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Builder: Robert Hoppe (1987) Originally Barckhoff Organ Co (ca. 1887) Manuals: 1 Ranks: 8 Action: Mechanical key action. --Information and photo from Mark Thompson Last Update: 7/2009 |
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MANUAL (58 notes) 8' Open Diapason 8' Flute 8' Dulciana 4' Principal 4' Harmonic Flute 2' Mixture II |
PEDAL ORGAN (27
notes, flat pedalboard) 16' Subbass * Tuning is equal temperament, A440 |
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This organ is installed at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Decorah Township,
Minnesota. It was purchased and moved from a church in Good Thunder,
Minnesota. The organ was built ca. 1887, by Carl Barckhoff, then of
Salem, Ohio. Complete details of Barckhoff's organs of this era were
lost when Barckhoff's Salem shop was damaged by a flood. The case and the swell shutters were removed when the organ was installed in Redeemer's building. The fate of these parts is unknown. The organ is installed in a chamber on the left side of the chancel. The organ was removed and rebuilt in 1987, and every effort was made to keep all the remaining parts original. The façade woodwork is ash. The rebuild was performed by Robert Hoppe. The instrument was originally hand-pumped, but these parts disappeared at some point in the past, possibly when a blower was added. The reservoir is double-rise, about 5' long, 3' wide, and about 20" tall when fully inflated. At some point in the organ's past, a tremulant had been installed, and the double-rise reservoir disabled. The tremulant was not original to the organ and was removed in the 1987 rebuilding, and the reservoir restored to its original state. |
During the rebuild, a small mixture chest
was added, filling the space where the swell shutters had once been.
This is the only pipework not original to the instrument. The Open
Diapason 8' and the Principal 4' had developed severely sagging
languids, and were sent to A. R. Schopp's Sons pipework firm in
Salem, Ohio, which was the firm that had built the pipes over a
century before, where new languids were installed in the pipes. Virtually all pipes had had paint spattered on them; all pipes were cleaned, and the façade pipes, which had never been stenciled, were repainted, matching their original color. The façade pipes are made of zinc. The keys and key tops of the manual were cleaned and retained, as were the pedals and all the original trackers and other action parts. The pedal natural and sharp caps were duplicated and replaced, but the pedalboard is otherwise original. At the time of the rebuild, the blower was in the basement; it was removed and a new blower installed. The organ was rededicated with a recital played by David Engen. David Mertesdorf played a recital in 2007, commemorating the 20th year since the organ was installed. |