Tin choir from Rimini
| Tin choir from Rimini | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| place | Bellaria prisoner of war camp |
| Organ builder | Werner Renkewitz |
| Construction year | 1945 |
| epoch | 20th century |
| Technical specifications | |
| Number of pipes | 502 |
| Number of registers | 12 |
| Number of manuals | 1 |
The Rimini tin choir was in the Bellaria POW camp near Rimini from 1945 to 1947. Under the direction of Werner Renkewitz, it was made from tin cans, tin cans, packaging boxes and similar materials and had twelve registers .
history
Construction of the organ
The Bellaria POW camp was established in May 1945 for the surrendering soldiers of the German Wehrmacht by the British and US armies.
In June 1945 the East Prussian organ builder Werner Renkewitz placed a search query on the board of the central storage area: Looking for a fellow organ maker for an intellectual exchange. Eusebius Schäbung, Erdt-Loch 28 in Plocke 14 between the 11th street to Rimini and the 6th to San Marino. A team of twelve employees came together in the following weeks, including craftsmen, architects and artists. It was dependent on materials found in the camp.
“There were 86 biscuit canisters, 35 packaging boxes, eight petrol barrels, 50 meters of wire, two old barrel hoops for tongues and forty servings of oil from the additional provisions that fellow prisoners donated for the construction. All technical documents were missing. Only the organ builder knew the size of the “C” pipe. All other dimensions were laboriously calculated using this known quantity. Tin was obtained by unsoldering canisters. The organ builder himself exchanged his watch for cigarettes in order to get a pair of lederhosen again, the leather of which should serve as sealing material for the valves "
Inauguration and use
The organ sounded for the first time on September 13, 1945 in the evening. It was standing in a four-meter high scaffolding on the beach. It was inaugurated on September 15th during a service in the presence of the Bishop of Rimini. There were around 1000 Germans, British, Americans, Poles, Italians and others present. In the tense and depressing situation of the camp, it was a very moving event for many. The British and other media reported on it. A newspaper from 1945 wrote:
“The showpiece of the entire camp city is more than just a piece of Robinson romance. Isn't this organ made of tin and old shoe leather a testimony to the fact that even the horrors and hardships of many years of war are incapable of killing people's age-old longing for the beautiful and noble? And everyone who wants to despair of the human race may draw new courage from it to believe in what is good in people. "
Covered accommodation had to be found for the winter. An empty aircraft hangar was converted into a concert hall with space for 4,000 people. There the organ was set up with an extended disposition . For Christmas Mass it was played for the first time. It now sounded every morning at early mass and in the evening at 10.30 p.m. Some days it was played all day. Series of concerts were also held in the hall, there was a dedicated orchestra and theater performances. Former British Germany Minister John Burns Hynd , Berlin Bishop Konrad Graf von Preysing and others came to see the instrument.
After the prisoner of war camp was dissolved
After the camp was closed in 1947, the instrument was secretly brought by the builders to the Church of Sant'Agostini in Rimini to protect it from being transported to England or the USA. Werner Renkewitz initially stayed in Rimini as an organ builder and went to Germany in 1952. In 1962 the church partially burned down, and the organ was also severely damaged. Interviews with former eyewitnesses have been preserved who reported very moved about their memories of the organ.
organ
The organ was made from materials available in the warehouse. The organ pipes were made from tin cans and biscuit canisters, the wind chests and the casing from wooden boxes and boards. Steel wire was used for the abstracts , old leather trousers, boot shafts and a soldier's coat for seals on windchests and valves. The tongues were made from barrel hoops, and tin solder was melted out of canisters. The air pressure was generated hydraulically: a metal canister in a water container caused the wind to flow through its weight .
The prospectus with principal 8 ′ initially had a large cross in the middle, and two wing doors were attached to the right and left. The case was painted in color, on the double doors two angels with lute and fiddle were depicted in a magnificent flower garden. The inscription could be read above the manual
- “Whoever it was once
- - we are far then -
- the hand will lower on the keys,
- may he piously shudder
- remember a dark time and the prisoners. "
The organ had twelve registers with 502 pipes . The disposition was:
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Technical specifications:
- 502 pipes
- Manual range: 48 keys
- Bellows: hydraulic
"Rimini Organ" project
The organist Michael Grüber has been trying to restore the organ for years. He spoke to former contemporary witnesses and visited three times the remains of the organ in the cellar of the Sant'Agostino church in Rimini. He knows the disposition and the dimensions and the materials used. Michael Grüber has been looking for sponsors for the construction of a new organ since 2014. A suitable location is also still being sought.
Web links
- A moving story , the Rimini organ
- The prisoner-of-war organ from Rimini , Deutschlandfunk, August 28, 2018
- A small organ writes great history , music and theology
Individual evidence
- ^ The prisoner-of-war organ of Rimini , Deutschlandfunk, August 28, 2018