Of the former organ of the Bach site in Weimar, one with 34 registers divided into three manuals (main work, swell, Rückpositiv) and pedal, relatively large organ, which was used as a concert organ in Weimar Castle on the Ilm until 1962 , only a small one still exists today Rest in the Laurentius Church in Karsdorf / Unstrut.
Johannes Ernst Köhler (1910–1990), city organist and lecturer at the University of Music, had already initiated the first Weimar Bach Days in 1946 and on August 4, 1950, the fifth with the inauguration of the Bach site in the castle church, which took place from 1714 to 1717 Johann Sebastian Bach worked as organist and concertmaster of the court orchestra of Duke Wilhelm Ernst (Sachsen-Weimar) . It was also one of the highlights of the 700th anniversary of the city of Weimar . As Lord Mayor Buchterkirchen put it in a welcoming address, “... in the future, his (Bach's) organ works in particular should be heard on a stylish instrument ...". But that didn't happen at first. "The organ cannot be played because of technical difficulties that suddenly occurred ...", it says in an insert of the invitation to the inauguration of the Bach site. The program of the festive event was changed at short notice and the organ events were relocated to the music college.
The organ, which was made by master organ builder Gerhard Kirchner (1907–1975) from Weimar, who also represented the organ building company W. Sauer ( Frankfurt (Oder) ), was made from adapted parts of the predecessor organ of the castle church, the organ of the Schillerschule Rudolstadt / Saale and Sauer's new parts were built for a total of 22,900 marks , and could be inaugurated with the first concert after the summer break on September 22, 1950. Prof. Köhler played the organ that evening. When planning the instrument, he placed particular emphasis on the fact that "... the new Bach organ should not be a copy of an original Bach organ, but an instrument of our time ...", "... which, however, unites all the best construction principles that we can find today Organ building from its heyday in the Baroque era must point the way. This includes the use of sliding chests with a mechanical action , which does not interpose any foreign machinery between the finger pressure of the player and the opening of the pipe valve , this includes the intonation of the pipes with full foothole opening and, in the disposition, the construction of a gapless overtone pyramid. "The organ was renamed Opus 1686 by the Sauer company.
Whereas the Bachsaal Concerts in 1950 took place from August 4th to 8th and September 22nd to 30th, in the last class of 1962 there was a Saturday from May 19th to July 7th and from September 8th to 29th every Saturday at 8 p.m. Concert in the former castle church. These concerts were initially organized by the cultural office of the city of Weimar and most recently by the Franz Liszt University and were cult. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of that, the location for concerts was no longer politically wanted. The last pure organ concert in the Bach site was given by KMD Bach Prize winner Walter Schönheit from Saalfeld on September 15, 1962 .
Disposition of the Bach site in Weimar 1950
I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Singing dumped
8th'
r
Prefix
4 ′
n
Quintad
4 ′
n
recorder
2 ′
n
Sesquialter II
n
Italian principal
1'
n
Zimbel III
n
Krummhorn
8th'
n
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
Bourdon
16 ′
w
Principal
8th'
w
Black viola
8th'
n
octave
4 ′
w
Night horn
4 ′
r
Fifth
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
r
Super octave
2 ′
w
Mixture IV-V
w + r
Trumpet
8th'
n
III Swell C – g 3
Wooden principal
8th'
r
Coarse
8th'
r
Quintatön
8th'
r
Reed flute
4 ′
r
Principal
2 ′
r
third
1 3 ⁄ 5 ′
r
Nasat
1 1 ⁄ 3 ′
n
Scharff IV – V
n
Rankett
16 ′
n
Light trumpet
4 ′
n
Pedal C – f 1
Pedestal
16 ′
w
Octave bass
8th'
w
Flute
8th'
w
Choral bass
4 ′
r
Rauschpfeife IV
n
trombone
16 ′
n
Singing Cornett
2 ′
n
Pair: I / II, III / II, II / P, III / P
Origin of the registers
w - predecessor organ of the Weimar Castle Church
r - organ of the Schillerschule Rudolstadt
n - New Sauer company
Conversion to a practice organ in 1962
As a result, the castle church was converted into a book store. The organ was built by organ builder Hans-Georg Nußeck, who was working for Gerhard Kirchner at the time, and the organ student at the time, Gottfried Preller. Parts of the instrument were converted into a practice organ for the students of the University of Music. Arnulf Schröhn also carried out the conversion and installation as a Kirchner employee. When the instrument no longer met the requirements here, the organ building workshop Norbert Sperschneider from Weimar expanded it in the eighties. Wind chests , pipes and keyboards that were still usable were stored.
Conversion to a show organ in 2001
Thuringian Organ Museum Bechstedtstrasse: Exhibition organ (2001-2010)
At the end of the nineties, the Thuringian Orgelmuseum Bechstedtstrasse was looking for a show organ - an instrument where you can see everything that otherwise covers and protects the organ case. Now two wind chests have been restored, a keyboard and the pipes have been refurbished, the action mechanism, frame and bell accordion have been rebuilt and the wind system has been added. Finally the instrument was set up, voiced and tuned in the restored parish barn in Bechstedtstrasse. Wolf-Günter Leidel, Weimar, played for the inauguration of the small organ with three sounding registers in August 2001. Afterwards it was performed regularly at concerts as part of museum events. After insurmountable problems with the sponsoring association, the museum was closed in 2009.
Conversion to an interim organ 2010
Pulpit altar with organ in the church in Karsdorf
The organ was not to be abandoned to decay and was given another location in coordination with the Thuringian State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology . Since October 24, 2010 it has been performing in the Laurentius Church in Karsdorf during the services. It was set up here by organ builder Rolf Walther, Burgheßler , as an interim instrument on the gallery behind the altar and pulpit and expanded with a pedal mechanism. The organ now has five sounding stops. Their actual origin lies on the one hand, as far as the manual register is concerned, in the organ of the Schillerschule in Rudolstadt and, on the other hand, as far as the pedal is concerned, in the Beichlingen castle church . The organ remains found there had in the nineties a building restoration soft, were stored at the time and worked for the new use of 2010.
Disposition Karsdorf 2010
Manual C – g 3
Gedact
8th'
Reed flute
4 ′
Principal
2 ′
Third (c 1 −c 3 )
1 3 ⁄ 5 ′
Pedal C – d 1
Sub bass
16 ′
Bell accord
swell
^ In the 700th anniversary year of Weimar BACH TAGE WEIMAR; Uschmann, Weimar: Hermann Buchterkirchen: Weimar honors Bach!
↑ a b In the 700th anniversary year of Weimar BACH TAGE WEIMAR; Uschmann, Weimar: Johannes Ernst Köhler: Organ of the Present
↑ Information from the catalog raisonné of the company W. Sauer (organ builder Peter Dohne)
↑ Cost estimate dated December 8, 1949 by master organ builder Gerhard Kirchner
^ Information from organ builder Hans-Georg Nußeck, Weimar
literature
Rolf Walther: From Saale and Ilm to the Unstrut, The checkered history of the Weimar Bach places organ, in: Ars Organi , issue 2, June 2012
