The Organ Shutters of Dwingeloo: As a ‘Moniment and Remembrance’

In 1665, the St Nicholas Church in Dwingeloo received an organ, a gift from Rutger van den Boetzelaer, then Lord of Batinge and Entinghe, and Bailiff of Coevorden and Drenthe. Little is known about the instrument itself other than that it had seven stops and a pedal. Fortunately, the organ shutters of the instrument still survive, as a ‘moniment [sic!] and remembrance,’ as the inscription on one of the panels states. The shutters feature two portraits: one of the generous donor himself and the other of his wife, Battina van Lohn. The organ remained in use until 1887, when it was ultimately dismantled and replaced by a Van Oeckelen organ due to its dilapidated state. Arie de Muij, chairman of the St Nicholas Church Dwingeloo Foundation, recounts the fate of the organ shutters in this article.