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Klais Orgelbau

Coordinates: 50°44′34″N 7°05′34″E / 50.742865°N 7.092671°E / 50.742865; 7.092671
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Klais Orgelbau
Company typeGmbH, Kommanditgesellschaft
Founded1882
HeadquartersKölnstraße 148 • D 53111
Bonn, Germany
Key people
Hans Gerd Klais
Philipp Klais
ProductsPipe organs
Websiteklais.de

Orgelbau Klais is a German firm that designs, builds and restores pipe organs. It is a family run company, founded in 1882 by Johannes Klais senior and is now run by his great-grandson Philipp Klais. The firm is based in Bonn, Germany, and has completed many large-scale building and restoration projects around the globe in more than a century of organ building.[1]

History

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Johannes Klais, a skilled organ builder trained in Alsace, Switzerland, and Southern Germany, established his own workshop in Bonn in 1882. His craftsmanship was deeply rooted in traditional methods, particularly the use of slider windchests. However, even before the turn of the century, he demonstrated innovation by creating high-pressure stops with dual mouths on pneumatic cone valve chests. In 1906, alongside his son Hans, he introduced electric action to organ building.

Hans Klais succeeded his father in 1925. During his leadership, the company embraced modern influences, particularly in facade design, and made advancements in ergonomic console designs.

In 1965, Hans Gerd Klais, the founder’s grandson, took over the business, followed by Philipp Klais, the founder’s great-grandson, who became the fourth-generation manager of Orgelbau Klais.

The company gained international recognition for its restoration of the historic Bamboo Organ at St. Joseph's Parish in Las Piñas City, Philippines. The organ was transported to Germany in 1973, meticulously restored in 1974, and returned to the church in 1975. Beyond restoration, the company trained former church choirboys in organ building, who later established a local organ building and restoration workshop.

Klais instruments around the world

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Country image City Location Inauguration year Pipes Other
 Argentina Buenos Aires Centro Cultural Kirchner
 Australia Brisbane Queensland Performing Arts Centre 6566[2]
 Brazil Catarina Church of Rodeio
 China Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts 2007 6500[3] 94 stops. Largest organ in China.
 Iceland Reykjavík Hallgrímskirkja 5275
 Germany Aachen Aachen Cathedral[4]
Beuron Archabbey church[5]
Cologne Cologne Cathedral 1998 Although enormous, it is almost dwarfed inside the colossal Gothic church as it clings to the balconies.

Klais also restored other organs in the cathedral and added a detached console that operates all of them at once.

Hamburg Elbphilharmonie 2017 4765 4 manuals, 65 registers
St. Nicholas Church 2023 Connected, can be played from a remote location[6]
Munich St. Peter's church
Münster Münster Cathedral approx. 7173
Nuremberg Frauenkirche
Trier Trier Cathedral 1974 5602
 Greece Athens Athens Concert Hall 6080[7]
 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Petronas Philharmonic Hall
 Poland Kraków Kraków Philharmonic Concert Hall
 Singapore Esplanade Concert Hall 4740 61 registers
 Spain Saragossa Basilica of Our Lady del Pilar 2008 5391 Pipes inserted in a Renaissance (1529–1530) wooden frame.
 United Kingdom Bath, Somerset Bath Abbey[8]
Leeds Leeds Cathedral
Westminster St. John's, Smith Square Redundant but still consecrated church which commissioned its organ when the building became a concert hall.
Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham 2001 6000 Largest mechanical action organ in the UK.[9]
 United States of America Columbus, Ohio First Community Church 2022 4 manuals, 85 ranks. Dual consoles.
Delaware, Ohio Ohio Wesleyan University 4644 82 Ranks, 55 Stops.[10]
Madison, Wisconsin Overture Hall[11]
New York City St. Peter's Lutheran Church 1978 2 manuals, 43 ranks.[12]
Iowa City, Iowa University of Iowa Voxman Music Building Concert Hall 2016 3883

References

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  1. ^ Hermann Simon mentioned this company in his correspondent Book as an example of a "Hidden Champion" (Simon, Hermann (10 June 2009). Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century. Dordrecht ; New York: Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-0-387-98147-5. OCLC 432405163.)
  2. ^ "QPAC Concert Hall". www.ohta.org.au. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  3. ^ "Concert Hall". National Centre for the Performing Arts. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Die Klais-Orgel" (in German). Aachen Cathedral. Archived from the original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Klais Orgel, Erzabtei St. Martin" (in German). Beuron Archabbey. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ Rédaction, La (8 September 2023). "Un hyper-orgue à tuyaux futuriste à Hambourg". ResMusica (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Orgelbau Klais Bonn::" (in German). Orgelbau Klais. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Klais Organ". Bath Abbey. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  9. ^ "The Symphony Organ". Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  10. ^ “Musical assets". Ohio Wesleyan University site. Retrieved 2 August 2018
  11. ^ "The Overture Concert Organ". Madison Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  12. ^ "St. Peter's Lutheran organ". NYC AGO. Retrieved 11 December 2010.

Sources

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  • Hans Gerd Klais: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Ästhetik der Orgel: Aus Anlass der Einhundertjahrfeier Orgelbau Johannes Klais Bonn, 1882–1982. Bonn 1983.
  • Architecture of Music. Inspired pipe organs in world class buildings. Johannes Klais Orgelbau (Ed.), Bonn w.J.
  • Horst Hodick: Johannes Klais (1852–1925); ein rheinischer Orgelbauer und sein Schaffen. Musikverlag Katzbichler, München/Salzburg 1993, ISBN 3-87397-139-9.
  • Ludger Stühlmeyer: Orgelbau in Hof. In: Musica sacra, 133. Jg. Journal 2, Kassel 2013, pp 104–105.
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50°44′34″N 7°05′34″E / 50.742865°N 7.092671°E / 50.742865; 7.092671

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