How it all began …
In 2020, our parish church, St. Antonius, received a new organ. Instead of building a new one, we had the unique opportunity to acquire the largest surviving 1920s concert hall organ in Germany from Gelsenkirchen City Hall, the Hans-Sachs-Haus. This was possible because the city of Gelsenkirchen was looking for a new home for the organ, and the interior of St. Antonius Church offers the ideal conditions for such a large instrument.
The organwas builtby Orgelbau Seifert of Kevelaer. The artistic design—featuring a contemporary, pipe-less facade created by the architectural firm Königs in Cologne—draws on the original layout at the Hans-Sachs-Haus in Gelsenkirchen. The silver-colored slats, curved toward the sound openings, create an iridescent reflection of the incoming light.
The Walcker Organ, Opus 2150
Built for the Hans-Sachs-Haus in Gelsenkirchen, the organ was constructed in 1927 by the renowned organ-building firm Walcker in Ludwigsburg. With 92 stops divided between the main organ and the remote section, and an exceptionally rational sound concept that combined the style of the late Romantic period with that of the early organ revival movement, it was hailed at the time as a “miracle organ.”
The concert hall’s rich historyis fully documented atwww.walcker-orgel-gelsenkirchen.de, as is the history of its construction. In the 1990s, the city of Gelsenkirchen organized an organ competition that quickly gained international renown.
Architectural History
The organ was retuned several times; later, the remote section was removed, and the main organ was supplemented with “brightening” stops of inferior quality. A modern console with a minimalist design replaced the original one. A gradual conversion to slider chests resulted in a significant loss of sound quality. In the early 2000s, the Seifert company was commissioned to restore the organ to its original condition.
Inventory
The pipework of the main organ, dating from 1927, is fully preserved. The remote section was reconstructed in 2005 based on the original plans, as were the windchests. The structural framework in Papenburg is new. The organ consists of the three-part main organ and the remote section—which has been repurposed as a choir organ—in the southern transept, with a choir platform in front of it. Three connection points at ground level are provided for the new console, which is state-of-the-art in terms of both technology and ergonomics. This ensures good audibility and control of the sound balance.
Source: St. Anthony Parish