Arp-Schnitger-Institute for Organ and Organ Building

The Institute deals with all aspects of organ and organ building. This includes the responsible representation of artistic-scientific work in teaching, research and artistic development.

The aims of the Institute are in particular the further development and profiling of artistic-scientific teaching in relation to artistic practice; the networking and promotion of artistic-scientific and especially organological research and artistic development in an interdisciplinary context; linking organological research and artistic development to international scientific discourse in the humanities and strengthening Bremen as a city of art, science and research in connection with the Europe-wide renowned organ landscape of Europe in the North Sea coastal region.

The focus of the work is the implementation of an excellence initiative in the organological subjects, basic research and the acquisition and organisational and artistic-scientific coordination of third-party funded projects; development and research work with and for national and international third-party funding bodies; supervision of artistic and/or scientific publications and the organisation of conferences and events. 

• Development of an Arp Schnitger database (see below)
• Documentation of historical organs by Arp Schnitger and his circle:
  • Buttforde
  • Langwarden
  • HH-Neuenfelde
  • Grasberg (in preparation)
• Pilot project ‘Corrosion problems on historic organs in the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan region’ (investigations and analyses in Mariendrebber and Belum, research cooperation with the Fraunhofer IFAM Institute and the Bremen Materials Testing Institute)
• DBU project: Development of measures to minimise lead corrosion on organ pipes from the 17th and 18th centuries. 
  Project duration: 1.10.2016 to 30.09.2018

• Final report pilot project organ corrosion (PDF – German)
• Short form DBU organ corrosion project (PDF – German)
• Final report DBU organ project (PDF – German)

The Arp Schnitger Institute for Organ and Organ Building is making an extensive collection of data on organs and Arp Schnitger's life's work available online for the first time

As a project of the Arp Schnitger Institute for Organ and Organ Building, the Arp Schnitger Organ Database is now available on the Internet and can be used free of charge by the general public, researchers, organ builders and enthusiasts. For the first time, the database brings together and systematises information, photos, locations, historical background and sound examples of the organs of the most important organ builder of the Baroque period that are still preserved today in an online portal. All information is available in German and English and can be found using a convenient search function. For the first time, measurements of Arp Schnitger's organs made in the 1930s and 1940s are also presented digitally.

The Arp Schnitger organ database was created by the Arp Schnitger Institute for Organ and Organ Building at the University of the Arts Bremen as part of the project ‘Kulturerbe Orgellandschaft Nordwest - Erhaltung und Pflege der Orgelbaukunst von Arp Schnitger’ (duration: 2012–2014). The project was funded by the Bremen-Oldenburg Metropolitan Region. A cooperation with the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Organ Art Centre, enabled the development of a research database. As part of this project, an inventory of the organ documentation by Gustav Fock (before 1940) and Rudolf von Beckerath (1946/47) was carried out. This work also included the digitisation of the sources, as well as the systematisation, transcription and implementation in the database. Texts from the book ‘Arp Schnitger und sein Werk’ (Edskes/Vogel; Hauschild Verlag, Bremen: 2013) including sketches and photos were selectively inserted. Short sound samples from the sound recordings from the double CD ‘Arp Schnitger in Niedersachsen (NOMINE/ASG 2014) have also been included. 

• Gothenburg Organ Art Centre, Gothenburg University, Sweden
• Arp Schnitger Society e. V.
• Stichting Groningen Orgelland, Netherlands
• NOMINE (North German Organ Music Culture in Lower Saxony and Europe)

Metropolitan Region Bremen-Oldenburg