366. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2024-27413].
Ernst Hubert Seifert was born on 9 May 1855 in Sülzdorf in the Thuringian district of Hildburghausen. After completing his training as an organ builder, he served as foreman for Franz Wilhelm Sonreck in Cologne and for Clemens Schneider in Mudersbach. It was during this period that Seifert developed his first purely pneumatic wind chest system (“communication chest”), which was later patented. At the beginning of 1885, Seifert established his own organ building company in Cologne-Mannsfeld. While the sound quality of his instruments undoubtedly adhered to the spirit of the times at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, it is remarkable how certain Ernst Seifert must have been of the function of his pneumatic system, which he used exclusively from the start. One of the most important instruments from Seifert’s workshop is the large, recently restored organ in the Marienbasilika in Kevelaer. Built in 1907, this instrument remains one of the most important examples of late–Romantic-period organ building in Germany and was the basis for the opening of a Seifert’s branch in Kevelaer. Only a small number of the instruments from the company founder’s time have survived. It is therefore critical to care for the few remaining Seifert organs from this era that have been preserved unchanged, including the small organ (restored in 2022) located in Seifert’s birthplace of Sülzdorf. The handwritten catalog of works compiled by Ernst Seifert lists a total of 209 instruments that were built between 1885 and 1914. The information in the catalog is transcribed and commented on in detail. Important findings on the prehistory of Seifert organs have also been added, and details on the instruments’ subsequent development have been compiled. Such detailed information provides insights into the construction and disposition of Seifert’s instruments. The fifth generation of the Romanus Seifert family branch of the company still operates in Kevelaer today.
Voigt, Markus. “Orgelbouw en “Orgelbewegung” in de DDR” [Organ building and the Orgelbewegung in the German Democratic Republic], Het orgel: Tijdschrift van de Nederlandse Vereniging van Organisten en Kerkmusici105:5 (2009) 26–43. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2009-19576].
The organ culture of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) can only be understood against the background of economic, political, and ideological circumstances. Organ-building firms (including four state firms and 17 private firms), employing 250 people, were organized into the Artikelgruppe Orgelbau in 1981. The firms were strongly dependent on each other, and there was no competition: The only relevant factors were the shared need to acquire materials and to get along collectively with the socialist government. To judge the style of life and standard of living in East Germany, it is essential to consider the subtle influence that the government, particularly the Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, Stasi), exerted on citizens. The true tragedy lies in the ongoing struggle between intellectuals and the highest levels of government. Many highly placed employees of organ-building firms were involved in this struggle. The churches, as main clients of the organ-building firms, played an important role at the end of the DDR as key supporters of the opposition, in which employees from the organ-building branch participated. Organ-building firms functioned as a reservoir of people working and living creatively who–without theological or (church-)musical diplomas–attempted to escape the narrow limits of socialist life. The marked rise in interest among citizens (especially the younger generation) in organs and organ concerts at the beginning of the 1970s was closely related to the advanced process of secularization imposed by the state. At the same time, the intellectual Marxist dogmas were apparently unable to satisfy people’s emotional and religious needs, and organ concerts filled the gap. Great interest among members of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED, Socialist Unity Party) led the government to build concert halls with new organs. This solved the dilemma faced by SED members, who had to visit church buildings to hear an organ concert. By placing organs not in churches but in concert halls, a statement was also made that the instrument, despite its association with religion, could still find a place in socialist art.
Windelen, Magnus, and Markus Zimmermann. “Wie geht es weiter?: Firmenübernahmen im Orgelbau—Risiken und Nebenwirkungen” [What happens next? Company takeovers in organ building—Risks and side effects], Organ: Journal für die Orgel 26:4 (2023) 10–13. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 2023-17480].
In the next ten years, of the 300 or so workshops in Germany currently involved in organ building, around half are expected to see changes in management or ownership structures. These mostly small or micro-enterprises have often been family-run for generations and have accumulated enormous specialist knowledge. Risks and potential advantages of the different possibilities—takeover from within the family, takeover from outside, takeover through a distribution of shareholdings—are considered.
Wohnhaas, Theodor, and Hermann Fischer. “Sieben Jahrhunderte Nürnberger Orgelbau” [Seven centuries of Nuremberg organ building],Der “schöne” Klang: Studien zum historischen Musikinstrumentenbau in Deutschland und Japan unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des alten Nürnberg [The “beautiful” sound: Studies in the history of music instrument building in Germany and Japan, with special consideration of old Nuremberg], eds. by G. Ulrich Grossmann and Dieter Krickeberg. Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Nürnberg: 1996) 158–170. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature RILM 1996-5376].
Offers a history of organ building in Nuremberg. First, it introduces the builders themselves, from the late Middle Ages to the present, both citizens of the imperial city and residents, with particular attention to the office of municipal organ builder. Second, it takes up the history of the organs in the various churches of Nuremberg within the historical boundaries of the imperial city. An extensive bibliography is appended.
