"Die fünf Orgeln des Domes St. Stephan (Passau) wurden in den Jahren 1978 bis 1980 und 1993 von der Passauer Orgelbaufirma Eisenbarth nach Plänen Walther R. Schusters unter Verwendung von Teilen der vorherigen Steinmeyer-Orgel von 1928 errichtet. Die Hauptorgel mit 126 Registern befindet sich auf der mittleren Westempore und wird rechts von der Evangelienorgel – einem Solowerk im Stile der französischen Romantik – und links von der Epistelorgel im Stil italienischer Orgeln des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts flankiert. Über dem dritten Gewölbejoch des Langhauses befindet sich im Dachstuhl des Domes die Fernorgel, die über das sog. Heilig-Geist-Loch ihre Klänge ins Kirchenschiff sendet. Im Chorraum befindet sich schließlich die Chororgel, deren Disposition sich an Orgeln des norddeutschen Barock orientiert. Alle fünf Orgeln können gemeinsam vom fünfmanualigen Hauptspieltisch auf der mittleren Westempore gespielt werden. Insgesamt verfügt die Orgel über 233 Register, 17.974 Pfeifen sowie vier Glockenspiele. Die fünf Orgeln bilden somit – gemessen an der Anzahl der Pfeifenreihen (333) – gemeinsam die größte Orgelanlage Europas, sowie die fünftgrößte Orgel der Welt.
Bereits 1467 stand im Vierungsbereich eine Orgel. 1688 erbaute Leopold Freundt eine Orgel mit etwa 28 Registern auf der Westempore. 1715 kamen zwei Pfeilerorgeln in der Vierung dazu; sie wurden von Johann Ignaz Egedacher erbaut. Dieser erbaute 1731 auch eine neue Orgel auf der Westempore, deren Prospekt noch heute die Hauptorgel auf der Westempore beherbergt. 1858 wurden die Pfeilerorgeln auf die westlichen Seitenemporen versetzt. 1890 ersetzte ein Neubau Martin Hechenbergers die alte Egedacher-Orgel auf der Westempore. 1924 fasste das Domkapitel den Beschluss zum Bau einer neuen Orgel; den Auftrag vergab es an die Firma Steinmeyer Orgelbau. Bis 1928 entstand so die mit 208 Registern damals größte Orgel der Welt, verteilt auf fünf Teilorgeln. 1980 und 1993 erbaute die Firma Eisenbarth aus Passau unter Beibehaltung von 55 Registern und des räumlichen Konzepts der Steinmeyer-Orgel die gesamte Orgelanlage neu. Weiterhin befindet sich in der Andreas- und Lamberg-Kapelle eine Orgel (II/17) bzw. ein Positiv (I/4). Nach der Berufung Hans Leitners an die Orgel der Münchener Frauenkirche ist seit 2004 Ludwig Ruckdeschel Domorganist." wikipedia (
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"The Organs
Prior Organs
Already about 1467/1471, the first, Late-Gothic organ was built under prince bishop Ulrich von Nussdorf, probably by organ builder Wolfgang Ruerdorff. In the town fire of 1662, according to records, two or four organs were destroyed.
A organ, on the west gallery, was built in 1682 by local organ builder Leopold Freundt. Originally a 23-stop instrument, it was later enlarged to 28 stops. In 1715, two swallows-nest 10-stop organs were built by organ builder Johann Ignaz Egedacher in cases by Joseph Hartmann.
In 1731, construction of the main organ with about 40 stops over three manuals and pedal by Johann Ignaz Egedacher in a case by Josef Matthias Götz. The organ is enlarged to 49 stops by Egedacher in 1733. Major repairs are executed by Georg Adam Ehrlich in 1824.
When the cathedral was renovated in 1858, the two swallow-nest organs were moved on each side in the western gallery. The move was probably executed by Ehrlich.
After the old organ which had already been repaired in 1862 and 1871 and after a report by court bandmaster Franz Miloche in 1885, a new main organ was built, in 1886, in the existing case, by Martin Hechenberger, successor of Ehrlich. The new instrument had 73 stops with 5,237 pipes. By the end of the 19th century, a further extension to 75 stops were carried out by Hechenberger.
However, due to lacking care and technical wear, this organ in the course of the time also became increasingly useless so, in 1924, organbuilding company Steinmeyer, from Oettingen, starts building a new instrument to be included in the old organcase. At the end, by Whitsun 1928, a new organ with 208 stops is inaugurated. It was the largest organ of the world before it was surpassed by the organ in Atlantic City Convention Hall, built between 1929 and 1932. The instrument was modernized in 1930 with the introduction of electricity and remained unchanged until 1971.
The actual organ
The actual organ is well-known as the world's largest church organ: 233 stops, including four carillons, and with 17,774 pipes. Split up into five aesthetically different instruments, the cathedral organ represents one of the main tourist attraction of the "Bavarian Venice", the old city which Napoléon considered to be the most beautiful town in Germany.
Although taking over the conception of the former instrument built by Georg Friedrich Steinmeyer in 1928, the Passau Cathedral organ was almost entirely rebuilt by the local organ builders Ludwig and Wolfgang Eisenbarth from 1978 to 1981.
The main organ (I) on the west gallery of the nave is installed in the historical Joseph Matthias Götz case of 1731, that was enlarged by Hand Geiger in 1979 to give additional room to its 126 stops of South German-Austrian aesthetics. The main organ owns a seperate 4-manual and pedal console with mechanical key action and with electric access to 77 stops and an electronic combinator.
The northern and southern aisles house the Gospel and the Epistle organs, placed into the two identical Hartmann cases of 1715 from the former swallows-nest organs. With 25 stops, the Gospel organ (II) is designed as a French-Bombarde- or Cornet division and is playable through the main console only. The Epistle organ (III) has been conceived to render Italian organ music. This 25-stop organ is playable from own fully mechanical console.
The 19-stop Echo organ (IV) is located in the attic beyond the cupola. The stops are preserved from the old 1928 romantic organ and have remained almost unchanged in the 1981 restoration. This organ is playable from the main console and from the chancel console.
Designed by Christhard Mahrenholz in 1928, the 3-manual and pedal chancel organ (V) represents one of the first instruments conceived according to "Orgelbewegung" principles. In 1978, the unenclosed pipework of the 38 stops were put into a case leaning smoothly against the northern chancel wall and built by the Hafner brothers. This mechanical key and stop action organ is playable through its own console.
Apart from the Gospel and the Echo organs, each instrument has its own console with mechanical action. The ensemble of five instruments can be played from the five-manual main console which necessitated laying some 393,700 feet (120,000 meters) of electric cables.
An extensive restoration was carried out from 1977 to 1981 on 55 partially reworked stops of the Steinmeyer organ by Louis Eisenbarth who also renovated the Echo organ in 1993 including a new case containing the reworked pipework." infopuq.uquebec.ca (
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