Organ landscape Saarland

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The largest organ in Saarland in the Christkönigkirche Saarbrücken

The organ landscape Saarland describes the organs in the state of Saarland . It dates back to the early 19th century in its present-day holdings. The oldest evidence of organs in the region of today's Saarland goes back to the 3rd century AD.

Further details on the works that have been preserved can be found in the list of organs in Saarland .

3rd to 18th century

Organ prospectus in Tholey Abbey Church (Nollet 1734)

The oldest pictorial representation of an organ can be found in the mosaic carpet of the Roman Villa Nennig in the municipality of Perl . It dates from the 3rd century AD and shows a simple hydraulic system that was played while standing. The oldest evidence for the existence of an organ is a bill from 1465, in which the services of an organist in the Wendalinus basilica in St. Wendel are mentioned. From the year 1519 there is an invoice for the bellows stepper , the bleak one to the organ, also in St. Wendel. The first verifiable new organ was built in 1610, when - again in St. Wendel - a contract was signed with the two Brabant organ builders Florentinus Hocque and his brother Nicolas, who also took over the still-preserved organ of the cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch ( Netherlands ) was closed to repair an organ that was obviously even older. In 1615 a new organ was inaugurated in the castle church in Old Saarbrücken . Furthermore, instruments in Ensheim (1680), in the Lutheran Church of Ottweiler (1691), in the Benedictine Abbey of Tholey (1693) and in the church of St. Sebastian in Blieskastel, which has no longer been preserved, are documented up to the end of the 17th century .

In 1734 the Trier organ builder Roman Benedikt Nollet built an organ in the Tholey Abbey Church, the baroque front of which is still preserved today and is one of the most beautiful organ fronts in the region. Unfortunately, the instruments behind this prospectus have changed over time. At the moment there is a work by Hugo Mayer Orgelbau from 2020 with III / 36 in the case. Today the only surviving organ from this organ builder is in the village church of Trier-Irsch . Nollet had also worked two years earlier in the Wendalinus basilica of St. Wendel, where he built an instrument with II / 20 in 1732, which in turn was replaced in 1781 by a work by the important organ builder family Stumm . The historical prospectus has been preserved to this day and now houses a four-manual Klais organ from 1934.

19th century

Wolfersheim Protestant Church (Schlimbach 1857)

The oldest organs in Saarland that are still preserved today date from the 19th century, including some instruments from the Stumm workshop, such as the Stumm organ of the Evangelical Church in Wolfersweiler , built in 1834 , which unfortunately no longer survives due to an intervention by Oberlinger is. The Stumm organ of the Catholic Church in Ommersheim was changed several times, but reconstructed in 2003 by Hugo Mayer . In the Catholic Church of Rappweiler in the community of Weiskirchen, there is an instrument that was originally built by Christian Roetzel for a church in Radevormwald and that was transferred to Rappweiler in the 1930s.

The instruments from the 19th century are all still indebted to classical organ building in terms of disposition and technology. As a rule, they all still have mechanical sliders and their disposition is still not very romantic. It is characteristic that almost without exception all organ builders the trumpet 8 ′ in the main work was always divided into bass and treble. Even the Trier organ builder Heinrich Wilhelm Breidenfeld remained true to the classic mechanical side-play system and the usual short pedal circumference in Nennig , despite the entry of Romanticism into the disposition . Other important organ builders of the 19th century were the Gustav and Martin Schlimbach companies, who supplied numerous village churches in the Saarpfalz district , and the Dalstein & Haerpfer company , who were active in the Saarlouis area near the border with France.

20th century

1900-1929

Biesingen St. Anna (Steinmeyer 1913)

At the turn of the century, the important organ building family Mamert Hock emerged in Saarland , who had their seat in Saarlouis and supplied many churches newly built during this period with pneumatic cone-type organs. Works that are still preserved today can be found in Niedaltdorf ( St. Rufus ) or Kostenbach ( Herz Jesu ) , among others . The largest still preserved organ from the Hock company is in Reimsbach ( St. Andreas ) and has 25 registers on two manuals and a pedal. It has eleven labial 8 'registers in the manuals alone and thus follows the tradition of high and late Romanticism . During this time, more and more supraregional organ builders in Saarland came to the fore, including Klais in Beckingen ( St. Johannes and Paulus ), Scheuert ( St. Katharina ) and Lockweiler (St. Michael) or Voit in Nunkirchen ( Herz Jesu ) or St. Ingbert ( St. Josef ).

Also worth mentioning are the instruments made by the Späth organ builder during this period. In 1925 this company built a large, romantic organ in St. Michael Saarbrücken, which with four manuals and remote control over the vault corresponded to the type of its time and at that time was the largest organ in the diocese. The instrument is received by and large to this day, but was rescheduled in the 1980s by Hugo Mayer and own three-manual new company with one of these gaming table provided. The fourth manual (Fernwerk) was abandoned because it had been damaged and looted during World War II . The organ has no prospectus, just a green wooden crate, but is still one of the most important instruments of German Romanticism in the Saarland.

1930-1959

Urexweiler St. Franziskus (Klais 1939)

From 1930 the first electro-pneumatic instruments were built in Saarland, including three large four-manual instruments. In 1933, Späth built a large organ with 50 stops in St. Hildegard's Church in St. Ingbert. In the same year, a four-manual Klais organ was built behind the old Stumm prospectus in the Wendalinus basilica of St. Wendel. It also has electro-pneumatic cone chests. Manuals II and IV are positives that were added to the left and right of the Stumm prospectus in the typical Klais free pipe prospectus of the 1930s. The organ has been rebuilt several times and its layout has been slightly reworked, but it has largely been preserved in its original form. In the 1970s she received a new gaming table from the builder company. In 1933, the renowned Bonn-based organ building company Klais built an organ with initially only three manuals in the Christkönigkirche Saarbrücken, which was expanded to the current 71 registers with four manuals in a second construction phase in 1953 and 1960 according to plans by organist Paul Schneider . This makes it the largest organ in the Saarland and beyond in the region. In the 1930s - even if only in individual cases - long before the onset of the North German organ movement, instruments were built on mechanical slides for the first time since the Romantic era and the associated pioneering (electro) pneumatic instruments. In 1933, for example, Walcker built mechanical slider-drawer organs for the Saarbrücken Castle Church and the Lower Saxony company Hammer in 1938 in the St. Arnual Collegiate Church , both of which, however, are no longer preserved today.

Riegelsberg St. Josef (Haerpfer 1955)

Due to the Second World War, very few instruments were made in Saarland in the 1940s. But in the 1950s organ building experienced a great boom again. The first post-war years in organ building in the Saarland were shaped by French influence - not least because of its economic affiliation with France. Therefore, some French organ building companies on the Saar came into play, including Edmond Alexandre Roethinger , of whom a large three-manual organ in the Catholic parish church of St. Marien Neunkirchen (Saar) has been preserved. Roethinger also built the new synagogue on Saarbrücken's Beethovenplatz and the St. Laurentius Church in Eschringen . The Haerpfer & Erman company supplied many village churches with electropneumatic cone chute organs, the disposition of which is less based on the German neo-baroque style than on the French neo-classical period, which was influenced by the Alsatian organ reform. Important instruments can be found in the Lutwinus Church in Mettlach as well as in Oberthal ( St. Stephanus ), Überherrn ( St. Bonifatius ), Friedrichsthal ( St. Marien ) and Riegelsberg ( St. Josef ). The disposition of the Haerpfer organs of the 1950s includes, in addition to a fundamentally toned main work, a generously arranged swell, and with three-manual organs as a third manual work also a rather small positive, which was sometimes built into the gallery balustrade. It is noticeable that the sound of such Haerpfer organs in the plenary session is less heavily mixed, but shaped by tongues. The main mix of works in Oberthal, for example, is only set up three times, although the organ has 37 stops. But German organ building companies also came to the Saarland in the post-war years, so Klais, who made some beautiful and special instruments for village churches, for example in St. Lukas Bliesransbach . built. Also in 1953, the still existing organ building company Hugo Mayer was founded, initially based in Saarbrücken- Brebach , but already in 1957 moved to the larger premises in Heusweiler, which are still used today. In his early days, Mayer continued to rely on electropneumatic cone chests.

A characteristic of almost all organs of the Saarland from the 1950s is that they have a free pipe prospect and electro-pneumatic cone chests.

1960-1979

Schwalbach (Saar), St. Martin (Ernst Seifert 1964)

In 1960, as in many other places, there was a change in organ building in the Saarland, both in terms of the type of windchest and the design of the prospectus. From now on, organs with closed cases were built almost exclusively and bright copper pipes were placed in the prospectus in many places. From around 1960 Mayer only built slider chests, initially with a purely electric action mechanism, later towards the end of the 1960s only with mechanical action mechanisms. An example of such Mayer organs with electric slide chests and copper prospectus is the organ in St. Wendalinus in Großrosseln . In the Saarpfalz district in particular, there are also numerous Mayer organs from this period in St. Martin Bexbach or St. Josef Jägersburg . With the connection to the Federal Republic of Germany , other organ builders from Germany also built instruments and the neo-baroque organ building tradition, inspired by northern Germany , also emerged in Saarland. In the 1960s, Klais built a unique instrument for the St. Elisabeth Church in Saarbrücken. The instrument stands on concrete plinths on the front left and right and has electric slide drawers. The sound radiation from this setup is particularly good, as the organ is in the acoustically most favorable place in the church. The main work and the positive are located on the right gallery for the viewer, while the swell and pedal are located on the left. Other Klais organs from the 1960s are in the churches in Völklingen- Fürstenhausen and St. Martin in Mettlach- Tünsdorf , both with mechanical action mechanisms. One of the few instruments that was still built with a register pulpit, i.e. a cone and pocket store, is located in the Schwalbach community in the St. Martin church . It was built in 1964 by the Ernst Seifert company from Bergisch Gladbach with 57 registers on four manuals and pedal and follows the neo-baroque style, both optically and tonally. Nevertheless, it has electropneumatic pocket drawers and a very lush swell mechanism, as was more common in earlier decades. But also the North German Neo-Baroque made it through Rudolf von Beckerath in 1969 with a North German-Neo-Baroque organ in the Evangelical Church of Wiebelskirchen near Neunkirchen in Saarland.

Theley St. Peter (Mayer 1975)

Between 1970 and 1980, the Mayer company predominantly controlled the number of new organs built in the Saarland churches, numerous mechanical instruments with electrical stop action and the characteristic Mayer prospectuses of this time, which are characterized by alternating pointed towers and flat panels in light wood. Examples are St. Peter in Theley or St. Nikolaus in Rehlingen . Some Protestant churches were now also supplied with instruments from organ builders from the GDR ; Jehmlich built in the Evangelical Christ Church Neunkirchen and in Ottweiler as well as Eule in Landsweiler-Reden ( Protestant Church ) and Friedrichsthal ( Protestant Church ).

1980-1999

Fremersdorf, St. Mauritius (Klais 1999)

Even in the 1980s, the Mayer organ building company in Saarland was still very strongly represented by new organs. Larger three-manual city church organs were built for Lebach ( Holy Trinity and St. Marien ), Eppelborn ( St. Sebastian ) and St. Ludwig in Saarlouis. Numerous village churches were also supplied. In the early 1980s, Mayer even increasingly built copper pipes into his brochures again, e.g. B. in Heusweiler or St. Paulus Saarbrücken. In 1987 the showcase instrument was built by Mayer for the Catholic Church of St. Crispinus and Crispinianus Lisdorf . It has 45 registers on three manuals and a pedal and is located in a new, neo-baroque case with a back positive and represents a type of the universal organ, with a classic main work, a baroque back positive and a romantic swell.

However, from the 1990s onwards, other companies were also building more and more instruments in Saarland, for example a fully mechanical slider organ in the Alsatian baroque style for the parish church of St. Bartholomew in Hasborn-Dautweiler was built by the Baden-Württemberg company Konrad Mühleisen from Leonberg in 1991 . In the St. Marien Church in Schmelz -Außen there has been a large two-manual Mayer organ with 34 registers in the French-Romantic style since 1999.

21st century

Obersalbach Maria-Königin (Mayer 2008)

In 2000, the Klais organ of the St. Johann Basilica in Saarbrücken , built in 1975, was extensively expanded by the Mayer company and supplemented by two parts on the former boxes on the left and right in the chancel. Today the instrument has 61 registers on five manuals. The swell (left choir organ) can also be played mechanically from its own two-manual console in the choir. For this purpose, the swell was divided into two sections for the first and second manual on the choir table. The Bourdon 16 'serves as a 16' register in the pedal of the choir organ through a transmission. From the main console, the entire choir organ is combined into a single swell, which extends from the III. Manual can only be operated as a unit. The fifth manual plays the chamades that are in the right choir organ. Mayer also built multiplex organs for Obersalbach ( Heusweiler municipality ) in 2008 and for the chapel of the Langwiedstift Saarbrücken in 2015 , in which all registers can be played separately on all keyboards.

In 2002 Thomas B. Gaida founded his organ building company in Wemmetsweiler , which specializes in instruments from the 1930s to 1950s with electro-pneumatic cone chests. This company is one of the few in Germany that almost exclusively builds organs with electropneumatic cone chests again. Another characteristic feature of Gaida organs is the targeted expansion of a few auxiliary registers over several octaves, which can then be registered independently on all keyboards, which is intended to expand the range of sounds and musical possibilities. This system is to be distinguished from the pure multiplex system in that only individual registers are developed here and the individual sub-works always consist entirely of "real" registers, while with multiplex (almost) all registers are drawn from a few rows of pipes. Organs converted by Thomas Gaida in his style can be found in St. Mauritius in Sotzweiler and Maria-Himmelfahrt in Roden .

Organ building companies based in Saarland

Surname Period place Remarks
Hugo Mayer organ building 1952-present Heusweiler Originally founded in Saarbrücken-Brebach and only moved to Heusweiler in 1957.
Lothar Hintz ~ 1950s and 1960s Heusweiler
Mamert Hock 1900-1943 Saarlouis
Peter Ohlert 1994-present Kirkel
Thomas B. Gaida 2002-present Wemmetsweiler Exclusively construction of electric cone and single-tone shops; very progressive organ concept
Walcker organ building 1974-today Rilchingen-Hanweiler Relocation of the company from Murrhardt and Ludwigsburg to Saarland.

literature

  • Matthias Thömmes: Organs in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland . Paulinus, Trier 1981, ISBN 3-7902-0137-5 .
  • Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Historical organs in the Saarland (=  publication of the Society of Organ Friends . Volume 271 ). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7954-2856-3 .

Web links

Commons : Organs in Saarland  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Sources or individual references

  • The organ descriptions all go back to the website OrganIndex.de .
  1. ^ Matthias Thömmes: Organs in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Trier, 1981. p. 214.
  2. ↑ Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Historical Organs in Saarland (=  publication of the Society of Organ Friends . Band 271 ). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7954-2856-3 . P. 246.
  3. ^ Organ in Tholey, St. Mauritius , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  4. ^ Organ in Trier-Irsch , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Historical Organs in Saarland (=  publication of the Society of Organ Friends . Band 271 ). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7954-2856-3 .
  6. ↑ Stumm-Orgel in Wolfersweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  7. ^ Organ in Ommersheim , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  8. ^ Organ in Rappweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  9. ^ Organ in Nennig , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  10. ^ Organ in Kostenbach , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  11. ^ Organ in Reimsbach , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ Former organ builders in the region, the history of the Saarland organ building company Mamert Hock on Trierer-Orgelpunkt.de
  13. ^ Organ in Beckingen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  14. ^ Organ in Schüsten , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  15. ^ Organ in Lockweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  16. ^ Organ in St. Josef St. Ingbert , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  17. ^ Organ in St. Michael Saarbrücken , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  18. ^ Organ of St. Hildegard's Church St. Ingbert , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  19. ^ Organ of the Wendalinusbasilika St. Wendel , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  20. ^ Organ of the Christkönigkirche Saarbrücken , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  21. ^ Organ of St. Marien in Neunkirchen (Saar) , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  22. ^ Organ of the synagogue on Beethovenplatz , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  23. ^ Organ of the Mettlach Abbey Church , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  24. ^ Organ in Oberthal , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  25. ^ Organ in Überherrn , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  26. ^ Organ in Friedrichsthal (St. Marien) , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  27. ^ Organ from St. Josef Riegelsberg , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  28. ^ Organ from St. Lukas Bliesransbach , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  29. ^ Website of the Hugo Mayer company
  30. ^ Organ from St. Wendalinus Großrosseln , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  31. ^ Organ from St. Martin Bexbach , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  32. ^ Organ of St. Elisabeth in Saarbrücken , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  33. ^ Organ in Völklingen-Fürstenhausen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  34. ^ Organ from St. Martin Mettlach-Tünsdorf , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  35. ^ Organ in Wiebelskirchen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  36. ^ Organ of St. Nikolaus in Rehlingen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  37. ^ Organ of the Christ Church in Neunkirchen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  38. ^ Organ in Ottweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  39. ^ Organ in Landsweiler-Reden , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  40. ^ Organ in Friedrichsthal , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  41. ^ Organ in Lebach , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  42. ^ Organ in Eppelborn , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  43. ^ Organ in St. Ludwig Saarlouis , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  44. ^ Organ by St. Crispinus and Crispinianus Lisdorf , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  45. ^ Organ of St. Bartholomäus in Hasborn-Dautweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  46. ↑ Organ in Schmelz-Außen , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  47. ↑ Klais organ of the St. Johann Saarbrücken basilica , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  48. ^ Organ in Obersalbach (Heusweiler municipality) , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  49. ^ Organ in the Langwiedstift Saarbrücken , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  50. ^ Organ from St. Mauritius in Sotzweiler , accessed on June 11, 2015.
  51. ^ Organ from the Assumption of Mary in Roden , accessed on June 11, 2015.