German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City
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German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul
(Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherishe St.-Pauls-Kirche)

315 West 22nd Street
New York, N.Y. 10011
http://www.stpaulny.org


Organ Specifications:
315 West 22nd Street (since 1898):
II/29 George Jardine & Son, Op. 1246 (1897); reb. (1994)
220 Sixth Avenue at 15th Street (1842-1898)
Second building (1861-1898)
• Ferris & Stuart (c.1861)
• II/ J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 4 (1860)
First building (1842-1860)
• II/24 Ferris & Stuart (1849)


St. Paul German Lutheran Church (1862) - New York City  
First Building (1842-1860)  
Until the 1840s, German Lutherans worshiped at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was chartered in 1664 and located on Walker Street in lower Manhattan. As more German-speaking immigrants arrived in New York City, St. Matthew's was holding three services each Sunday to accomodate the growing numbers. On August 15, 1841, a group from St. Matthew's met in Hall No. 148 on 8th Avenue and founded St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. Slightly more than a year later, on October 17, 1842, the new St. Paul's congregation laid the cornerstone for its first church and school, located at the corner of 6th Avenue and 15th Street, that was opened to the public on Christmas of the same year. Membership increased rapidly as large numbers of Germans immigrated to the city, and after 18 years a larger church was needed.

After its last service on May 6, 1860, the original building was demolished to make room for a new and impressive edifice on the same site. The second church, which opened on March 20-21, 1861, was built in the Romanesque style and could accomodate nearly 1,000 people on the main floor and in its three galleries. An organ by Ferris & Stuart was installed in the rear gallery. In 1878, the Sixth Avenue elevated train was opened, with a station located only a block away at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street. The El's steam-powered locomotives showered ash and soot from their lofty tracks, and the noise became intolerable. This fast-growing area of the city was transformed into a shopping district later known as "The Ladies' Mile," due to the proliferation of large department stores, speciality shops, concert halls and showrooms. After several years amid the increasingly busy area, church officials began to search for a new location.

German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)  
In 1897, a tract was purchased on West 22nd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. The German architect, Francis A. Minuth, was commissioned to design the third and present building. On July 4, 1897, the cornerstone was laid, and only seven months later, on February 13, 1898, the church was officially opened – debt free! Built in the neo-Gothic style, the symmetrical limestone facade features two towers. The vaulted interior includes galleries on three sides, an apse with five windows by Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany, and wooden furnishings by Semmann Wagerin & Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

  Geo. Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897) at the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
Throughout its history, St. Paul's Church has been the spiritual and social home to many immigrants from Germany. In 1941, after Germany declared war on the United States, the church was not allowed to publish its newsletter in German and many members were interned until 1947. For many church members the war years were made more difficult because theirs sons had become Americans and were fighting against the Nazis while in the U.S. Army, and all Germans in the USA were treated with suspicion. Following the war, St. Paul's became a center of information about Germany, and members donated clothing and money to fight the misery and hunger in post-war Germany. Today, St. Paul's membership includes many Germans who work for companies, embassies or schools. To help meet the needs of these "expatriates," the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) sends a pastor to New York. Services and programs at St. Paul's are conducted in German.
               
  Geo. Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897) at the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
   
George Jardine & Son
New York City – Opus 1246 (1897)
Mechanical key and stop action
Electric pedal action (1994)
2 manuals, 26 stops, 29 ranks





On July 8, 1897, a contract was signed by St. Paul's Lutheran Church and the New York City organbuilding firm of Jardine & Son for a new organ costing $3,140. The two-manual mechanical-action organ has 27 registers totalling 29 ranks, and a stencilled facade that includes pipes of the Great Double Open Diapason. An attached keydesk with terraced stop jambs controls the instrument, aided by seven combination pedals and a balanced Swell pedal. Jardine also provided a double-draw stopknob in the Swell for the 8' Voix Celeste: when the knob is partially pulled, only the sharp (celeste) rank is activated, but when the knob is fully pulled, a pneumatic action engages the unison (8' Viole d'Orchestre) rank, which is perhaps inconveniently located on the row below.

In 1994, after nearly a century of use, the church engaged James A. Konzelman Organs, then located in Maplewood, NJ, to repair and rebuild the organ. In addition to releathering and cleaning, several alterations and enhancements were requested by the organist at the time, namely: 1) the Swell 8' Aeoline was replaced by the original Great 2' Piccolo; 2) the Great 2' Piccolo in turn was replaced by a new 2' Principal; and 3) the Great 8' Open Diapason, which had been greatly softened over the years, was replaced with new pipes. The Swell 3-rank Dolce Cornet, which strangely did not contain the usual tierce (1-3/5') rank and was identical in pitch to the 3-rank Great Mixture, was recomposed as a chorus mixture. Finally, an electric action was added to control the three Pedal stops.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
16
  Double Open Diapason
61
4
  Flute Harmonic
61
8
  Open Diapason
61
4
  Principal
61
8
  Gamba
61
3
  Octave Quint
61
8
  Melodia
61
2
  Piccolo [rep. by Principal 2']
61
8
  Dulciana
61
    Mixture 3 ranks
183
8
  Doppel Flute
61
8
  Trumpet
61
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
  Bourdon bass
12
  Dolce Cornet 3 ranks **
183
16
  Bourdon treble [TC]
49
8
  Cornopean
61
8
  Open Diapason
61
8
  Bassoon [bass]
12
8
  Stopped Diapason
61
8
  Oboe [TC]
49
8
  Viole d'Orchestre
61
  Tremolo  
8
  Voix Celeste [TC] *
49
  Blowers Signal  
8
  Aeoline [rep. by GT Piccolo 2']
61
 
* double-draw engages VDO
4
  Violina
61
 
** recomposed
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes (played by electric action)
16
  Open Diapason
30
8
  Violoncello
30
16
  Bourdon
30
       
               
Couplers (stopknobs above top manual)
    Swell to Great          
    Great to Pedal          
    Swell to Pedal          
               
Combination Pedals
1.
  Swell Piano +  
5.
  Great Piano  
2.
  Swell Mezzo Forte +  
6.
  Great Mezzo Forte  
3.
  Swell Forte +  
7.
  Great Full  
4.
  Swell Full +      
+ disconnected/uncertain
               
               
Geo. Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897) at the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)   Geo. Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897) at the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
     
Geo. Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897) at the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul - New York City (photo: Steven E. Lawson)
               
M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 4752 (1926)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 20 registers, 10 stops, 6 ranks


This organ may have been installed in the Sunday School room on the ground floor. The organ had a two-manual stop-key quartered oak console, gold bronze decorations, and a wind pressure of 5 inches.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
  Open Diapason
61
4
  Flute Traverso
61
8
  Stopped Diapason
61
  1 blank tablet for future addition
8
  Dulciana
61
       
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
  Gedeckt [Stopped Diapason]
GT
8
  Dulciana
GT
4
  Flute [Traverso]
GT
8
  Vox Celeste [TC]
49
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
  Bourdon
32
       
16
  Lieblich Gedeckt [lo-press.]
     
               
Couplers
    Great to Pedal       Great 16', 4'  
    Swell to Pedal       Swell 16', 4'  
    Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'          
               
Mechanicals
    Tremulant          
    Crescendo Indicator          
               
Adjustable Combinations
    Pistons No. 1-2 affecting Great and Pedal Stops
    Pistons No. 1-2 affecting Swell and Pedal Stops
               
Pedal Movements
    Great to Pedal Reversible      
    Balanced Swell Pedal      
    Grand Crescendo Pedal      
               
Organ in second church building, located at 220 Sixth Avenue corner 15th Street:

Ferris & Stuart
New York City (ca. 1861)
Mechanical action


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
J.H. & C.S. Odell
New York City – Opus 4 (1860)
Mechanical action
2 manuals


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in church located at 220 Sixth Avenue corner 15th Street:

Ferris & Stuart
New York City (1850)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 24 stops


The first known organ for St. Paul Lutheran was built in 1849 by Ferris & Stuart of New York City. According to the American Musical Directory of 1861, the organ had "2 banks keys, 24 stops, 2 octaves pedals" and was "Built by L. U. Stuart, in 1850." Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Haberstroh, Richard. The German Churches of Metropolitan New York: A Research Guide. New York: The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, 2000.
     Ochse, Orpha. "A Glimpse of the 1860s," The American Organist (November 1969).
     "Renovation Plan 2006-2010" booklet, published by St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church.
     St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church web site: www.stpaulny.org

Illustrations:
     The German Churches of Metropolitan New York: A Research Guide. New York: The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, 2000. Drawing of 1862 church.
     Lawson, Steven E. Exterior; interior; George Jardine & Son organ, Op. 1246 (1897).
               
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