1688 Arp Schnitger Organ, Germany

Located in St. Pankratius Church, Neuenfelde (Hamburg), Northern Germany. Its current disposition is two manuals and pedalboard with a total of 34 stops.

The church was rebuilt in 1682. Hans Christoph Fritzsche’s organ of 1673 proved to be too small and unsuitable for the new church; therefore, Schnitger was commissioned to build a new organ in 1683. Due to some back works in the church’s ceiling Schnitger could only begin working on the organ in 1688. He achieved his task in 21 weeks and this was the biggest two manual organ among Schnitger’s output. Schnitger became a fellow countryman of Neuenfelde since he settled there from 1705 until his death in 1719. He opened there a second workshop besides the one he runed in Hamburg. He was known to regularly attend worship and had his personal pew in St. Pankratius where he was buried. Few changes were made to the organ during the 18th century and big alterations in the 19th. A comprehensive restoration was undertaken between 2015 and 2017 according to the principles of monument preservation by the German Wegscheider Organ Workshop. The case, facade and 18 original stops were preserved and the remainder reconstructed within the original patterns. In the facade, a mahogany version replaced the previous green-red fake marble decoration.

Contextual historical chronology

1687: Jean-Baptiste Lilly (1632-1687) Decease on March 22nd.

1695: Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Decease on November 21st.

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Before 2015-2017 restoration