Van Oeckelen (1857, 19IIP)

Petrus van Oeckelen was born in Breda in 1792 as the son of the instrument maker and organ builder Cornelis van Oeckelen and Elisabeth Coenen. Around 1808 he was appointed city carillonneur of Breda. In 1810 he moved to Groningen, where he was appointed carillonneur of the Martinitoren. In 1837 he established himself as an organ builder in Harendermolen, near Glimmen. In that year he also took over the company of the deceased organ builder Johannes Wilhelmus Timpe. Petrus married Joanna Maria Theresia Auwerda on 30 June 1825 in Groningen. Six children were born of this marriage, three of whom, like their father, became organ builders. One daughter married a pupil of her father, the organ builder Jan van Loo, who mainly worked in Overijssel. Petrus van Oeckelen died in August 1878 in Glimmen, two days after the age of 86. Two of his sons, Cornelis Aldegundis (1829-1905) and Antonius (1839-1918), continued their father's business. A third son, Henderikus (Henricus) van Oeckelen (1835-1894), was also an organ builder, but was not part of the family business.

Organ history

On May 32th, 1857, the organist and organ consultant S.W. Trip performed the opening recital on the by the Groningen organ builder Petrus van Oeckelen built “new” organ. Van Oeckelen incorporated parts from older organs in this instrument.

In 1854, Petrus van Oeckelen reconstructed the organ in the Martinikerk Groningen, and during this major work, he constructed a new (larger) sound board for the Great (Hoofdwerk) which incorporated enough space for a 16’ stop. The original sound board, made in 1729 by the employees of Franz Casper Schnitger (Franz Casper died before he could complete the work in the Martinikerk, so Albertus Anthonie Hinz completed the job in 1720) was taken over by Petrus van Oeckelen. In 1857 Petrus delivered a “new” organ in the Wersterkerk in Harlingen. In this instrument he re-used the F.C. Schnitger sound board! At that time the compass still was c-c3 = 49 notes. The sound board of the Bovenwerk is built by another builder. For the organ case he re-used a design he made in 1852 for the church of Usquert. The Westerkerk in Harlingen dates from 1650 and was demolished in 1896 due to dilapidation. At that time the organ was sold to the Reformed church of Oude Pekela. The expansion of the manual compass from 49 to 56 notes was made in the 20th century.

The well known Schnitger specialist/organ builder Bernardt Edskes has thoroughly examined the sound board in the Van den Heuvel workshop in Dordrecht and confirmed that this is the original Hoofdwerk sound board constructed for the famous Schnitger-organ of Martinikerk, Groningen (NL).

The church of Oude Pekela, later named Reformed Church, was founded in 1861 as a Christion separated community. The striking building served until 1978, in that year the church was closed due to dilapidation. A new modern church was build, named Het Anker, and the organ was situated on the ground floor instead of on a balcony as it was before. The carvings at both sides of the organ case disappeared to the attic. Bernard Koch from Apeldoorn carried out the transfer andwhat he mentioned “the restauration”. The organ case was originally painted oak imitation, and was painted white in 1980. The side ornaments of the case however still have the original color scheme.

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For futher information:
Jan L. van den Heuvel – Orgelbouw bv
Amstelwijckweg 44
3316 BB Dordrecht
T: 078 – 6179540
E: