Rheinau

Switzerland, Zurich
Ehemalige Klosterkirche, Chororgel

At the inauguration of the new monastery church in Rheinau on 5th October 1710 there stood ready a small positive organ, built by Johann Christoph Albrecht from Waldshut, in the chancel. It only had 6 stops and no pedals. Nevertheless, it is of particular interest due to its outer design: a fully free-standing organ with no façade on the left-hand side of the high altar («Evangelist's side») in the choir intended to form an architectural counterpart to Fintan's tomb on the right-hand side of the high altar («Apostle's side»). Intended for everyday use, soon increased demands were made upon this choir organ. As early as 1726 a Pedal Organ with two stops was built onto the organ by P. Maurus Briol. Since there was no room for the largest pipes in Albrecht's existing case, this addition was positioned behind the choir stalls.

In 1746 the manual division was practically newly built by the organ builder Johann Konrad Speisegger from Schaffhausen. The new windchest now created enough space for 10 stops. Further alterations followed, amongst others one in 1841 by Friedrich Haas. After the monastery closed in 1862 the organ soon became unplayable. Many of the pipes were stolen, the technical systems deteriorated and were also to some extent lost.

Translation 2008: SJR