Bavarian church tries to make organ popular again
Young boy in the City Church of Bayreuth, Germany. Still from YouTube video Sontagsblatt
Central Europe
The Protestant Church in Bavaria is seeking more organ players. Therefore, the church acquired an organ kit. With it, children can build a pipe organ themselves.
Last Saturday, the assembly kit was presented at the University of Protestant Church Music in Bayreuth. The kit consists of around 130 individual parts, including 48 pipes, keys, action, windchest and bellows. The construction is almost entirely made of wood.
According to the manufacturer, the small-format pipe organ can be set up by children within 60 minutes and then played on it. This reports the Christian German press agency Idea.
The kit is part of the joint campaign “Make church music” of the regional church, the Association of Evangelical Church Musicians in Bavaria (Nuremberg) and the support foundation of the university. They also shared the acquisition cost of 6,800 euros. The set can be borrowed for free from the Church Music Association.
In 2021, the organ was named “Instrument of the Year” by the state music councils. There are around 50,000 instruments in Germany. In 2017, UNESCO recognised organ music and organ building as intangible cultural heritage.
