Kuhn Organ Builders at a glance

  • 1864 Company founded in Männedorf by Johann Nepomuk Kuhn (1827-1888)
  • 1888 Death of J.N. Kuhn, management of the company passed to his son Carl Theodor Kuhn (1865-1925)
  • 1906 Founding of second French subsidiary in Nancy, after Bellegarde
  • 1907 Bellegarde Subsidiary merged with Charles Michel-Merklin, Lyon
  • 1925 Shortly before the death of C.T. Kuhn, the company was transformed into «Orgelbau Th. Kuhn Aktiengesellschaft»
  • 1958 Resumption of new organ exports, with the first organs going overseas
  • 1967 Friedrich Jakob appointed Director
  • 1974 Company's own restoration department established
  • 1979 Start of extensive restoration activities abroad
  • 1988 Export of new organs established as fixed part of Kuhn's service portfolio
  • 1998 Ownership of all entire stock secured by management
  • 2000 Company renamed «Orgelbau Kuhn AG» (Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd.)
    Managerial triumvirate:
    Dieter Utz, Chief Executive
    Dieter Rüfenacht, New organs
    Wolfgang Rehn, Restorations
  • 2002 Philosophy
  • 2010 Hans-Peter Keller becomes head of the New Organ Department, from 2013 engineering & design
  • 2012 Transformation workshop building – video (text in German)
  • 2013 Gunter Böhme becomes head of the Sound & Restoration department
  • 2014 Division of the company into independent entities of “Organ Building" and "Real Estate"
  • 2017 Commissioning of photovoltaic system and district heating for adjacent building
  • 2021 New management and execution of succession

Legal form

Public limited company registered in the Commercial Register of the Canton of Zurich

Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd
UID and VAT-ID: CHE-316.734.552 MWST

Real estate

Land: 4716 m2
Workshop and storage space: 3100 m2
Building volume: 14400 m3

The people behind our success

All Kuhn Organ Builders employees are qualified specialists and include:
– Master organ builders
– Organ builders, mostly with an additional qualification in voicing, design, planning, restoration, organ care
– Pipe-maker s
– Cabinet-makers and other skilled crafts
– Graduate in Business management and staff with commercial backgrounds

Infrastructure

Department of design, workshops for organ building, restoration, voicing and pipe manufacturing, metal-working, painting, assembly, demonstration room for small organs, stores and warehousing space.

Memberships

– Association of Swiss Organbuilders
– International Society of Organbuilders ISO