Several people had the opportunity of seeing and hearing the Tannenberg organ at Hebron Lutheran Church in Madison Church during the Germanna Reunion. This year marks the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the installation of this organ, which was built by David Tannenberg.
During the eighteenth century, especially in the German communities, the name Tannenberg was synonymous with "organ". David Tannenberg was born in Saxony in 1728, where he was persecuted for his religious beliefs. He sought asylum with the Moravians and remained affiliated with them for his lifetime. At first he was a cabinet maker in America, but about 1758 he started as an apprentice with an organ builder, Johann Gottlob Clemm, who had some experience as an organ builder. Before Clemm could transfer any knowledge concerning the building of organs, he died. With such a "good start", Tannenberg turned to published material for guidance. By 1765 he had settled in Lititz, with a shop in the rear of his home. Over a period of about forty years, he produced more than one organ per year.
A German could hardly conceive of a church without an organ. No matter how small the church, it must have an organ. Not only was the sound important, the looks of the cabinets had to be right. They tended to favor fancy baroque cases. (See some of the German photos on the Germanna photo page oberfischbach.html#organ"> Oberfischbach Organ , Kettenbach Organ , and Illenschwang Organ .) These were the ideas they brought to America, but the cabinets were simplified in America. The output of any one builder showed a family resemblance. (I have seen three Tannenberg organs and they all look about the same.) There were variations in the number of manuals, stops, and pipes.
David Tannenberg's best customers were the Moravian churches, who value music very highly. The Lutherans were the next best, followed by the Reformed. The organs were installed from New York to North Carolina, with the most in Tannenberg's home county of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Business was good enough to require an assistant, and Tannenberg recruited a young man in Germany, Philip Bachman. Philip married one of Tannenberg's daughter but she died under circumstances which were not a credit to Bachman. Thereafter, Bachman and Tannenberg worked independently.
The Hebron organ was the next to last organ that Tannenberg built. He was too feeble to go to Virginia to install it, so he sent Bachman. Since its installation, the organ has hardly been modified, and is today the finest original example of Tannenberg's work. It is still used on a weekly basis.
Tannenberg helped install the last organ at Christ Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania. Just before it was completed, he suffered a stroke and fell from the scaffolding. Two days later he died. His funeral was held at the Christ Lutheran Church, and the new organ was used, with both the Moravians and Lutherans participating.
For more information on German organ builders, see the book, " That Ingenious Business, Pennsylvania German Organ Builders ", by Raymond J. Brunner.
(For a discussion of the " Technical Details of The Tannenberg Organ at the Hebron Lutheran Church in Madison Co., VA ", please see the Note provided by Thom Faircloth , President, The Germanna Foundation. This is for those of you who are really into the technical aspects of early organs made by German emigrants.)
(Note: The oldest extant American-built organ is in Zion Lutheran Church in Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was built by Tannenberg in 1770.)
(25 Jul 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.