The 1654 Positif Organ
Griebenow/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany 

Introduction and History

This instrument is one of the oldest organs of this type that still exists in Germany. It is located in a small chapel belonging to the Griebenow castle estate near Greifswald, and was restored in 1988. There are records of Griebenow dating back to 1248, and it has links to Eldena monastery. The estate was temporarily under Swedish administration ("Schwedisch-Vorpommern"). The castle was built between 1648 and 1654. The Griebenow chapel is unique with its fifteen-cornered layout. The castle, chapel and grounds together form an impressive document of Germano-Swedish culture.

The positif has a small wind blower operated by the feet, and a 4' flute stop with a sound of singular beauty, rather similar in character to that of an old Renaissance instrument.

Unfortunately, its tuning was changed during 19th century, whilst the manual keys (short octave) were extended so that music of that period could be played.

The organ is now in urgent need of further restoration due to severe woodworm problems in parts of the organ (see the special links below), hence the instrument has been restored virtually, showing how the organ should sound after restoration.

Recording technique
The organ was recorded an processed in July 2002 with 44 kHz, 16bit, for Hauptwerk 1.

Special Thanks

I would like to thank the rectory and church community of Griebenow for supporting this project. Special thanks to organist Markus Funck, Stralsund for contacts, organist Hermann Unger, Stassfurt Germany, who recorded the audio demos and to Martin Dyde, England, for his Hauptwerk project and helpful suggestions.