Bach organ in the Thomaskirche Leipzig

It was created on the initiative of St. Thomas organist Ullrich Böhme and was built by the Gerald Woehl organ workshop. The organ is located in the north gallery opposite the Bach window.

Its case is reminiscent of the baroque organ in the University Church of St. Pauli, which was destroyed in 1968. Johann Sebastian Bach had played and inspected this baroque organ in 1717. Woehl adapted the case to the spatial conditions in St. Thomas Church and to the four-manual specification of the new instrument, which is crowned by an additional Oberwerk. 

The organ has 61 stops on four manuals (Hauptwerk, Oberwerk, Brustwerk and Echo) and Pedal and is based on a historical specification from Bach's time. This was designed in 1698 by Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's uncle, for the Georgenkirche in Eisenach. Johann Sebastian Bach experienced the construction of this instrument as a child and was evidently deeply influenced by it, as he repeatedly demanded similar timbres in later reports. However, the original Eisenach instrument no longer exists today.

The sound of the Bach organ is also based on 18th century Central German organ building: both the construction of the pipes and their voicing make it particularly suitable for performing the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach.