David Tannenberg was one of the greatest American organ builders of his time. He created the largest and most complete organs in America throughout his career.
By the late 1700s Lancaster’s First Reformed congregation owned two organs made by David Tannenberg. Although both organs have been lost to history, the two organ cases survive in the building today.
The congregation’s first Tannenberg organ had a case constructed in 1770 by church member George Burkhardt. That organ case is a masterpiece of Lancaster Chippendale. In 1798 the congregation purchased a second smaller Tannenberg organ, shown on this page. This organ was used in the schoolhouse for Sunday school. It was built in 1775, and originally was in Lancaster’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Although the organ does not survive, its finely crafted case lives on today in the church’s Harbaugh Hall.

 Previous Images of this Organ Case:

Elsewhere: Two Surviving Tannenberg Organs in Similar Cases:

  Only nine organs built by David Tannenberg survive today. Two of these surviving organs have cases that are similar to the organ case at First Reformed Church.
Tannenberg Organ #1: The 1776 Organ at Nazareth, PA: Tannenberg built this organ in 1776 for the Single Brothers’ House in Bethlehem. In the 1920s the organ was removed from Bethlehem to Nazareth where it was installed in the Whitefield House Museum of the Moravian History Society.
Tannenberg Organ #2: The 1793 Organ at Lititz, PA: Tannenberg originally constructed this organ for the Moravian Chapel in Graceham, Frederick County, Maryland. It was first played in 1793. In 1957 it was sold to the Lititz Moravian Church and located in the Single Brothers’ House.

 Return to this website’s index page about First Reformed UCC Church: Index page / Home.