After the Seifert organ installers arrived in Papenburg yesterday and unpacked everything, they were able to begin assembling the organ today (October 1, 2019).
Construction site this morning: The first wooden components for the organ blower housing have been brought up to the organ loft.
Three assemblers put the individual housing components together.
This enclosure will house the organ's two blowers and block the noise from these units from reaching the outside.
The wooden parts are glued together rather than screwed together.
Held together with glue and wooden dowels—or perhaps we should say “wooden pins” here, since we are, after all, in a house of God.
The first fan is on its way up with the crane.
Work also began today on the vault. But first, the debris from yesterday was swept up.
To handle the steel beams, some of which weigh over 180 kg, a lifting system with a chain hoist was installed.
By evening, the first steel components had been joined together.
On the morning of October 2, the second fan was hoisted into its new home.
These two blowers will "breathe life" into the organ in the future.
Additional organ components during assembly.
Significant progress was also made today on the steel structure on the vaulted floor.
With two additional workers, the steel elements were installed on the left side.
Here you can see one of the supports from which the organ towers are suspended.
In the center: one of the holes in the vault through which a steel cable runs to the support.
The scaffolding crews have arrived (Oct. 7).
Meanwhile, work on the steel structures continues above the vault.
The individual parts are bolted together with thick bolts to ensure a precise fit.
A total of 800 square meters of paneling must be carried into the church using only manual labor and physical strength. This amounts to a total weight of 11 metric tons (Oct. 8–9).
Inside the church, work continues on the scaffolding needed to erect the organ towers.
This is what the storage area in the side aisle looks like now
Pallets of building materials are also piled up on the other side of the church.
Next to the holy water font is a workbench with a drill press; in the background is a circular saw.
A look inside the wind turbine enclosure.
In the foreground is one of the giant pipes, which are so long that—as the technical term in organ terminology goes—they must be bent so that they can fit at all. This does not affect the pitch at which it is meant to sound.
One box of supplies after another is hoisted onto the organ platform.
All the parts must fit perfectly into place. In the foreground, you can see the organ builders’ blueprints, always within easy reach.
These large, long “wooden boxes” will all contribute their own sound to the music in the grand organ later on. Low notes require a lot of space.
The first pipes of the organ have now been installed and are visible from inside the church (Oct. 10).
However, the large wooden pipes now block the view of the rose window, which has been visible since May.
Everything is put into place with the help of the crane.
It is clearly evident that the Walcker organ in St. Anthony's Church is growing (Oct. 11).
The technicians have begun setting up the rear tower of the organ. The first “level” can be seen here.
Another “floor” will be added next week.
As of today, the rods from the vault—on which the outer organ towers will be suspended—are also in place.
Above the arch: A threaded rod allows you to precisely adjust the height at which the towers should hang.
A large, sturdy wooden structure has been built on the organ platform to provide space for many more organ pipes (Oct. 11).
A look inside the wind chest for the large wooden pipes.
To make room for all the large pipes, some of them are even installed horizontally.
The wind machines will be fitted with soundproofing so that the engine noise does not interfere with the music.
This week, the support rods for the two suspended organ towers were installed through the vaulted ceiling. The steel structure is scheduled to be attached there next week.
A view of the organ construction site from above at the beginning of the week (Oct. 14).
Seifert's organ installers have returned from the weekend and are continuing their work on the rear organ tower.
The wooden structure continues to rise.
A crane was set up in front of the church this afternoon.
The debris that had accumulated in the vaulted ceiling had to be cleared out of the tower room.
In addition, bags of concrete were brought upstairs.
The construction debris hung from the hook, 20 meters below.
A scaffold was set up for the installation work in the church.
Crosswise: A crane and a cherry picker have to share the church's limited airspace (Oct. 15).
Here, the first section of the second “level” of the rear organ tower is currently being hoisted into place.
It takes a lot of patience and skill to position the piece on the cramped organ loft.
In the late afternoon.
The ladder is needed for the work in the vault.
To allow the suspension rods of the outer organ towers to hang freely without touching the vault, the existing holes had to be enlarged slightly.
They're drilling above the vault …
… and dust trickles down beneath the vault.
Now the poles fit.
First impressions from the morning (Oct. 16).
It took a lot of thought and experimentation before the steel colossus learned to float.
In that cramped space, it was especially important that the frame could be pulled upward horizontally while remaining well balanced.
Across the church, on his way to his destination …
… past the steel boom from the organ loft
In this picture, you can see the second challenge the crane operator had to overcome. Every centimeter of vertical space had to be used to connect the steel framework to the poles: The two young metalworkers have already made their way up to their high-altitude construction site using an additional ladder to install the connecting bolts.
It's hanging there! Now we just need to remove the carrying straps.
Number two will be up by tonight, too!
While the large steel frames are being spectacularly hoisted into place, work continues on the timber-frame structure of the organ case (Oct. 17).
A photo of the thick dowels (with a euro coin in the center for scale) used to connect the beams to one another.
A steel brace provides additional support.
While almost everyone in the church has their heads tilted back to watch the work being done on the large steel frame …
… there’s someone “lying in wait” here, observing the scene from a different perspective.
It's very quiet in here. To ensure that the wind tunnels don't let any air escape later on, all the joints must be sealed with felt and special glue.