History of the company

Organs have been built in the Wipptal since 1817.
In 1825 Josef Reinisch, the founder of the organ building company, moved the workshop from Gries /Brenner to Steinach, where it is still located. In 1853 a devastating fire destroyed all records of the company’s early years. However, we have records from 1860 and onwards.
Five generations of the Reinisch family were concerned with organ building up to the year 1935. Several organ builders, carpenters and sculptors worked for the company. In 1927 the company also owned a sawmill and an electric power station apart from the organ building workshop.

Johann Pirchner, who had worked as an organ builder in the company since 1918, took over the management in 1935. This is when the name ‘Reinisch - Pirchner’ was first used as the company’s name. The company was closed from the end of 1942 until June 1945 because of the Second World War.

In 1948 the workshop was significantly extended. New machines were bought and mechanic slider board organs were built again. Between 1898 and 1942 pneumatic and electric organs were favoured. Today, however, mechanic slider board organs are very popular because of their reliability. Under the leadership of Johann Pirchner more than 120 important organs were built from 1945 to 1972.

In 1972 his son, also called Johann, took over the company and led it until the year 2002. He built a new workshop in the northern outskirts of Steinach after profound consideration and exact planning. In the new building all necessary sequences of operation are installed.

In October 1997 production started in the new building. In 1998 the company’s name was changed from ‘Orgelbau Reinisch - Pirchner & Co‘ to ‘ Orgelbau Pirchner’. In the modern workshop all the different works can be done, starting with the planning of the organ to the building of the mechanism, of the wind supply, of the case, of the sound boards with the pipes, the making of the keyboards, the wood and metal pipes and their pre-voicing to the putting up of the organ in the organ chamber. After that the organ is dismantled and taken to the church or cathedral, where it is reassembled . Then it is checked , voiced and clearly tuned. Pipe shades are created and carved if the customer wants to have those. Precious and historically significant organs are also restored or reconstructed by the company.

Since 2003 Johann Pirchner’s children Hannes, Martin and Veronika have taken over the management of the company, whose name has been altered to ‘ Orgelbau Pirchner GmbH & Co. KG’.

Martin Pirchner, the new head of the company, passed the examination for the master craftsman’s diploma in Ludwigsburg (Germany) in 1996. His masterpiece - his work submitted for the master craftsman’s diploma - can be looked at under the section called ‘Examples’. He built all the different parts of the organ by himself, and he also voiced the pipes.