THE WALCKER ORGAN

Although considerations for parish practice played no role in the construction of the church, it was apparently unquestionable that the church should be equipped with an organ. Thus, the organ has been located in the gallery above the main entrance since the Votive Church was first built. The final inspection, then called a "revision," was conducted by Anton Bruckner on October 30, 1878.

The organ was built by the EF Walcker organ builder in Ludwigsburg and has 61 stops, three manuals, and a pedal board, with a total of 3,762 pipes. The key and stop action are purely mechanical with cone-chest systems; a special feature of the first manual is a Barker mechanism. Due to this original construction, the organ is considered a significant and valuable instrument worldwide.

The instrument received an electric blower in 1915, which was replaced in 1952. The organ underwent major repairs in 1917, when the large tin façade pipes were removed. These were not replaced with zinc pipes until 1923. The war of 1944/45 caused damage, which was repaired in 1952.

In 1995 and 1996, the instrument underwent a thorough restoration for the first time by the organ building company Klais from Bonn.

The work was considered a conservative restoration, meaning no substantial changes were made to the existing instrument. The facade pipes were renewed for reasons of alloying, on the one hand, and the altered labial line of the central panels, on the other: the pipes were reconstructed as faithfully as possible to the original. That a restoration in the spirit of historical preservation was even possible is due in no small part to the extremely solid craftsmanship of the old Swabian organ building firm Walcker. The large organ is the only work of this design and size that has remained largely unchanged and is today considered one of the most important historic organs in the world.