ex Thalkirchen, St. Maria; München, Deutsches Museum

unknown maker (Hans Lechner?) 1630

State of preservation: preserved technical construction, renovated in 1952/53, pipes: 60 % of metal pipes 1953, wooden pipes original.

Since 1908 this organ is part of the collection of musical instruments in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. It was made in 1630 by an unknown maker for Thalkirchen St. Maria, presumably Hans Lechner of Munich. An inscription in the case records the year of building as well as its devastation by Swedish troops during the 30 years' war (possibly limited to its metal pipes).  Apart from some repairs and a retuning the organ was in use in Thalkirchen for more than two centuries until the church was enlarged in 1908 and the old organ was offered to the Deutsches Museum. There it was damaged in WW II by a collapsed ceiling and restored in 1952/53 by Fritz Thomas and Steinmeyer.

The Thalkirchen organ is one of the best preserved early 17th c. organs in southern Germany. The technical structure shows some sign of repairs (wind chest finishings, repairs of worn parts) but is preserved in total, including the three bellows with their levers. The pipes have been reset or lengthened during the retuning, the wooden pipes preserved without major alterations, the metal pipes damaged in 1944 and replaced using old material but also retuned again, so apparently no more traces of the original tuning are preserved..