Klais Orgelbau

Last updated

Klais Orgelbau
Company type GmbH, Kommanditgesellschaft
Founded1882
HeadquartersKölnstraße 148 • D 53111
Bonn, Germany
Key people
Hans Gerd Klais
Philipp Klais
Products Pipe organs
Website klais.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]

Contents

History

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

CountryimageCityLocationInauguration yearPipesOther
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos Aires Centro Cultural Kirchner
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Brisbane Queensland Performing Arts Centre 6566 [2]
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Catarina Church of Rodeio
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts 20076500 [3] 94 stops. Largest organ in China.
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Reykjavík Hallgrímskirkja 5275
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Aachen Aachen Cathedral [4]
Klais Orgel der Abteikirche (Erzabtei St. Martin) in Beuron.jpg Beuron Archabbey church [5]
KolnerDomOrgel.jpg Cologne Cologne Cathedral 1998Although 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 201747654 manuals, 65 registers
St. Nicholas Church 2023Connected, can be played from a remote location [6]
Munich St. Peter's church
Muenster Hauptorgel.png Münster Münster Cathedral approx. 7173
Nuremberg Frauenkirche
Hauptorgel im Trierer Dom - 2007-10-14.jpg Trier Trier Cathedral 19745602
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Athens Athens Concert Hall 6080 [7]
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Petronas Philharmonic Hall
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland Philharmonie Orgel Krakow.jpg Kraków Kraków Philharmonic Concert Hall
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore Esplanade Concert Hall 474061 registers
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Saragossa Basilica of Our Lady del Pilar 20085391Pipes inserted in a Renaissance (1529–1530) wooden frame.
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  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 20016000Largest mechanical action organ in the UK. [9]
Flag of the United States.svg  United States of America Columbus, Ohio First Community Church20224 manuals, 85 ranks. Dual consoles.
Delaware, Ohio Ohio Wesleyan University 464482 Ranks, 55 Stops. [10]
Madison, Wisconsin Overture Hall [11]
New York City St. Peter's Lutheran Church 19782 manuals, 43 ranks. [12]
Iowa City, IowaUniversity of Iowa Voxman Music Building Concert Hall20163883

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References

  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

50°44′34″N7°05′34″E / 50.742865°N 7.092671°E / 50.742865; 7.092671