Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd, 2002
Restoration
www.orgelbau.ch/ope=801220
II/P/19
Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia
Kath. Pfarrkirche St. Petri
An impressive work of art with far-reaching roots into the past
The restoration of the Johan Berenhard Klausing organ from the year 1717 in Oelinghausen, Westphalia, presented us with a considerable challenge from many points of view. First of all we had to do justice to the valuable instrument itself: this majestic organ presiding from the church's choir incorporates materials from numerous periods, dating as far back as «Meister Martin aus Paderborn» (1599).
Serious modifications to the historical pipework and problems with the systems dating from the 1960's led us to view the most acceptable aim of the restoration work as being a return to the state of Klausing's organ of 1717. This demanded a relatively large amount of reconstruction work, for example, in the completely new construction of the spring chests of the Great, which had, at some point, been removed. In order to guarantee better long-term protection of the valuable pipework we opted for a 'simple spring chest' (without drawers). In this way the wind characteristics of a spring chest system were fully achieved without having to cope with the disadvantages of an irregular wind supply to the pipes caused by a poor seal at the drawers. We modelled the three bellows of the new wind system on the example set by the Heinrich-Klausing organ in Freren. Likewise, we newly constructed the key and stop actions and the slider chest of the pedals; that of the Brustwerk we were able to restore.
In agreement with officials responsible with the preservation of ancient monuments, certain later modifications such as the independent pedal organ (which Klausing's organ did not possess), the finish on the pipework or the state of the outer casing and the stopknobs from 1963 remain: the acceptance of the originality of this magnificent organ and its history took clear precedence over a return to a presumed original state - a consideration which is clearly a way forward into the future in the practice of organ restoration.
