Konserwacja zabytkowych organów w NRD

In his re p o r t th e a u th o r commented his impressions h e h a s collected in th re e la rg e s t o rg an -b u ild in g wo rk sh o p s in th e GDR which a re also c a rry in g on th e c o n se rv a tio n of a n c ie n t o rg an s as those h av in g long tr a d itio n s in th is field. The old est of th e se firm s — “Jehm lich Bros.”, Dresden, possessed all th e time by th e same family, is doing th e b usiness w ith o u t any in te rru p tio n since 1808. The yo u n g e st of th e th r e e — “H e rm a n n E u le ”, B au tz en will commemorate th e 100- y e a r ju b ile e th is year. A lo t of co n se rv a tio n c a rrie d out a t a high level should be considered as m e rit of th e two ab o v e -m en tio n ed firm s an d also of th e th ird one, “A le x a n d e r S c h u k e ”, Po tsd am. In co n se rv a tio n of a n c ie n t organs as g e n e ra l p rin c ip le h a s been adopted th e re ta in in g to a h ig h e st possible d eg ree of th e h is to ric a l “su b s ta n c e ” of an in s trum e n t in all th ese cases w h e re it p ro v e s to be possible. In cases in which th e ir re v e rtib le decays or damage s occured an e x a c t in v e n to ry ing of a given p a r t is m ad e and, a fte r co n serv atio n , it is h a n d e d back to th e u s e r to g e th e r w ith th e in s trum e n t itse lf. P a rtic u la rly in th e firm “A lex a n d e r S ch u k e ” w h e re co n se rv a tio n is considered as th e fie ld of a c tiv itie s k e p t a t th e sam e lev e l w ith th e b u ild in g of n ew in s trum e n ts th e me th o d s ap p lied d e se rv e fo r fu ll a dm ira tio n . E n tire ly in d iv id u a l a p p ro a ch to e ach in s tru m en t is c au sin g th a t a ll th e wo rk done in th is firm is being m e t w ith high ap p re c ia tio n . As a n evidenc e fo r th e p ro p e rly u n d e rsto o d im p o rtan c e of c o n s e rv a tion of a n c ie n t o rg an s may be considered a small m u seum possessed by th e F irm whose mo st v a lu a b le p a r t is ä fin e collection of o rg an pipes d a tin g from th e 16th c e n tu ry . A h ig h ly in te re s tin g a ch ie v em en t from th e b o rd e rlin e of co n se rv a tio n of an c ie n t o rgans an d th e b u ild in g of n ew in s trum e n ts re p r e s e n ts th e b u ild in g in 1958, on in itia tiv e o f H an s Jo a ch im Schuke, of a n ew in s tru m en t fo r th e Divi Blasi C h u rch , M ü h lh au sen a c co rding to th e p re s e rv e d to o u r days design p re p a re d in 1708 by Jo h a n n S e b a stian Bach. As a n o th e r in te re s tin g a ch ie v em en t of sim ila r n a tu re , th is time of th e firm “J e hm lic h ”, Dresden, may be q u o ted th e comp le tio n in th e la s t y e a r of works c a rrie d o u t a t th e g re a t organ in H ofkirche, D resden being th e la s t in s trum e n t b u ilt by th e fam o u s G e rman o rg a n -b u ild e r Georg S ilb e rm an n an d fin a lly completed by Z. H ild e b ra n d t. This org an was sa feg u a rd ed by its s trip p in g in th e beginnings of 1944, however, its h is to ric a l p ro sp e c t h a s been b u rn t in fire th a t swallowed th e church. A fte r reb u ild in g of th e ch u rch w orks w e re u n d e r ta k e n to p la c e th e in s trum e n t in a n ew casing. This o p e ra tio n offered an o p p o rtu n ity to c a rry out special in v e stig a tio n s u n d e r th e sup erv isio n of a n um e ro u s g ro u p of e x p e rts w ith th e aim to remo v e sev e ra l modifications mad e a t la te r d a te s an d to re s to re orig in al sound to th e in s trum en t. The a u th o r sum ma riz e s his rem a rk s g a th e re d d u rin g th e d e ta ile d viewing of some an c ie n t in s trum en ts . He came to a re g re ta b le conclusion th a t sev e ra l r e s to r a tions c a rried out d u rin g th e 19th c en tu ry th ro u g h th e change of pipes an d mo d ific a tio n s of o th e r e lements h av e d ep riv ed most G e rm an o rg an s of th e ir fu ll h is to ric a l values.