German Reformed Church - Lancaster, PA

1770

The Reformed congregation in Lancaster signed a contract with Tannenberg on February 27, 1769 for a 15 stop organ of two manuals and pedal. This contract has been preserved in the church archives. The contract states that Tannenberg was to make all parts except the case. There were three bellows - each to be nine by four feet. The organ was to be completed by July 1, 1770 and cost £250. The case was made by George Burkhardt, a noted cabinet maker in Lancaster and the uncle of Conrad Doll. The five sectional case was quite impressive with much fine detail. The Tannenberg organ was installed in the church's first building from 1758.

Among the organists of the church were Conrad Doll and Caspar Schaffner. Both large keyboard music books by Schaffner have survived and provide a very important view of music from early Lancaster.

The Tannenberg organ was moved into the congregation's new church building in 1854. Here it remained until 1885 when it was replaced with an organ by Charles Durner. Durner used Tannenberg's case but changed the front pipes to zinc dummies in Tannenberg style. Side extensions were added to the case for the pedal pipes. The Durner organ was discarded in the 1950's but the front of the case remains in the church.

The stop list (with spellings from the original contract) was:

Click on the thumbnails to see the larger pictures:

Photos 4 - 7 taken on October 8, 2007 after the church (and the Tannenberg case) had been painted.