The building of the organ was put out to tender in 1892 for the church under construction. The Weimar court organist Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg made the arrangements . In addition to Sauer, u. a. Friedrich Ladegast and Eberhard Friedrich Walcker . Sauer, who had already worked with Johannes Otzen , the church's architect, was awarded the contract. Otzen also designed the case.
Typical of the organ of the German late romantic period is the accumulation of 8 'stops with their structure Gedackt-Flute-Strings-Principal on each manual. This arrangement decreases in scaling and volume towards the top, so the swell is more of an echo work .
The action is a transitional construction. The wind chests are built as mechanical cone chests that are controlled by pneumatic relays.
Playing aids : roll sills, fixed combinations pp, p, mf, f, tutti.
Modification by Sauer in 1933
In 1933, the Sauer company, which at that time had already been taken over by Walcker, changed technology and scheduling .
The pneumatic control has been reinforced in order to be able to set up more playing aids and thus to achieve more playing comfort. The registers of the gaming table were completely renewed for this purpose. In addition, additional registers were built in to enlarge the sonic range of the swell . A second pneumatic cone chest was used for this. The registers of the II. Manual were placed in an additional swell box, so that by coupling the III. Manuals a larger swell is created.
The new high-sounding register, the sharpening of the Hauptwerksmixtur, the two new kurzbecherigen reeds and the simultaneous weakening of the sound foundation by eliminating the fifth 10 2 / 3 'in the pedal and the drone 16' in the main plant tend to a neo-baroque sound.
I Manual C – f 3
Principal
16 ′
Dumped
08th'
Hollow flute
08th'
Viola di gamba
08th'
Principal
08th'
Flûte harmonique0
04 ′
octave
04 ′
Fifth
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
octave
02 ′
Cornet III-IV
mixture V
5 1 ⁄ 3 ′
Trumpet
08th'
Krummhorn *
08th'
II swellC-f 3
Lovely Gedackt
16 ′
Lovely Gedackt
08th'
Flauto traverso
08th'
Salicional
08th'
octave
04 ′
Reed flute
04 ′
Fugara
04 '
Piccolo
02 ′
Progressio IV – V0
oboe
08th'
III Swell C – f 3
harmonica
08th'
Vox coelestis
08th'
Delicately packed
08th'
Concert flute
08th'
Principal amabile0
08th'
Vox angelica
04 ′
Soft flute
04 ′
Fifth *
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
Recorder*
02 ′
Sif flute *
01'
Cymbel * II
Hopper shelf *
08th'
Pedal C – d 1
Pedestal
32 ′
Principal bass0
16 ′
Violon bass
16 ′
Sub bass
16 ′
Soft bass
16 ′
Dacked bass
08th'
violoncello
08th'
Octave bass
08th'
octave
04 ′
trombone
16 ′
Trumpet
08th'
Recorder (from III)
02 ′
The registers and playing aids marked with * are new.
Coupling : II / I, III / II, III / I *, I / P, II / P, III / P *
Playing aids : roll sills, cresc. ab, two free combinations, fixed combinations pleno * and tutti, automatic pedal switching *, pedal tutti *, reed tuning from *
From 1953 to 1959 the organ builder Gerhard Kirchner from Weimar made various other changes: The additional stops on the III. Manuals were sharpened again, a third added on a third wind chest and the principal 8 'on the II. Manual switched to the much lighter octave 4'. The romantic string register Fugara 4 ′ was given up in favor of a sesquialter . This further strengthened the neo-baroque tendency of the renovations of the 1930s.
In addition, the range of the pedals has been extended by three tones up to f 1 with an additional drawer . The reason for this measure was that you could also play the F major Toccata by Johann Sebastian Bach on it. The cornett in the main plant was dismantled in order to be able to equip a pedal mixture with pipes. The organ was also tuned higher, as the concert pitch a 1 was at 435 Hz when the organ was built.
The additional wind chests and the complex console technology cause control problems to this day, and the maintenance of the organ has been made considerably more difficult by the built-in components. On the other hand, the added registers clearly stand out from the romantic, fundamental register fundus. Tuning up has also pushed some pipes to the limit of their intonation.
Disposition since 1959
I Manual C – f 3
Principal
16 ′
Dumped
08th'
Hollow flute
08th'
Viola di gamba
08th'
Principal
08th'
Flûte harmonique0
04 ′
octave
04 ′
Fifth
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
octave
02 ′
Mixture V
5 1 ⁄ 3 ′
third
1 3 ⁄ 5 ′
Trumpet
08th'
Krummhorn
08th'
II Swell C – f 3
Lovely Gedackt
16 ′
Lovely Gedackt
08th'
Flauto traverso
08th'
Salicional
08th'
octave
04 ′
Reed flute
04 ′
Sesquialter II
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
Piccolo
02 ′
Progressio IV – V0
oboe
08th'
III Swell C – f 3
harmonica
08th'
Vox coelestis
08th'
Delicately packed
08th'
Concert flute
08th'
Principal amabile0
08th'
Vox angelica
04 ′
Soft flute
04 ′
Octave*
02 ′
Third*
1 3 ⁄ 5 ′
Fifth *
1 1 ⁄ 3 ′
Ital. Principal *
01'
Cymbel III
Hopper shelf
08th'
Pedal C – f 1
Pedestal
32 ′
Principal bass0
16 ′
Violon bass
16 ′
Sub bass
16 ′
Dacked bass
08th'
violoncello
08th'
Octave bass
08th'
octave
04 ′
octave
02 ′
Rauschpfeife * IV
trombone
16 ′
Trumpet
08th'
The registers and playing aids marked with * are new.
Coupling : II / I, III / II, III / I, I / P, II / P, III / P
Playing aids : roll sills, cresc. ab, two free combinations and pleno, tutti, two free pedal combinations *, pedal tutti *, tongue voices
Tone action: Mechanically with pneumatically controlled Bark levers. Swell: Pneumatic.
Stop action: Pneumatic.
Refurbishment from 2018
In January 2018 the organ with its almost 3,200 pipes was completely dismantled within a week by employees of the organ building company Jehmlich from Dresden , and a protocol was made for each dismantled piece. The organ room and the organ loft are also to be thoroughly renovated. After the first inspection, the wooden pipes in particular show hardly any damage due to mold, woodworm or water ingress. The organ was last restored in 1966.
The duration of the restoration is open. The aim is to restore the original condition from 1894 and to remove any modifications. The installation of the instrument is expected to take three months. The investment required is estimated at more than 300,000 euros.
literature
Viola-Bianka Kießling : Queen of Instruments - An organ guide through the Weimar region and Weimarer Land . Fagott-Orgelverlag, Friedrichshafen 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-021071-6 .
Michael Schönfeld (Ed.): The Luther Church in Apolda . Wartburg Verlag, Weimar 1994, ISBN 3-86160-131-1 .