The main organ of the former Cistercian monastery church of St. Mary's Assumption of the Fürstenfeld monastery was built in 1736 by Johann Georg Fux . The largely unchanged instrument is considered to be one of the most important monuments of baroque organ building in Bavaria. Fux re-used eleven registers from the previous instrument dating back to 1630. The open 32 'wooden pipes in the outer fields of the prospectus , which are silver-plated and painted with so-called "grimaces", are remarkable . With 27 registers on two manuals and a pedal, this instrument is one of the largest surviving baroque organs in Bavaria. In 1948 Josef Zeilhuber built a choir organ with 25 registers on two manuals and a pedal.
Prospectus pipes left: 32 ′ wooden pipes, middle: Principal 16 ′ and 8 ′ from 1630, right: reconstructed violon 16 ′, above: Petalmixtur 4 ′ from 1630
Building history
In the previous church there was a single manual organ by an unknown builder from 1629/1630. The instrument was put into storage before the church was rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century. Johann Georg Fux used six wind chests and eleven rows of pipes from the previous organ for his new building. The new organ with 27 registers on two manuals and pedal, laid out with the short octave customary at the time , was consecrated on August 14, 1736. Johann Georg Greiff created the organ front, which is one of the largest in Bavaria at almost 16 meters high and 11.5 meters wide.
Besides the reed register "Trompas 16 '" in the pedal, the organ only has labial registers . The wooden prospect pipes of the 32 'register "Gross Portun" are painted silver. This was a common austerity measure in the Baroque period, as metal pipes of this size were much more expensive. Johann Georg Fux had no experience with open 32 'pipes and apparently misjudged the required wind supply for this register. Until the restoration by Sandtner in 1978, when, among other things, the wind supply to the prospect pipes was modified, the "Gross Portun" was almost silent. In 1850 Max Maerz replaced three registers in 16 'position: violon, trompas and subpas. In 1915, Leopold Nenninger moved the action down a semitone so that the organ was brought to the pitch that is common today, added the lowest pipes in all registers, and tuned the organ equally. From 1977 to 1978 the organ was restored by Sandtner. Several registers and the entire wind turbine, which had been replaced during earlier work, were reconstructed in the process. The equal tuning and pitch from 1915 have been retained. In addition to an electric fan, the organ can alternatively be supplied with wind by hand via four large wedge bellows. Another restoration is planned.
From 1923 to 1951, Benedictines from Ettal Abbey lived in Fürstenfeld Abbey. Because they wanted an instrument for choral prayer, a businessman from Fürstenfeldbruck donated a choir organ. This instrument was built by Josef Zeilhuber in 1948 and was named Marienorgel at the request of the founder . It has 25 stops on two manuals and a pedal. Two registers provided in the console (Schalmey 4 ′ and Lieblich Posaune 16 ′) were not built for cost reasons. The console is integrated in the choir stalls. The main work is hidden behind it, the upper work and pedal one level higher on one of the southern oratorios. In 2002–2003 a restoration was carried out by Christoph Kaps Eichenau , who among other things added a historical reed register (Horn 8 ') from the old Baumburger organ. The most important work was carried out to keep the instrument playable. The gaming table from 1948 was retained, but is increasingly prone to failure. A renewed renovation and expansion with a new three-manual gaming table, a new swell mechanism and freely switchable principal and tongue registers with so-called "single tone control" is planned.
