Zion Lutheran Church - Moselem Springs, PA

1770

Tannenberg built an organ for Zion Lutheran Church near the town of Moselem Springs in Richmond Township in Berks County in 1770. This was one of Tannenberg's earliest organs; quite possibly his opus 7. It is interesting to note that this is not only the oldest surviving Tannenberg organ, but also the oldest surviving organ built in the colonies. Tannenberg provided a case constructed from black walnut and is the only extant Tannenberg case made from this wood. The organ was dedicated by the pastor, John Helfrich Schaum in 1770 and was located in the west gallery of the church's 1761 stone building. An old photo of the organ in this building can be seen hanging in the present church (see below).

The organ remained in the old church for 124 years. Then, in 1894, the old church was torn down and the present brick building was erected. At this time, the Tannenberg was extensively rebuilt by Samuel Bohler of Reading. Bohler removed the Terz and Mixtur and replaced them with string stops. In addition, he installed "ears" on the front pipes. He also completely rebuilt the key and stop actions and in the process, also replaced the old recessed keydesk with a typical late 19th century design. The reversed color keyboard was also replaced. The entire winding system was discarded in favor of a single rise bellows installed within the case. Finally, the case was grain-painted a dark brown. When the organ was installed in the new church, only the chest, the case, parts of the stop action and six ranks of pipes remained from 1770.

After becoming unplayable in the 1950's, the organ was again reworked in 1974 by Joseph Chapline. The 19th century pipe work was removed and modern, factory-made ranks were installed to replace the missing Terz and Mixtur stops. A recessed console was reconstructed and the case was painted an off-white. All other alterations by Bohler were left in place, however, including the 19th century winding system. The six original ranks, however, still produce a very beautiful articulate and antique sonority.

NOTE: The organ will be restored in 2010 by R. J. Brunner Organ Builders.

The original stop list was:

The Principal 8' has the lowest 9 pipes of stopped wood, the next 3 pipes are open wood and the next 25 pipes (from tenor c) are in the facade (in the center tower and the two flats). The Principal Octav 4' has the lowest 2 pipes of open wood and the next 10 pipes (from low D) are in the facade (in the side towers). The Flaut Major 8' and Flaut minor 4' are identical open wood ranks. The rackboard for the Terz is original from 1770 and shows that this rank ran all the way to the top without a break. The Mixtur was possibly 2 ranks with a single break at middle c (as is the case with the Mixtur in the Tannenberg organ in Madison, VA), but since the toe-board was replaced by Samuel Bohler in 1894 and again in 1974, there is no way to be certain of this.

Source for the stop list: The names of the stops were written on the stop action and appear to be original.

Listen to Verse 1 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Principal 8', Principal Octav 4' and Sub Octav 2' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 2 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Principal 8' and Principal Octav 4' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 3 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Flaut Major 8' and Flaut minor 4' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 4 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Principal Octav 4' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 5 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Flaut Major 8', Principal Octav 4' and Sub Octav 2' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 6 from the Praeambulum Sechster thon from the 'Wegweiser' played on the
Principal 8', Principal Octav 4', Quinte 3' and Sub Octav 2' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 1 of Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht by Johann Gottfried Walther played on the
Flaut Major 8' and Flaut minor 4' by clicking here.
Listen to Verse 4 of Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht by Johann Gottfried Walther played on the
Flaut minor 4' by clicking here.
Listen to an improvisation on the Principal 8' by clicking here.
Listen to an improvisation on the Principal Octav 4' by clicking here.

Click on the thumbnails to see the larger pictures:

The old photos are reproduced here courtesy of Zion Moselem Lutheran Church.