Organs of the Black Church (Brașov)

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Buchholz organ from 1839

The organs of the Black Church are valuable historical organs in Brașov ( Kronstadt in German ) in Transylvania in Romania. The main organ was built by Carl August Buchholz from Berlin from 1836 to 1839 and, with 63 registers , four manuals and pedal, is his largest work. The choir organ was built in 1861 by Carl Hesse from Vienna and has eight registers. She has been in the Black Church since 1987. A positive from 1699 by an unknown builder also has eight registers and came to Kronstadt in 2009.

History of the church

Construction of the church began in 1383 and was completed around 1480. The restoration began in the 1970s, from 1998 the organ was also restored and the church was handed over on October 14, 2001 with the re-consecration of the organ.

Main organ

Building history

New building by Buchholz 1835–1839

In 1828 a Kronstadt commission decided to build a new organ in the Black Church. After initial inquiries from the organ builder Deutschmann from Vienna and the Serassi brothers from Bergamo, the commission was informed of the Buchholz organ built in 1835 in the Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder) , whereupon the Berlin organ builder Carl August Buchholz was presented with the basic conditions for organ building. On August 24, 1835, he sent a cost estimate with a draft plan, which the organ building commission approved. With the signing of the contract on September 19, 1835, work began on the new organ, which according to the contract was originally supposed to have four manuals with 56 keys, pedal with 27 keys, 63 sounding voices and 76 stops. Buchholz was to receive 50,000 gulden Viennese currency for the execution.

Carl August Buchholz and his son Carl Friedrich Buchholz went to Kronstadt together with three journeymen to begin construction work on site. The organ was built within three and a half years and received one more ringing voice than was contractually stipulated.

On April 17, 1839, the organ was inaugurated with a few improvisations and cantatas by Friedrich Schneider and Johann Lucas Hedwig . There were over 1,000 people in the church. Pastor Greissing gave the sermon, after which parts from the Messiah by Georg Friedrich Handel were played. The organist was Carl August Buchholz himself, who demonstrated and explained the organ to interested parties in the following days.

Reconstruction in 1966

Heinrich Mauss described the arrangement of the organ in 1873. Only a few changes were made in the following years, but the organ was changed in 1966 with the following changes:

  • In the main work, the Cornett was changed from 16 ' to 8'.
  • In the substation, the Flauto traverso 8 ′ has been replaced by a 1 ′ and the Progressio harmonica III – V has been changed with higher choirs.
  • In the pedal, the Nasard 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ is replaced by an octave 2 ′ and Mixtur IV is lightened with a fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′.

All changes were reversed during the renovation work in 1998-2001, as all the original pipes were present.

The organ survived the modernization efforts as well as the two world wars almost undamaged.

Restoration by Stemmer 1997–2001

Between 1997 and 2001 the Buchholz organ was restored under the direction of Ferdinand Stemmer . The pipes were removed and cleaned and damage repaired. The changes made in 1966 have been reversed.

Disposition (restored 2001)

I substation
(swellable) C – g 3
Salicional 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Gedakt 8th'
Flauto traverso 8th'
Viola da gamba 8th'
Octava 4 ′
Flauto doce 4 ′
Viola d'amore 4 ′
Gemshorn 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Decimaquinta 2 ′
Prog. Harmonica III – V
II Pipe work
(swellable) C – g 3
bassoon 16 ′
Reed flute 8th'
Violino 8th'
Vox Angelica 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Trumpet 8th'
Clarinet 8th'
III main manual C – g 3
Principal 16 ′
Quintatön 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
viola 8th'
Nasard 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Cornett V (from g)
Octava 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
Forest flute 4 ′
Quinta 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Super octave 2 ′
Sharp V
Cimbel III
IV Oberwerk C – g 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Gedact 8th'
Hollow flute 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Quintatön 8th'
Octava 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Fugara 4 ′
Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Super octave 2 ′
Mixture V
Hautbois 8th'
Pedal C – f 1
Principal 32 ′
Pedestal 32 ′
Principal 16 ′
Sub-bass 16 ′
Violone 16 ′
Nasard 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Principal 8th'
Bass flute 8th'
Violone 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
Quinta 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Octava 4 ′
Mixture V
Contra trumpet 32 ′
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'
Cornett 4 ′
  • Pair : I / II, IV / III, III / II, III / P
  • Playing aids : 2 pedal valves, valve manual I, valve manual II, valve manual III, valve manual IV

Technical specifications

Choir organ

The choir organ was built by Carl Hesse from Vienna for the community of Lechnitz, came to Paßbusch in 1907 and finally to Brașov in 1987. It has a manual with attached pedal, eight registers and is arranged according to the Italian model with soft flute parts and split single slides for the mixture. It is tuned to 440 Hz. In 1997 it was restored by the Stemmer / Zumikon company.

positive

A positive was built in 1699 by an unknown organ builder for the church of Reps . Renovations in 1918, 1959 and most recently in 2012 by the Honigberg organ workshop. It was brought to the Black Church in 2009 and today stands there on its own gallery in the north main nave in front of the triumphal arch. Register and game action are mechanical.

Disposition:
I Manual: Principal 8 ', Koppel 8', Principal Octav 4 ', Flött 4', Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ', Super Octav 2', Waldt Flött 2 ′, Mixtur

During the work in 2012 an inscription was discovered in the organ bellows : “ Anno 1699 year Majus 9 I have Zackarias. ? . ? . ? . Organ maker for the German Cross wonnet. "

literature

  • Swiss Foundation for Organs in Romania (Ed.): Kronstadt. The organs of the Black Church . Verlag Wort und Welt & Bild, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-9807949-1-1 .
  • Uwe Pape : The Buchholz organ in the city church in Kronstadt . In: IAOD (Ed.): Monographs of historical organs . tape 6 . Pape Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-921140-51-X .
  • Hermann Binder : Organs in Transylvania. A contribution to the history of the Transylvanian organ from the beginning to the middle of the 19th century = Orga în Ardeal . Gehann Musik-Verlag, Kludenbach 2000, ISBN 3-927293-21-0 .

Recordings / sound carriers

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry Reps in the organ file of the Evangelical Church AB in Romania, accessed July 16, 2018