A "Bach organ" for Riga

Riga, the old Hanseatic city and capital of Latvia, has a world-famous romantic organ made by Walcker in its majestic cathedral. For many years, musicians, experts and cultural officials have wanted to add an important Baroque instrument (a ‘Bach organ’) to Riga's organ landscape. This idea is now being realised.

Back in 2007, after the cathedral had been returned to the church, the Kristian Wegscheider organ workshop in Dresden, which has particular expertise in Baroque organ building, drew up plans for such a project. In close consultation with Latvian musicians and experts, a concept was developed for a Baroque organ in the side aisle of the cathedral in the style of organ builder Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708-1795), who was highly regarded by J.S. Bach and is considered the most important organ builder of the 18th century in the Baltic region. However, this could not be realised at the time for financial reasons.

Now the 2007 project has been revived.

On 10 June 2024, a memorandum of intent, i.e. a preliminary contract, was signed in a dignified public ceremony on site in the cathedral. Shortly afterwards, the final contract was concluded between the cathedral administration (client), the Wegscheider organ workshop (contractor) and the support association (financier).

Thus, the long-cherished dream of a Baroque counterpart to the Romantic organ will finally be realised.

The organ workshop began preparatory work in autumn 2024, and construction is expected to be completed within three years. Thanks to an extremely generous donation from the Carl Bechstein Foundation and the donations already received by the Friends' Association, a large part of the organ has already been financed, but approximately € 400,000 still needs to be raised.

Donations and suggestions are welcome.

Charity events are also being planned for the near future. The cathedral administration and congregation will participate in fundraising activities, making this a truly German-Latvian project. There are already many ideas for concerts, lectures and promotional activities in Riga and Germany.

And, of course, it is also possible to sponsor organ pipes for this organ, starting at 50 euros. For donations of 500 euros or more, the name of the sponsor will be engraved on the organ pipe. Previous sponsorships for the Petri Church organ will be transferred to the pipes of the new organ by arrangement.

In this way, you can make a personal and lasting contribution to the construction of the Baroque organ in the style of organ builder Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708-1795).

Sponsor one or more organ pipes. Choose between façade pipes or interior pipes and between the different registers ...

on organ pipe sponsorship

Spectacular start to organ building in Riga Cathedral

A spectacular public event took place on the afternoon of 10 October 2025 in Riga Cathedral. In the presence of the new Archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELB), His Excellency Bishop Rinalds Grants, and organ builder Kristian Wegscheider, as well as numerous visitors, a full-size colour image of the organ façade was unveiled in the side aisle, at the future location of the planned new Baroque organ. This launch of the organ building and fundraising campaign received widespread media coverage, not least on radio and television.

The campaign aims to raise €400,000 over the next twelve months, half of which will come from Germany and half from Latvia. The aim is for the true-to-life image of the organ façade to elicit a similar ‘aha’ effect from all visitors to the church as Wilhelm von Boddien's mock-up of the Berlin City Palace did in its day.

Press reports

Latvia is a land of organs,

...with many high-quality Romantic-era instruments that in recent years have been well restored and maintained. However, due to limited resources, the situation in many places is grim – numerous Latvian churches are equipped with worn-out pipe organs brought from abroad, which can still be made playable, while increasingly, Latvian concert halls are opting for digital instruments, absurdly defining sound recordings through speakers as adequate substitutes for genuine pipe organs. In this context of Latvian organ culture, the need for a high-quality, historically informed instrument built by a distinguished organ-building firm such as the German workshop Wegscheider Orgelbau becomes especially evident.

Riga Cathedral is an important center of organ culture in Europe and worldwide, as well as a significant and active concert venue attracting leading artists and professionals. As in other cathedrals, the presence of two organs is quite normal, enriching and honoring the work of two outstanding, historically important organ builders – the famous Walcker organ, which has served for over 140 years, and now the still-to-be-built Contius instrument.

Notes: Aigars Reinis, Music Director of Riga Cathedral and Cathedral Organist

A review

THE 2021 PHOTO CALENDAR FOR THE FORMER ORGAN PROJECT

The former Förderverein Orgel Petri-Kirche Riga e.V. (Friends of the Petri Church Organ in Riga) had published a photo calendar for 2021 on the originally planned organ project in the Petri Church.

At the time, it contained additional illustrations on the monthly pages and further information and images on the reverse sides. It is still very informative and provides a good record of the association's well-founded approach.

View as PDF

AKTUELL:

Events
Culture
Infos

10. Oct. 25 in Riga

Förderverein

Orgenpatenschaft

Swedbank AS, Latvijas Evaņgēliski Luteriskās Basnīcas Rīgas Doma DraudzeI • BAN: LV19 HABA 0551 0065 1477 7 • BIC: HABALV22

German donation account for the project: Postbank • BIC: PBNKDEFF • Konto (IBAN): DE49 1001 0010 0896 3821 02