Organ

The organ of the cathedral of Strasbourg has the distinctive feature to be hang on the side of the nave, like a swallow nest. The casing is the oldest part of it, with some elements dating back to 1385, which are from the hand of Michael von Freiburg.
Some pipes could also be from the end of the XVth century, going back to the restoration of Frederik Krebs von Ansbach, but it is uncertain, as the pipes, actions, stops ad consoles have been replaced several times in between. The famous organ factor Silbermann especially replaced nearly all of the musical parts in 1716. A catastrophic restoration of this organ, with numerous defects, by Koulen in 1897 led to make it out of tune and nearly unplayable. The war and serious problems in the stability of the cathedral tower delayed restoration projects until 1935, when Roethinger brought it back to its former glory. The restoration from Kern in 1981 was the last big work on the organ and the musical parts are today mostly from Silbermann, Roethinger and Kern.

Another distinctive feature of this organ is the presence of mechanical figures, dating from the second half of XIVth century: the Lion of Samson, the Bretzelmann (the one who sells pretzel) and the Herald of the city. The two latter are called together the Rohraffe (the pipes’ monkeys), because in some occasion, someone, who was hidden in the casing, give them words, mostly to say obscenities.

Tools and exifs:

• Canon EOS 450D + Samyang 14mm f/2.8
• 14mm
• 1/15 s.
• f/2.8
• ISO 800