The organs of St. Johannis (Lüneburg) are the large historical main organ on the west gallery and the choir organ in the five-aisled Gothic hall church St. Johannis in Lüneburg . The large instrument got its current shape mainly in 1553 and through the baroque extensions and today has three manuals and 51 stops . In addition, there is a two-manual choir organ made by Kuhn from 2010 with 23 registers in the church.
The organ in St. Johannis is reported as early as 1374. A choir organ was commissioned in 1479. There are no records of a main organ.
New construction of the renaissance organ (1553)
In 1551 the church commissioned the famous Hendrik Niehoff and Jasper Johansen to build a large organ, which was to be built in 's-Hertogenbosch and then transferred to Lüneburg via Amsterdam and Hamburg . For the work completed in 1553, the Brabant organ builders received the price of 1000 thalers. Dirck Hoyer (Hamburg), Jacob Scherer's son-in-law , added a base to the otherwise attached pedal on a separate wind chest halfway up behind the main work in 1576 . The ornate Renaissance-style manual housings by Adriaan Schalken and some registers from the 16th century have been preserved to this day. On the other hand, the double doors were removed in the course of the baroque extensions. Various pipes in the prospectus are provided with filigree golden masks, while some treble fields have mirror pipes with feet soldered together. In 1586 Matthias Mahn ( Buxtehude ) renewed the side pedal drawers and added a high flute register. According to Georg Böhm , the wind was supplied via cables from the main plant.
Michael Praetorius gives in his Organographia ( Syntagma musicum , Volume 2, 1619) the disposition at that time with III / P / 27. The renaissance organ was still largely designed as a block . Praetorius describes an additional bass octave in the main work, the eight pipes of which (C 1 D 1 E 1 F 1 G 1 A 1 B 1 H) were placed in the flat panels on the side of the main work case. Behind it stood the pipes of the bass register. The praestant was also playable in the contract octave as 16 ′. According to the Dutch tradition of the 16th century, the Rückpositiv had two drawers, with the principal choir on the lower drawer and the flute and tongue choir on the upper drawer. The base in the pedal was added by Dirck Hoyer ("from an organ maker in Hamburg / with the name M. Dirich / ohngefehr 40 years ago") and began at F. This pedal box is still behind the main movement case. The disposition is in a systematic arrangement and with the reconstructed footprints:
I return position CDEFGA – g 2 a 2
Praestant
8th'
Koppeldone or Octava
4 ′
mixture
Sharp
Quintadehna
8th'
Bar pipe
4 ′
Klein Holpipe
4 ′
Soot pipe
Siflöit
1 1 ⁄ 2 ′
shelf
8th'
Schallmey
4 ′
II Werck C 1 D 1 E 1 F 1 G 1 A 1 –g 2 a 2
Praestant
8th'
Octava
4 ′
mixture
Sharp
Drummed bass
8th'
Night horn bass
2 ′
Buerflöiten bass
1'
III Supreme Position CDEFGA – g 2 a 2
Praestant
8th'
Holpipe
8th'
Flutes
4 ′
Nassat
3
Gemhorn
2 ′
Super Octava
2 ′
cymbal
Trumpeted
8th'
Pedal F–
Pedestal
12 ′
Extensions in the Baroque (1652, 1715)
Crowning angel from the Dropa conversion on the central tower of the upper structure
Several extensions were made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original swallow's nest-like gallery had to give way to a baroque double gallery. In the course of this, the previously semicircular Rückpositiv was built wider to accommodate a larger manual volume and pipe inventory. In addition, the side wing doors were removed. Franz Theodor Kretzschmar carried out this conversion from 1633 to 1635, which was accepted by Jacob Praetorius (Hamburg). In 1651/52 Friedrich Stellwagen (Lübeck) carried out an overhaul and an extension. The contract octave in the middle manual was given up in favor of a 16 'system from C. Heinrich Scheidemann (Hamburg) was responsible for the acceptance . Only minor repairs are documented in the second half of the 17th century. A major extension was arranged by Georg Böhm, who was cantor organist at St. Johannis from 1698 to 1733 . He insisted that "the bright and sharp intonation in both the old and the new voices" should be retained. During his service activities, the young Johann Sebastian Bach , who was at the Michaelis School in Lüneburg from 1700 to 1702 , got to know the well-known organ, which at that time still had its Renaissance character. From 1712 to 1715, Schnitger's pupil Matthias Dropa (Lüneburg) added an independent pedal with front and rear drawers, which he built in the north German tradition in side pedal towers and provided with rich carvings. Dropa renewed the mechanical system and replaced the keyboards and the wind tunnels. The instrument therefore had 47 stops on three manuals and a free pedal.
Changes between 1739 and 1922
After repairs in 1739, 1755 and 1809, Eduard Meyer (1850 to 1853) made significant changes to the plant and made further minor changes in the 19th century. Meyer replaced several aliquot registers with fundamental flute and string parts, increased the range and built new drawers and keyboards. In 1922 and 1926, Oskar Walcker built in a pneumatic action and added a remote unit in the Barbara chapel and a swell box around the upper unit. The historical pipe substance was not changed, however.
Restorations in the 20th / 21st century
In 1943 the prospectus and case, which in contrast to the pipe interior were considered worth preserving, were relocated. Under the influence of the organ movement , the value of the St. John's organ was recognized again in the second half of the 20th century. Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau restored the precious instrument in several steps. In 1952/53 the old Renaissance and Baroque pipes were retained and later changes to the intonation were reversed. Some registers from the 19th century have been reworked and integrated into the historical sound image, while other registers have been reconstructed. Essentially, the organ was restored to the Baroque arrangement by Dropa, to which a few stops were added. In 1976 the keyboards and action as well as part of the wind chests were replaced. The extended keyboard ranges and the pedal couplings were retained. Finally, in 1992 von Beckerath renewed the bass octave goblet of trombone 32 ′.
In 2008 the organ case and pipework was documented by the Flentrop Orgelbouw company , which also cleaned and tuned the organ. Federal funding of 900,000 euros was released at the end of 2018 for a comprehensive restoration.
Disposition since 1953
Today's disposition is:
I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Principal
08th'
N
Dumped
08th'
B.
Quintadena
08th'
N
octave
04 ′
N / D / B
Reed flute
04 ′
M / B
Sesquialtera II 0
M / B
Forest flute
02 ′
B.
Sif flute
1 1 ⁄ 3 ′0
D / B
Scharff V-VII
01'
B.
Dulcian
16 ′
D.
Bear whistle
08th'
B.
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
Principal
16 ′
N / K
Quintadena
16 ′
D.
octave
08th'
DM
Dumped
08th'
M.
octave
04 ′
N / D
Night horn
04 ′
M.
Fifth
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′0
DM
octave
02 ′
N / D
Peasant flute
02 ′
M.
Mixture VI – VIII 0
1 1 ⁄ 3 ′
D / B
Scharff IV – V
02 ⁄ 3 ′
B.
Trumpet
16 ′
D / B
Trumpet
08th'
N / B
Schalmey
04 ′
B.
III Oberwerk C – g 3
Principal
08th'
N
Reed flute
08th'
N
octave
04 ′
D.
recorder
04 ′
M.
Nasat
2 2 ⁄ 3 ′0
N
Gemshorn
02 ′
N
Terzian II
B.
octave
01'
B.
Mixture V-VI 0
01'
M / B
Zimbel III
01 ⁄ 6 ′
B.
Trumpet
08th'
B.
Dulcian
08th'
D / B
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Principal
16 ′ 0
D.
Pedestal
16 ′
H
octave
08th'
D.
Dumped
08th'
D.
octave
04 ′
D.
Night horn
02 ′
D.
Peasant flute
01'
M.
Rauschpfeife II 0
M.
Mixture VI-VIII
02 ′
D / B
trombone
32 ′
D / B
trombone
16 ′
D / B
Trumpet
08th'
D / B
Trumpet
04 ′
M / B
cornet
02 ′
B.
Coupling : I / II, III / II, III / P, I / P, II / P
N = Hendrik Niehoff (1553)
H = Dirck Hoyer (1576)
K = Franz Theodor Kretzschmar (1635)
D = Mathias Dropa (1715)
M = 19th century, mainly Eduard Meyer, reworked by Beckerath
In addition to the historical organ, a choir organ from the Swiss company Kuhn from Männedorf has been in the church since 2010 . In terms of sound, it is deliberately designed as a supplement to the Renaissance-Baroque organ, namely in the classic French, romantic-symphonic tradition. It was consecrated on May 23, 2010. It is to be used for oratorios and choirs as well as for symphonic organ music of the 19th and 20th centuries. The cube-shaped prospectus was designed according to plans by the architect Carl-Peter von Mansberg (Lüneburg). The disposition comprises 23 registers on two manuals and pedal:
Michael Praetorius : Syntagma musicum. Volume II. De Organographia . Bärenreiter, Kassel [et al.] 1985, ISBN 3-7618-0183-1 , pp.170–171 ( online - facsimile from Wolfenbüttel 1619).
Rudolf Utermöhlen: The organ to St. Johannis in Lüneburg . Museum Association for the Principality of Lüneburg, Lüneburg 1952 (special print from: Lüneburger Blätter , 3, 1952).
Maarten A. Vente : The Brabant Organ. On the history of organ art in Belgium and Holland in the Gothic and Renaissance ages . HJ Paris, Amsterdam 1963.
Harald Vogel , Günter Lade, Nicola Borger-Keweloh: Organs in Lower Saxony . Hauschild, Bremen 1997, ISBN 3-931785-50-5 .
Christoph Wolff , Markus Zepf: The organs of JS Bach. A manual . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-374-02407-6 , p.79-81 .